Skip to content
Have an account?
Login
or
Register
  • About
    • People
    • Fellows
    • Tastings
    • In the News
    • Awards
      • Christophe Baron Prize
      • AAWE Scholarships
      • AAWE Awards of Merits
    • Downloads
    • Contacts & Copyright
  • Journal
    • Online Journal Member Access
    • Online Journal Library Access
    • Editors
    • JWE – All Issues
    • Submission Guidelines
  • Working Papers
  • Meetings
    • 2023 Stellenbosch
    • 2022 Tbilisi
    • 2019 Vienna
    • 2018 Ithaca
    • 2017 Padua
    • 2016 Bordeaux
    • 2015 Mendoza
    • 2014 Walla Walla
    • 2013 Stellenbosch
    • 2012 Princeton
    • 2011 Bolzano
    • 2010 Davis
    • 2009 Reims
    • 2008 Portland
    • 2007 Trier
  • Membership
Menu
  • About
    • People
    • Fellows
    • Tastings
    • In the News
    • Awards
      • Christophe Baron Prize
      • AAWE Scholarships
      • AAWE Awards of Merits
    • Downloads
    • Contacts & Copyright
  • Journal
    • Online Journal Member Access
    • Online Journal Library Access
    • Editors
    • JWE – All Issues
    • Submission Guidelines
  • Working Papers
  • Meetings
    • 2023 Stellenbosch
    • 2022 Tbilisi
    • 2019 Vienna
    • 2018 Ithaca
    • 2017 Padua
    • 2016 Bordeaux
    • 2015 Mendoza
    • 2014 Walla Walla
    • 2013 Stellenbosch
    • 2012 Princeton
    • 2011 Bolzano
    • 2010 Davis
    • 2009 Reims
    • 2008 Portland
    • 2007 Trier
  • Membership
DONATE
  • Data
  • Jobs & Programs
  • Data
  • Jobs & Programs
Home
»
JWE-Issues
»
JWE Volume 17 | 2022 | No. 4

Journal of Wine Economics Volume 17 | 2022 | No. 4

Obituary

Orbituary Allen C-Shoup

Orley Ashenfelter
Pages: 269
Full Text PDF
Full Text

Allen C. Shoup

Allen Shoup, a founding father of the Washington State wine industry and a longtime friend of this journal and the American Association of Wine Economists, died in November at his home in Seattle. He spent 20 years building Chateau Ste. Michelle into a broadly distributed emissary for Washington’s wines before starting his own venture, Long Shadows Vintners, 20 years ago. Allen hosted an AAWE dinner at Long Shadows during its meeting in Walla Walla a decade ago. Surrounded by Chihuly’s famed glass artworks at the winery it was a memorable experience.

Allen was a remarkable man. As the Chief Executive of a massive wine brand he could have been a major antagonist to the startups around him. Instead he encour- aged them, arguing that their success would only increase that of his own, larger company. He was right and as a result an entire new industry was born.

Orley Ashenfelter
President AAWE
Princeton University
c6789@princeton.edu
December 2022

The impact of direct to consumer shipping laws on the number and size distribution of U.S. wineries

Matthew T. Pesavento
Pages: 270-295
Full Text PDF
Abstract

The changing legislative landscape of the U.S. wine market provides a scenario to examine the effect of regulation on the size distribution of firms. Using the variation across states and time in the sum of in-state and out-of-state adult populations between 2002–2017, and a difference in difference-style empirical model, I examine how restrictions on Direct to Consumer (DTC) sales impact the number of establishments and the employ- ment at wineries. I find that the expansion of the potential wine market by 10 M adults caused about a 3.5% increase in the number of wineries. While reduced DTC restrictions explain growth in the number of wineries, I find no effect of lessened restrictions on the number of winery employees, though there is evidence of a lagged effect. Additionally, I find that the growth of smaller wineries substantially outpaces that of larger wineries when regulations are lessened. These results suggest that regulatory barriers in particular indus- tries may allow states to maintain an artificial size distribution.

Keywords: direct to consumer; DTC; employment; regulation; size; wine

A maximum entropy estimate of uncertainty about a wine rating

Jeffrey C. Bodington
Pages: 296-310
Abstract

Much research shows that the ratings that judges assign to the same wine are uncertain. And while the ratings may be independent, research also shows that they are not identi- cally distributed. Thus, an acute difficulty in ratings-related research and in calculating consensus among judges is that each rating is one observation drawn from a latent distri- bution that is wine- and judge-specific. What can be deduced about the shape of a latent distribution from one observation? A simple maximum entropy estimator is proposed to describe the distribution of a rating observed. The estimator can express the implications of zero, one, a few blind replicates, and many observations. Several tests of the estimator show that results are consistent with the results of experiments with blind replicates and that results are more accurate than results based on observed ratings alone.

Keywords: entropy; judge; random; ratings; statistics; wine

Judging reliability at wine and water competitions

Elena C. Berg, Michael Mascha and Kevin W. Capehart
Pages: 311-328
Abstract

Studies suggest the inter-rater reliability of judges at wine competitions is higher than what would be expected by random chance, but lower than what is observed when experts in other fields make judgments specific to their expertise. To further contextualize the (un-) reliability of wine judging while also extending the study of fine water, we examine the inter- rater reliability of judges at an annual international competition for bottled waters. We find that the inter-rater reliability of water judging is generally better than chance and, at best, about the same as the inter-rater reliability of wine judging at some wine competitions. These results suggest that perceptible differences between fine waters exist but are less pro- nounced than those between fine wines and, also, that aesthetic standards with respect to fine waters exist but are currently less established than those for fine wines.

Keywords: blind tasting; expert evaluation; inter-rater reliability; water; wine

Estimation of alcohol demand elasticity: Consumption of wine, beer, and spirits at home and away from home

Tereza Čiderová and Milan Ščasný
Pages: 329-337
Abstract

Most of the previous research examined the demand for alcohol consumed at the off-trade (consumed at home). However, some consumers might prefer to consume alcohol on- trade (away from home) or switch between on-trade and off-trade consumption as a reac- tion to price or income change. We estimate the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System consisting of three broad alcohol categories, consumed on-trade and off-trade, to derive own-price, cross-price, and income elasticities. Selectivity due to the high censoring is treated, and special attention is paid to quality-adjusted price. Beer consumption is the most responsive to income as well as own price changes, while spirits are the least respon- sive. The own-price elasticity of wine is –0.66 and –1.00 at on-trade and off-trade, respec- tively. Beer is more price responsive, spirits are less price responsive, and consumption reacts weaker in the off-trade market. Own-price elasticities of demand range between –1.20 and –0.41 at the off-trade and between –1.51 and –0.63 at the on-trade alcohol mar- ket. Increasing the price of wine in one market decreases wine consumption in another one. Between the two markets, wine and spirits are complementary, and wine and beer are substitutes in both markets.

Keywords: alcohol; censoring; consumer demand; QUAIDS; quality-adjusted unit price

Explaining bilateral patterns of global wine trade, 1962–2019

German Puga, Alfinura Sharafeyeva and Kym Anderson
Pages: 338-344
Abstract

This study uses gravity models to explain bilateral patterns of global wine trade since 1962. This is, to our knowledge, the first study on global wine trade covering the second wave of globalization as a whole. The results suggest that the impact of distance, common lan- guage, and common colonizer post-1945 on wine trade was lower in the 1991–2019 period than in the 1962–1990 period. We also use gravity models to explain the impact on bilat- eral wine trade patterns of similarities across countries in the mix of winegrape varieties in their vineyards. Although our models do not allow us to identify causality, the results sug- gest that countries trade more wine with each other the closer their mix of winegrape varieties.

Keywords: gravity model; second wave of globalization; varietal similarity index; wine trade

Stochastic error and biases remain in blind wine ratings

Jeffrey Bodington
Pages: 345-351
Abstract

alyses and aggregations of the ratings that wine critics and judges assign to wines are made difficult by stochastic error and biases that remain even when wines are assessed blind to price, label, capsule, and closure. Stochastic error is due to the partially random nature of ratings. Cognitive and omitted-variable biases are due to anchoring, expectation, serial position, commercial, and other factors. Differences in decanting, filtering, aeration, and temperature can also affect ratings.

Keywords: bias; judge; random; ratings; statistics; wine

Book & Film Reviews

Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally

By: Isabelle Legeron
Reviewer: Kevin Visconti
Pages: 352-354
Full Text PDF
Book Review

Nature is full of color, vibrancy, and biodiversity; and so, too, should it be with natural wine. In her newly expanded and updated third edition of Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally (2020), Isabelle Legeron argues that natural wines are made with conviction and promote a philosophy of love for the land that can, and should, affect the entire wine industry. To make her case, Legeron acknowledges that natural wine is not new; in fact, she states, it is what wine has always been. And across the three distinct parts of her impressive work, she asserts the benefits, qualities, and authenticity of making wine just as nature intended.

In the Introduction, Legeron writes that her book is “a tribute to those wines that are not only farmed well, but also fly in the face of modern winemaking practices, remaining natural at all odds” (p. 6). Brimming with photographs and scientific studies throughout her writing, Legeron interlaces her well-researched perspective with vivid illustrations and rational evidence, pointing out that while the agriculture behind creating organic and biodynamic wines may look untamed and untidy, natural wines require careful attention and precision from those producing them. This native, wild approach to viti- culture is exactly how Legeron believes winemaking should be. After all, “We are not separate from our environment and even less so from what we eat and drink” (p. 11).

Following the Introduction, Part 1 of the book, “What is Natural Wine?,” is broken into five sections, each with their own sub-sections to explore the question: Is there such a thing as natural wine; and, if so, what is it? Legeron purports, “Natural wine is literally living wine from living soil” (p. 92); and from the vineyard to the cellar, she takes her reader on a nearly 100-page viticultural and vinicultural journey through the production of natural wine.

In the first segment of Part 1, “The Vineyard,” Legeron examines viticulture across three distinct areas: “Living Soils,” “Natural Farming,” and “Understanding Terroir.” In “Living Soils,” Legeron explains that because there is no worldwide legal certifica- tion, one of the challenges in discussing natural wine is in defining it to clarify the difference between natural and organic winemaking. Natural wine “is wine from vine- yards that are farmed organically, at the very least, and which is produced without add- ing or removing anything during vinification, apart from a dash of sulfites at most at bottling” (p. 23). And the first step in producing such a wine is found at the ground level—in the living soils of the vineyard, teeming with biodiversity and microorganisms that are essential for proper plant and vine nutrition that creates natural wines.

In “Natural Farming,” Legeron defines the distinction between organic, biody- namic, and permaculture approaches. Whereas organic viticulture aims to eschew man-made, synthetic chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers in the vineyard, biody- namic agriculture emphasizes a holistic, astronomical approach to farming that con- siders the moon’s gravity and ocean tides to inform when to prune vines and bottle wines. “Life on Earth,” Legeron notes, “is fundamentally affected by these large exter- nal factors – and biodynamics takes this into account” (p. 35). A third approach, known as permanent sustainable agriculture, or permaculture, incorporates self- sustaining and self-sufficient systems into farming. Permaculture, explains Legeron, encapsulates the idea that “we should farm in such a way that we enrich our environ- ments both for ourselves and for all life that depends on that place” (p. 37). Whether named organic, biodynamic, or permaculture, “clean” farming, says Legeron, will have a positive environmental impact now and for future generations to come.

In “Understanding Terroir,” Legeron notes that terroir is derived from the French word for earth and refers to a sense of place. She continues to say that terroir high- lights the unique combination of factors—for example, a distinct year and a specific location—that creates flavors that are irreproducible elsewhere. As an agricultural prod- uct, wine is “created by living organisms in a particular place at a particular moment. It is the product of life forms, the sum of which is terroir. And, without them, terroir can- not be expressed” (p. 43). Due to their more traditional production, natural wines, notes the author, are specially equipped to express the finer elements of terroir.

In the second segment of Part 1, “The Cellar,” Legeron examines viniculture across four subjects: “Living Wine,” “Processing and Additives,” “Fermentation,” and “Sulfites in Wine.” Citing numerous studies exploring the microbiology of wine, in “Living Wine,” Legeron relies upon science to support the notion that bacteria found in natural winemaking have a positive impact on the taste and longevity of natural wine. In both “Processing and Additives” and “Fermentation,” Legeron notes factors that set natural wine apart from its competitors. She states, “Wine is one of those rare drinks made from a primary material – grapes – that naturally con- tains everything the wine needs to exist … anything else should be regarded as an extra” (p. 55). And in “Sulfites in Wine,” Legeron writes that sulfites, a common winemaking additive, are a defining characteristic and perhaps even a hallmark of natural wine in that little to none are added during natural wine production.

In the third, fourth, and fifth segments of Part 1 of the book, Legeron briefly inves- tigates the reputation of natural wine across three topics: “Taste,” “Misconceptions,” and “Health.” Legeron believes the cultivation behind natural winemaking, described in detail throughout the previous pages of her book, results in a lighter, more ethereal final product. “The proximity to and link with the actual, physical earth means that natural wines have a far greater array of textures than conventional wines” (p. 75). And while natural wine is not immune to potential flaws, Legeron is clear to debunk misconceptions about so-called faults in the stability of natural wine. While few stud- ies have been conducted that investigate the effects of wine on health, Legeron states: “Simply put, natural wine contains far less artificial ‘stuff.’ For this reason, it’s hardly surprising that it might be better for you” (p. 84).

As the reader advances through the book, we learn from Legeron that natural wine is a continuum and may be defined as wine that is “farmed at least organically and made without any additives whatsoever in the cellar” (p. 95). In Part 2, “Who, Where, When?,” Legeron moves on to discuss those who produce natural wine and investigates the heritage and cultural aspects of natural winemakers. Legeron asserts that, above all, what unites natural winemakers is a love of the land and a legacy of traditional practices. This portion of her book reads more like a narrative of the author’s favorite subject, natural winemaking, and the storytelling approach reads like a well-researched historical novel. Legeron has seemingly traversed the globe to interview myriad winemakers and visit countless vineyards, and the robust and unparalleled insight into the production of natural wine makes it easy to keep reading.

In the “Who” section, Legeron recounts many personal stories and family histories from artisans to outsiders (even a Druid!) who were fundamental in the origins of the natural wine movement. “Natural growers,” Legeron claims, “don’t make wine to a formula or for a market. Instead, what they share is the pursuit of excellence” (p. 105). In the “Where and When” section, Legeron discusses grower associations and wine fairs, including her own festival, RAW WINE, which is the only artisan wine fair in the world that “requires full disclosure from growers regarding any addi- tives or interventions used during winemaking” (p. 122). She wraps up this part of her book with suggestions for trying and buying natural wine, which include loca- tions and merchants from her extended travels.

Finally, in Part 3, “The Natural Wine Cellar,” Legeron devotes over 70 pages to the creation of a rich index of global natural wine producers to help the reader discover natural wines. This mini-guide, replete with tasting notes on aroma, texture, and fla- vor across light-, medium-, and full-bodied wines, offers descriptions of the types of wine available in six different categories: sparkling, white, orange, rosé, red, and off- dry/sweet. Referred to by Legeron as a “do-it-yourself starter-kit” (p. 132), this wine selection adheres to her methodology for making natural wine: farms must use natural approaches and there must be no additives used during winemaking, with the possible exemption of minimal sulfites (which she is clear to detail in her tasting notes). While not exhaustive, this section of the book provides a rich background and vivid explanations of natural wine across varieties from across the globe and concludes with an international list of recommended wine growers.

In this well-executed, thoroughly researched, and beautifully photographed book, Legeron has compiled a necessary companion for any person with an interest in agri- culture and wine production. And while this informed work is certainly intriguing upon first read, with its litany of sources, including global case studies and numerous quotes from experts, it also serves the interested reader as a reference to return to again and again. Backed with scientific evidence, Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally makes the case that natural wines can carry profound appeal to people across the globe. “For me,” asserts Legeron, “only natural wine can be truly great” (p. 6).

Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2022

By: Hugh Johnson and Margaret Rand
Reviewer: Stephen M. Walt
Pages: 355-356
Full Text PDF
Book Review

If you are a certifiable wine geek, with multiple volumes by Jancis Robinson and Robert Parker lining your bookshelves, back issues of The Wine Advocate filed chro- nologically in binders, and a cellar-tracking spreadsheet occupying space on your hard drive, you can probably do without the latest edition of the Pocket Wine Book. But if you are someone with a healthy interest in food and wine—either a neo- phyte beginning to discover the joys of the grape or a curious but less-than-fully obsessed oenophile—you will benefit from owning a copy.

First published in 1977, the 2022 version follows the same format as its predeces- sors. You will need a rather large pocket to accommodate the book at this point, as this once-slim volume has swelled to more than 300 pages of very small print. Its cre- ator, Hugh Johnson, has turned the editorial reins over to experienced wine writer Margaret Rand, and 2022 marks the first edition produced entirely under her direc- tion. The general approach and overall structure of the book remain unchanged, how- ever, and Johnson’s guiding philosophy—that wine should be enjoyed as much as studied—remains intact.

As in past years, the book begins with a quick recap of “The Year in Wine,” noting the chief events and characteristics of the most recent vintage (2020 in this edition). Rand and Johnson each contribute brief introductory essays and spotlight “Ten Wines to Try for 2022.” Next comes a succinct summary of the principal grape vari- eties and a section offering advice for pairing wine and food.

The bulk of the Pocket Wine Book is a survey of the world’s wines by country or region, containing brief entries on principal styles, varietals, and noteworthy produc- ers. No single volume could include every significant winemaker, of course, but the number of wines and wineries cataloged here is still impressive. A simple notation system gives the reader plenty of useful information about each wine, including which vintages were especially successful for a given property, which years are now deemed ready for drinking, and which wines provide good value within a given price range. Openly dismissing the 100-point rating system used by Robert Parker and others—a decision one can only applaud—the Pocket Wine Book rates each wine from 1 star (“plain, everyday quality”) to 4 stars (“outstanding, compelling”). The rankings reflect the contributors’ preference for balance, freshness, and unique- ness over power, extraction, or oak, in line with current wine-making trends.

France still receives the greatest attention in this edition, with 61 pages devoted to its wines (plus a separate 22 pages on Bordeaux). Italy ranks second (31 pages) and the United States comes in third (29). Even so, the book’s 32 far-flung contributors have made an admirable effort to keep track of what is happening nearly everywhere fine wine is grown. If you are ever dining in Malta and find yourself confronted by a cellar list of local producers, the Pocket Wine Book would be your friend. Rand ends the volume with a bracing essay on “the ten best things about wine right now,” and her upbeat assessment may encourage you to reach for your corkscrew and pour a glass in celebration.

For some readers, the most useful section of the book will be its recommendations for matching wine with a wide range of foods. Based on a lifetime of sipping and tast- ing, Johnson’s opinions are firm but not dogmatic (apart from a stern warning that “watercress makes every wine on earth taste revolting” (p. 34). Even if my own tastes occasionally diverge from his, I have found his advice to be sound across a wide range of main ingredients, cuisines, herbs, spices, and cheeses. Above all, Johnson wants the marriage of food and wine to be free from anxiety. As Johnson wrote in the 2021 edition:“Matching wine and food matters, but don’t get hung up on it.”

That pragmatic, hedonic philosophy neatly captures the book’s enduring appeal. Some writers make appreciating wine seem like hard work; Johnson and now Rand remind us that it is fundamentally about pleasure. Knowing more about the wines we drink, when to pull the cork, and how to pair them with food enhances our enjoy- ment, and being able to allocate one’s wine budget intelligently is a useful skill. The Pocket Wine Guide can help you do all of these things, which is why I have ordered a copy for my two millennial children. I cannot think of a better endorsement than that.

Reference

Johnson, H. (2021). Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2021. London: Mitchell Beazley and Octopus Publishing.

A Life in Wine

By: Steven Spurrier
Reviewer: Simon Raeside (1) & Philippe LeMay-Boucher (2)
Pages: 356-360
Full Text PDF
Book Review

A second viewing of Mondovino (Lima and Schroder, 2009) and an obituary in the New York Times (Asimov, 2021) piqued our interest in the man behind the Judgement of Paris. That famous 1976 Paris wine tasting (which has been analyzed and reviewed in this Journal1) brought sudden, surprising attention to Californian wines, and for the first time demystified the French grandes maisons and their alleged superiority. Understandably, this single event is thoroughly unpacked in the longest and most absorbing chapter of the book. From its genesis and the difficulty of finding worthy American wines in 1970s Paris for an Independence Day tasting with some pomp, through to its aftermath, Spurrier insists that Patricia Gallagher take equal credit for the event.

This historic moment has been poured over many times, so what of the life that surrounds it? Three ingredients make this character an outlier: the inheritance early in his 20s of a large fortune, a love of wine developed by tasting la crème de la crème, and a generous curiosity towards any wine worthy of the name.

Spurrier does not trouble us much with his pre-wine life. One stroke is enough to brush in the necessary family circumstances, upbringing, and expectations. There’s just a hint of charmed existence and the suggestion of gleeful discontent in his pro- gression to fine wine’s doorstep. One part money, two parts eagerness and open- mindedness, and three parts charming self-belief.

Private school connections bring Spurrier to his first gig in London’s wine mer- chant arena, at Christopher’s. Entertaining snippets of work and his London social life convey at a brisk pace what it meant to be an importer and bottler in 1960s England, to enjoy an inheritance, start a wine collection, and acquire antiques. He was sent abroad for eight months in 1965 to work as the company’s principal in four European countries. He puts his fortune to good use, working for free—an astute move that leads him to be used in ways his fellow interns simply cannot match. Chapter 2 is rich in details about how the trade operated in the 60s, how merchants “ruled the roost” and chateaux “meekly accepted” their offers via the En Primeur system.

Spurrier then launches on a Tour de France with stops at a number of prestigious stations. His tribulations inside the bordelais commercants (Cruse) are entertaining and delectable to readers with an avid interest in period details. Tax departments in France have always been interested in scrutinizing lucrative sectors and big employers, such as the wine trade in Bordeaux and elsewhere. Spurrier takes us through the tricks being carried out to maximize volumes of certain appellations, while in the background, a significant share of that volume turned out to come from another (cheaper one)! The pace is breezy and enjoyable: Cognac, Jarnac, the Loire Valley, Burgundy (Chablis then Beaunes), finishing in fine fashion with the northern Cotes du Rhone.

There are only big names on this trail, no Jura, no vin de pays, no Bandol, nothing not meant for the English market and its upper class. For many current humble wine lovers, it all appears conventional and beyond means. It may well have been that only these limited wines were available for export and of sufficient quality. Many appella- tions, obscure at the time, have improved immensely in recent decades.

A few pages of further escapades in southern Europe follow, which serve to accen- tuate the sumptuous style in which Monsieur Spurrier traveled. A beguiling combi- nation of time and money makes for a unique aesthetic. However, the return to London is difficult. The wine trade is going through a transition that will lead to the Oddbins, Bottoms Up, and the Majestic Wines, which are now up and down the United Kingdom. But the opening of Christie’s wine auctions in 1966 was a sig- nificant event. From there, Spurrier becomes a regular (and successful) bidder and gets to know Michael Broadbent from whom he learns that tasting should be a struc- tured activity. It is a seminal moment that helps Spurrier in setting up his Wine School in Paris years later.

The ballet of tastings whirls on. His new job at Murray and Banbury offers more forays into France. Manifestations of Madame X, Monsieur Y, and Owner Z are met here and there in mesmeric milieux, which Spurrier brings to life with crisp anecdotes involving prestigious wines. Back in London, “life is marvellous” Spurrier buys more antiques and a four-story house in SW10. Renovations ensue and result in space for large wine racks. Despite a few poor investments, Spurrier buys a property in France. He marries Bella and they move to Provence, intending to enter the antique trade. The building work proves too much and too costly. He is forced to sell. The car is packed and they are headed north to Paris.

La ville Lumière appears at first to offer little in the wine trade for an Englishman with passable French. Only Spurrier would surmise from this that setting up on his own is the only option. With a generous dose of good luck, he finds the Cave de la Madelaine. Chapter 5 recounts the transformation of the shop away from vins ordi- naires to much better offerings. As Spurrier writes: at that time a petrol pump atten- dant and a cavist had similar social status. Inspired by Constant Bourquin’s book, Connaissance du Vin (1970), Spurrier refreshes his stock in two innovative ways: (1) selling non-dosé champagnes (dosage consists of adding a liqueur after dégorgement to mask acidity); and (2) avoiding wines (specifically Beaujolais), which have gone through chaptalization (adding sugar to the fermenting to bolster alcohol content). Spurrier now runs a small wine shop and has settled on a barge on the Seine. His father is unimpressed—calling him a hippy.

There is virtually nothing about the mundanity of running a wine shop to distract from Spurrier’s focus on creating a shimmering litany of acquaintances, ventures, and wines. When space becomes available next to de la Madelaine, he opens the Académie du Vin. As he writes, “It seems embarrassing to say it, but in terms of wine appreci- ation, promotion and communication it was the only game in town.” Spurrier would later say that he took more pride in l’Académie than in all his other commercial ven- tures in France.

The first decade of his adventures in Paris had been a success. Following the “Judgement” in 1976, Spurrier began to travel more extensively and surf his new- found American wave of fame. The Académie and the Cave were both doing well, but hardly making a profit. His second decade in Paris started badly. Poor invest- ments caught up with him, dragging him away from his core activities. Mitterand’s nationalization of the finance industry meant that many of his customers left for Frankfurt or London. The shop’s peak had passed and would not return. Following a few years of increasing frustration, Spurrier returns to London after a hiatus of 14 years. Cue a letter from Michael Broadbent with an irresistible offer to set up and run an academy of wine in conjunction with the Christie’s Fine Arts Course. He would remain involved for decades. Spurrier became a writer in the early 1980s with significant success. The Spurrier brand soon spanned the globe. Notably, the wine worlds of Australia and New Zealand leave a favorable impression.

In the late 1980s, Spurrier moves to the countryside in Dorset and maintains his London pied-à-terre. Meanwhile, in Paris, it is time to sell his local interests. The sub- sequent chapters, of less interest, describe a retinue of engagements, consultancies, and writing, globe-trotting either as a wine judge or speaker. In Chapter 15, the 2008–2009 ambitious planting of a little over two hectares of vines from a pépinière in Burgundy on his own Dorset estate completes the circle. In 2014, at Liberty Wines’ annual trade tasting, he finds himself on the selling side of the table for the first time.

In the latter part of his life, Spurrier had become a celebrity in the English- speaking world of wine. Feature films, such as Bottle Shock in 2008 (Valletta, 2008), and documentaries exploring the Judgement of Paris, such as Somm 3 in 2018 (Stavins, 2020), brought an additional aura to his prescience in promoting lesser-known wines. “Meet Steven Spurrier: The Man who changed Wine Forever” and other YouTube clips have drawn significant audiences, perhaps surprising given how unknown the Judgement of Paris is to many of today’s wine drinkers. For others, such as Robert Mondavi, Spurrier put California on the map. But his appeal to French-speaking audiences appears thin: YouTube has only the odd, old interview with him elaborating in French, and Le Monde did not offer an obituary.

To your reviewers—both British university faculty of relatively comfortable means —Spurrier’s grandiose vertical tastings of illustrious Champagnes or Clarets seem affected, somewhat vacuous, and the preserve of the few. But Spurrier was also a champion of lesser-known appellations and vin de pays, as his Guide des Vins Régionaux de France (Spurrier, 1985) attests.

Wine leaves its mark and lays down its challenges early on in Monsieur Spurrier’s life with a simple, bold appearance that evokes a first love. From that moment on, we are bounced along in his wine-glass elevator, skipping through a dizzying array of events, touching down on endless, highly prized invitations to dinners, engagements, tastings, or competitions. Regrettably, for a reader not part of the trade, at times it feels like a tiresome exhibition of name-dropping, and thereby loses some of its vitality.

This was clearly a heavily documented life, and the details are lifted with metic- ulous care: “We were to have Dom Perigon as an aperitif, probably the 1955, then Chassagne-Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche 1962 bottled by Brouhin, and com- pare Domaine Rousseau’s Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Beze from 1952. The order was left to me and I suggested that the Lafite should be the first of the reds and that it should not be decanted, but poured directly into the glasses after opening” (p. 96). Despite these otherworldly nuggets of haute gas- tronomie, Spurrier retains a sense of his huge good fortune through recurrent touches of self-deprecation.

With products, places, and especially people front and center, recurring names weave a rich mise-en-scène that, in one way or another, is responsible for many of the plays of his life. He is unstintingly generous in crediting others and self-effacing to the point that you could believe it all happened by itself.

References

Ashton, R. H. (2012). Improving experts’ wine quality judgments: Two heads are better than one. Journal of Wine Economics, 6(2), 160–178.

Asimov, E. (2021). Steven Spurrier, 79, a merchant who upended the wine world with a taste test. New York Times, March 18, Section A, page 23.

Bourquin, C. (1970). Connaissance du Vin. Paris: Gérard.
Cicchetti, D. V. (2006). The Paris 1976 wine tastings revisited once more: Comparing ratings of consistent

and inconsistent tasters. Journal of Wine Economics, 1(2), 125–140.
Gergaud, O., Ginsburgh, V., and Moreno-Ternero, J. D. (2021). Wine ratings: Seeking a consensus among

tasters via normalization, approval, and aggregation. Journal of Wine Economics, 16(3), 321–342. Lima, T., and Schroder, N. (2009). Film review: Jonathan Nossiter (Director), Mondovino. Journal of Wine

Economics, 4(1), 119–121.
Spurrier, S. (1985). Guide des Vins Régionaux de France. Paris: Dursus.
Stavins, R. N. (2020). Film review: Jason Wise (Director), Somm 3. Journal of Wine Economics, 15(4),

423–426.
Valletta, R. (2008). Film review: Randall Miller (Director), Bottle Shock. Journal of Wine Economics, 3(2),

214–216.

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar

By: Stephen Bittner
Reviewer: Paul Nugent
Pages: 360-362
Full Text PDF
Book Review

At one time, the Soviet Union was the fourth-largest wine producer in the world, but by the 1990s, production in the successor republics had dwindled. In this trajectory, there are some parallels with Algeria. But the crucial difference was that while Algerian wines were always oriented to the French market, Russian/Soviet wines were largely based on French varietals but were geared almost entirely to an undis- cerning domestic market. As Stephen Bittner demonstrates in this new book, this reality proved to be the Achilles heel for those who aspired to build an industry pre- mised on quality and some conception of terroir.

There has long been a need for a book (or article) that would properly address the history of Russian/Soviet wine and describe it in an international context. This study more than delivers. In an understated way, Bittner deftly guides the reader through a number of thematic issues while paying close attention to changing dynamics over time. The book devotes considerable space to viticulture and oenology, including a fascinating account of the Russian response to phylloxera. It also addresses the chang- ing face of production, distribution, and consumption in the decades after the Revolution.

Unsurprisingly, much of the text is concerned with moments of upheaval, most notably with regard to the Revolution and civil war, the catastrophic effects of two world wars, and the uncertainties unleashed by Stalin’s purges in the 1930s and 1940s. Examples are drawn from across Russia/the Soviet Union, but the greater part of the text is concerned with Bessarabia (mostly what is now Moldova), Georgia, and especially Crimea, which was where the best wine was reputedly pro- duced. The thread that holds much of the account together concerns the efforts of researchers and winemakers in two Crimean institutions, the Magarach Institute (founded in 1828) and the Massandra Wine Complex (a former crown estate) to keep the industry moving forward.

The book begins by observing a tension between the tendency at the Russian court (from the time of Peter the Great) to treat wine consumption as a marker of civili- zation and French wine as the epitome of refinement, on the one hand, and the rec- ognition that the colonized territories of the Black Sea and the Caucasus were the cradle of winemaking. The wines produced by peasants in Georgia or Tatars in Crimea were typically regarded with condescension, while conscious efforts were made to settle Germans, Swiss, Bulgarians, and Greeks in the lands that were of less interest to the tsar and wine-loving aristocrats. In Crimea, French cultivars were planted extensively on the great estates, and the expertise of French and Italians was actively solicited. Indeed, the degree of extraversion of the Russian wine industry in the nineteenth century is quite remarkable. Before the revolution, “Russian wine” was overwhelmingly produced in the non-Russian territories and was heavily influenced by European models, personnel, and knowledge. This, Bittner reveals, had significant consequences.

The end of the monarchy and the eventual triumph of the Bolsheviks brought the former estates and research facilities under state control, but Bittner points to some surprising continuities. Notably, many of those who had received French education or training often remained in place, because their expertise was needed to rebuild the industry. And under the New Economic Policy, state controls that dated to tsarist times were replaced by a somewhat less dirigiste system of distribution.

With the accession to power of Stalin, however, many of those who survived the revolutionary years were removed. Following WWII, when the Soviet Union recap- tured territories that had been under German control, many more were sent to penal camps—often never to be seen again. Given the pride that Stalin displayed in the products of his native Georgia, it would seem that the ax did not fall quite as heavily there. But being too wedded to particular ways of doing things still came at a risk. Bittner notes, for example, that the carrying out of public tastings to show- case the best wines came to be construed as evidence of misuse of state resources.

With the death of Stalin and the re-opening to the world, Bittner shows how Soviet wines began to re-appear in international competitions, albeit mostly in the Eastern Bloc. He also reveals the renewed interest in learning and updating wine technology derived from western Europe. This proceeded alongside a turn to the United States. There is a fascinating account of the visits of Maynard Amerine of the University of California, Davis to the Soviet Union in 1962, 1971, and 1973—on the last occasion (rather bizarrely) with a view to helping the Pepsi Cola Company select some wines for the American market.

The book’s final chapter addresses the reasons why the attempt to improve quality from the 1960s onwards proved to be a losing battle. Not surprisingly, Bittner iden- tifies some of the problems with the country’s productionist mindset, which meant that lower yields in the interest of higher quality caused administrative resistance, while the production of wine on an industrial scale, most notably in the vast Inter-Republic Wine Factory in Moscow, made it impossible to pay attention to the subtleties of terroir. But ultimately, Bittner brings it all back to the preferences of Russian consumers, located far away from the places where the wine was produced, for wines that were sweetened and had grain spirit added to them.

Moreover, the notion that attracting consumers to good quality wine would lure them away from vodka, and hence the perils of alcoholism, ultimately culminated in some unintended outcomes. The reality was that consumers gravitated to bormo- tukha, or souped-up factory products, rather than to the terroir-based wines that some would have preferred to produce. The nadir came with Gorbachev’s frontal attack on alcohol, which sought to increase the use of grapes for purposes other than winemaking. The book concludes by noting the return of connoisseurship and the politics of wine between Russia and its former imperial fringes of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine—including, of course, the recent annexation of Crimea.

There is much to savor and reflect upon in this book, especially for those of a more comparative disposition. The chapter on phylloxera, which demonstrates that a blind adherence to chemical solutions (based on a particular reading of Darwin) had fateful consequences, enriches the larger literature on international responses to the threat. For a researcher on South African wine, there are some surprising resonances with respect to the turn to California and even with regard to consumption. If there is something one would want to know a little more about, it is how Georgian peasant producers related to indigenous cultivars and responded to directives from above. But maybe that is a research project all in itself. As things stand, this is a monograph that is to be highly recommended.

Journal
Submission Guidelines
Editors
JWE All Issues
JWE Actual Issue
JWE Volume 17 | 2022 | No. 4
JWE Volume 17 | 2022 | No. 3
JWE Volume 17 | 2022 | No. 2
JWE Volume 17 | 2022 | No. 1
JWE Volume 16 | 2021 | No. 4
JWE Volume 16 | 2021 | No. 3
JWE Volume 16 | 2021 | No. 2
JWE Volume 16 | 2021 | No. 1
JWE Volume 15 | 2020 | No. 4
Selected Proceedings
JWE Volume 15 | 2020 | No. 3
JWE Volume 15 | 2020 | No. 2
JWE Volume 15 | 2020 | No. 1
More Issues

Subscribe to our Email List

You can cancel your subscription at any time.
SUBSCRIBE HERE

Contact

AAWE
Economics Department
New York University
19 W. 4th Street, 6FL
New York, NY 10012, U.S.A.
Tel: (212) 992-8083
Fax: (212) 995-4186
E-Mail: karl.storchmann@nyu.edu

AAWE

Journal

Working Papers as a List

Membership

Videos

LINKS

Fifthsense

JWE at Cambridge University Press

Liquid Assets

Stuart Pigott

Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookies Policy

Twitter Facebook-f Youtube

© AAWE 2021 - All rights reserved