In this paper we estimate how a variety of subjective measures of quality taken from the published opinions of several experts on Italian wines (Barolo and Barbaresco) are determined by the weather conditions during the relevant season, in order to assess their reliability. Since these measures of quality are only ordinal, we estimate their determinants using an ordered probit model. The method provides measures of the determinants of vintage quality ratings and suggestions on the reliability of each expert. (JEL Classifications: D12, Q11, Q13)

While many studies have evaluated consumer demand for local foods, fewer studies have focused on the mechanism that has created the positive willingness-to-pay for local foods. This article compares the role of geographic distance and attachment value in consumer preferences for locally produced hard cider. Consumer valuations are estimated via a “branded” discrete choice experiment where the respondents chose between an in-state hard cider, an out-of-state hard cider, and a no buy option. Our measure of travel distance is based on the optimal driving route between each consumer's GPS location and the locations of the cideries while our attachment value measure is based on social capital theory. This allows us to analyze individual-specific travel distance heterogeneity in consumer choice as it relates to attachment value. Based on a latent class logit model estimated from a discrete choice experiment with 441 participants, we show that attachment value is higher for a cider produced within the state than for a cider produced outside the state. Furthermore, we show that increases in attachment value increase demand for locally produced hard cider more than an equal increase in attachment value for non-locally produced hard cider. Our findings are consistent with “local” preferences based on geopolitical boundaries (e.g., the state of Michigan) and not distance. (JEL Classifications: B55, M3, Q13, C83)

In this paper, we analyze profit margins and markups of Fair Trade (FT) wines sold in the United States. We are particularly interested in whether and to what extent the FT cost impulse in production is passed along to the supply chain. We draw on a limited sample of about 470 South African wines sold in Connecticut and New Jersey in the fall of 2016; about 90 of them are certified FT. For these wines we have free on board export prices, wholesale prices, and retail prices, which allows us to compute wholesale and retail margins and analyze the FT treatment effect. We run OLS, 2SLS, and propensity score matching models and find evidence of asymmetrical pricing behavior. While wholesalers seem to fully pass-through the FT cost effect, retailers appear to amplify the cost effect. As a result, at the retail level, FT wines yield significantly higher margins than their non-FT counterparts. (JEL Classifications: L11, L31, L43, L81, Q17)

Ties in the averages of scores that commercial wine competitions employ to grant awards are common, and these ties make it difficult for competition officials to differentiate between wines, they erode the perception of judges’ expertise, and they can make compliance with competition rules arithmetically impossible. Responding to requests from competition officials, this article presents and evaluates six methods for breaking ties in averages of scores. Results show that using an Olympic Average, the mean excluding the highest and lowest scores, is easy to calculate, easy to communicate, effective, unbiased, and it is not inconsistent with the implications of a method of aggregating scores that is not prone to ties. (JEL Classifications: A10, C00, C10, C12, D12)

A study entitled “Does Blind Tasting Work? Investigating the Impact of Training on Blind Tasting Accuracy and Wine Preference,” published in the Proceedings issues of this journal, analyzed the effects of training on blind wine tasting accuracy (Wang and Prešern, 2018). I point out two issues with that study and reanalyze their data. I find that the effects of training on accuracy are small, even without controlling for self-selection bias that may produce upwardly biased estimates. To the extent training works, it does not seem to work well and it may only work as a selection device. (JEL Classifications: C91, D83, L66)

Information conveyed on the price tag or label of a consumable packaged good is widely thought to change the consumer's sensory experience of consuming the good. Can the positive “placebo” effects of high prices and negative “nocebo” effects of low prices on consumer experience be isolated and observed in a controlled experiment without using deception? In a pilot wine experiment using a method I call “half-blind tasting,” I observe that the nocebo response to a $5 price tag is stronger than the placebo response to a $50 price tag. To interpret these preliminary results, I borrow some insights from prospect theory. (JEL Classifications: C91, D81, L66, M31, Q11)