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Wine Tasters, Ratings, and En Primeur Prices*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2015

Philippe Masset ,
Jean-Philippe Weisskopf  and
Mathieu Cossutta
Philippe Masset*
Affiliation:
Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, CH-1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland
Jean-Philippe Weisskopf
Affiliation:
Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, CH-1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland; e-mail: jean-philippe.weisskopf@ehl.ch.
Mathieu Cossutta
Affiliation:
Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, CH-1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland; e-mail: mathieu.cossutta@ehl.ch.
*
(corresponding author) e-mail: philippe.masset@ehl.ch.
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Abstract

This paper examines the ratings of 12 influential wine critics on the Bordeaux en primeur market over the vintages 2003–2012. We hypothesize that wine experts differ significantly in their rating approach and influence on prices. We find that European critics are less transparent and in general more severe in their scoring than their American counterparts. Experts also appear to reach a relatively strong consensus on overall wine quality but have more diverse opinions on wines that achieve a surprising level of quality given the vintage, the ranking, or the appellation from which they originate. Our evidence also suggests that Robert Parker and Jean-Marc Quarin are the most influential critics, as a 10% surprise in their scores leads to a price increase of around 7%. We further find that their impact is higher for appellations and estates that are not covered by the official 1855 classification and for the best vintages. (JEL Classifications: C60, G11, Q11)

Keywords

en primeurexpert ratingsfine winewine futures
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Wine Economics , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , May 2015 , pp. 75 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2015 

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Footnotes

*

We thank participants at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE), Karl Storchmann (the editor), and an anonymous referee for valuable comments and suggestions. We are indebted to Alain Bradfer, Anne-Christine Erlekam-Vogel for sharing their data and expertise on wine prices and Bertrand Le Guern and François Mauss for sharing their data and expertise on wine scores with us. All remaining errors are those of the authors.

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