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Wine Tasters, Ratings, and En Primeur Prices

Masset, Philippe ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe ; Cossutta, Mathieu

In: Journal of Wine Economics, 2015, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 75-107

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    Title
    • Wine Tasters, Ratings, and En Primeur Prices
    Author
    • Masset, Philippe. Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, CH-1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland
    • Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe. Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, CH-1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland; e-mail: jean-philippe.weisskopf@ehl.ch.
    • Cossutta, Mathieu. Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, CH-1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland; e-mail: mathieu.cossutta@ehl.ch.
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Journal of Wine Economics, 2015, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 75-107. Cambridge University Press
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:302352
    Summary
    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)