The Drivers of Wine Regionality

Abstract

Regionality is the reputation a wine region has for producing wines with a particular style. In a world of over supply, its importance is recognised, but the causes or drivers of regionality have not been researched. This research explored the bases of regionality, first of all in discussions with 20 specialists in Australia, followed then by a survey of 89 wine professionals on the possible drivers of regionality in leading wine regions in Australia. This identified 14 potential drivers of regionality and a discriminant analysis showed the three key drivers to be: specialisation, much discussed by opinion formers, and a well-defined wine style.

Notes

The clean skin is a well-established practice in France where producers only sell their wine via a négociant and where direct sales to the retailer or the public were usually in bulk unlabelled and unbranded form. This was adopted in Australia and New Zealand during the current surplus in wine grape production where ‘semi-generic brand names’ such as Barossa Shiraz have begun to appear on otherwise unlabelled wine.

The definition of a wine region used is the one defined by the relevant governing body in a country, such as the Institut National d'Origine Controlée (INAO) in France and the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation in Australia.

Regions included were: Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Pyrenees, Sunbury, Ballarat, Grampians, Margaret River, Pemberton, Mount Barker, Hunter Valley, Cowra, Orange, Mudgee.

This was part of a fairly lengthy questionnaire and the estimates of regionality and the estimates of the drivers were well separated in the questionnaire so as to minimise the likelihood of cross-contamination between the two.