Wine's Globalization: New Opportunities, New Challenges

The second decade of rapid globalization of the wine industry is assessed using a newly-published statistical compendium of global wine markets. A dozen observations are made from those data offer insights into key new opportunities and challenges associated with recent globalization forces. A snapshot of the value, both nationally and globally, of various quality segments of the world's wine markets as of 2009 also is examined. That view of market segments is important for developing a baseline for models used to assess future prospects for different types of grape and wine producers. These data also provide guidance for prioritizing future research agendas for theorists and crosscountry econometric analysts seeking to explain past patterns and developments, as well as for simulation modelers seeking to project where global markets might be headed. The paper finishes by briefly discussing prospects for further developments in wine's globalization.