Wine, business and marketing

It seems to be the thing to do these days – focus on wine and “business”. (Actually makes a nice change from discussions on “terroir”.) Earlier this year saw the creation of the American Association of Wine Economists that also publishes a refereed journal (the Harvard Business Review of wine?) called The Journal of Wine Economics. Also, not long ago The Third International Wine Business & Marketing Conference i Montpellier. Both of these (the AAWE and the conference) are very scientific things with participation primarily from researchers but they cover a number of interesting topics, both practicl things like tasting methodology and more market oriented themes as customer perceptions and marketing. More “populist” are two other events: Every January Skalli & Rein (a French consultancy) organises the conference WineEvolution that discusses market opportunities across the globe and how better to sell wines. Another business conference is organised by William Reed called The International Wine Conference 2006 on September 6. In spite of its name this conference seems to have a much more UK focus but is also talking about how to sell and market your wine to consumers. We are particularly interested in this kind of information and events so if you are active in this area, do keep us informed.