Evaluating wines? An Exploratory Study of Value Chain Configurations Across Expert and Consumer Rating Systems

Abstract

Adopting an exploratory approach, this paper examines how wineries’ strategic positioning and value chain configurations are associated with wine evaluations under two distinct judgment regimes: expert and consumer ratings. The analysis is based on a dataset of 1,078 observations, obtained by merging data from Wine Spectator, Vivino, and original firm-level survey data. To jointly estimate expert and consumer evaluations, we employ a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model, allowing for correlated error structures across the two rating equations. Three main findings emerge. First, business strategies are associated with both expert and consumer evaluations. Second, quality-oriented value chain configurations are positively associated with both expert and consumer evaluations. Third, the two rating equations display descriptively distinct stage-specific patterns along the value chain, although cross-equation tests do not identify statistically significant differences between the corresponding coefficients. These results contribute to the literature by integrating external evaluations with firm-level value chain configurations. This paper provides practical implications for winemakers and policymakers, particularly in the context of territorial branding and regional promotion strategies.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Wine Economics and Policy, 2026 · DOI ↗