The Economics of Elegance: Tasting Profile, Ratings, and Pricing of Pinot Noir Across Wine Regions
Philippe Masset
Victor Motta
“When it’s great, Pinot Noir produces the most complex,
hedonistic and remarkably thrilling red wine in the world.”
(Robert Parker)
This paper has several objectives. The first is to define the typical profile of a Pinot Noir in terms of its olfactory and aromatic attributes and its overall structure. The second objective is to study the differences in profile between Pinot Noirs from different regions and different vintages. The third objective, closely linked to the previous one, is to identify the key elements that distinguish a Pinot Noir judged good by an expert from a great Pinot Noir, worthy of a score of 95 points or more. The fourth objective is to analyze prices to understand how the market values the different attributes associated with a Pinot Noir (origin, quality/score, profile and their interactions). This analysis will also make it possible to study the evolution of Pinot Noirs by region and to discuss their possible convergence in terms of profile and/or quality. To achieve the above objectives, this article uses data from Wine Enthusiast. Our database contains a total of 13,272 tasting notes and reviews for Pinot Noir wines from various regions and countries, including California (6,896 observations), Oregon (2,786), Burgundy (1,550), and New Zealand (509). These ratings cover wines from vintages 2010 to 2019, and were awarded by 20 international experts following tastings that took place between 2017 and 2020. Our methodology involves extracting elements from the tasting notes using natural language processing, sentiment analysis and machine learning, and analyzing the relationship between attributes and scores and prices using regression techniques.
Philippe Masset holds a Ph.D. from the University of Fribourg (2012). His research areas are Empirical Finance, Alternative Investments, Wine Economics, Hospitality Financial Management and Hotel Real-Estate Investments. He has been visiting professor at the University of Bordeaux and he is member of several academic associations including the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE), Bordeaux Wine Economics (BWE), and a member of the Board of the European Association of Wine Economists (EuAWE). He is a founding member of the Alliance for Research on Wine and Hospitality Management (ARWHM). He has published several papers in international journals such as Emerging Market Review, European Financial Management, Journal of Alternative Investments, and in the Handbook of Financial Econometrics and Statistics and got substantial coverage in the media (e.g., Bloomberg, Reuters, Radio Télévision Suisse, Bilan, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, China Daily, La Repubblica). He has taught courses in finance (Financial Management, Corporate Finance, Investments, Real-Estate Finance, Risk Management, Wine Economics & Finance) at several academic institutions. He is also a member of the Investment Committee of Hotela, the President of the Foundation Council of Prévotel pension fund, and a member of the RCSO Economie & Management (HES-SO).
Victor Motta has a Bachelor's degree in economics (B.A), applied mathematics and statistics (B.Sc.) from King University, in Tennessee, a Master's degree in applied economics and a Ph.D in business administration and a minor in applied statistics from the Pennsylvania State University. His international professional experience includes - UAE, Oman, Thailand, India, China and Egypt. He spent nearly 1.5 years living in Russia and China to study both Russian and Chinese language and literature at Moscow State University and Hebei University, respectively. He is currently serving as Associate Professor of International Finance at SKEMA Business School. Previous academic positions held at São Paulo School of Business Administration - Fundação Getúlio Vargas and Fundação Dom Cabral. His research interest broadly focuses on microfinance, financial inclusion, financial literacy and private sector development. Teaching interest mainly comprises microfinance and financial inclusion, international finance and applied econometrics. Main publications have appeared in leading international peer reviewed journals, such as Journal of Financial Stability, Small Business Economics, Tourism Economics, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Journal of School Health, among others.