categorisation) appear to have a significant positive
impact on the prices that consumers are willing to
pay for premium wines, after taking into account
their own reputation assessment for grape varieties
and growing regions. This is equally true for Australia
and New Zealand. It is consistent with the earlier
study for Australia for 1991–92 by Oczkowski
(1994) and with Schamel’s (2000) findings for the
United States (based in that case on ratings published
in the U.S. magazine The Wine Spectator), and suggests
consumers value this information in their quest for
greater knowledge about available wines.
Second, the premia consumers are willing to pay
for higher-rated wines (both Halliday’s and Winestate’s)
appear to have trended downwards slightly
over the 1990s. This is true also for Halliday’s winery
ratings. This is consistent with wine consumers
in these two countries becoming more confident in
their own ability to discern the quality of different
wines, and hence less reliant on critics’ ratings.
The third lesson is not unrelated to the second.
It is that there is a clear trend towards greater
regional and varietal differentiation, at least within
Australia. This too suggests a greater proportion of
consumers are becoming more discerning, which
presumably is being reflected in vineyard land