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Too Much of a Good Thing? Causes and Consequences of Increases in Sugar Content of California Wine Grapes*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2012

Julian M. Alston ,
Kate B. Fuller ,
James T. Lapsley  and
George Soleas
Julian M. Alston
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, andRobert Mondavi Institute Center for Wine Economics at the University of California. e-mail: julian@primal.ucdavis.edu.
Kate B. Fuller
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. e-mail: fuller@primal.ucdavis.edu.
James T. Lapsley
Affiliation:
Department of Viticulture & Enology at the University of California, Davis and UC Agricultural Issues Center, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. e-mail: jtlapsley@ucdavis.edu.
George Soleas
Affiliation:
Quality Assurance and Specialty Services, Liquor Control Board of Ontario, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1401, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1E5, Canada, email: george.soleas@lcbo.com.
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Abstract

The sugar content of California wine grapes has increased significantly over the past 10–20 years, and this implies a corresponding increase in the alcohol content of wine made with those grapes. In this paper we develop a simple model of winegrape production and quality, including sugar content and other characteristics as choice variables along with yield. Using this model we derive hypotheses about alternative theoretical explanations for the phenomenon of rising sugar content of grapes, including effects of changes in climate and producer responses to changes in consumer demand. We analyze detailed data on changes in the sugar content of California wine grapes at crush to obtain insight into the relative importance of the different influences. We buttress this analysis of sugar content of wine grapes with data on the alcohol content of wine. (JEL Classification: Q54, Q19, D12, D22)

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Wine Economics , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , Autumn 2011 , pp. 135 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2011

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