Old world assessment of new world provenance cues: An Italian perspective

Discussion of terroir emerged from “Old World” producers explaining their wines’ provenance and special nature and consumers wondering why one wine’s flavor differs from another’s despite no apparent difference in winemaking. European markets have entertained the concept far longer than their New World counterparts, applying it to a range of agricultural and place-based products. This paper asks how European consumers evaluate a New World wine’s terroir, studying results from a large Discrete Choice Experiment of Italian consumers considering Californian wine. We find a generally negative perception of the legal designation of terroir, expressed through the US American Viticultural Area label, and preference for a relatively broad definition of the wine’s geographic provenance. However, a terroir story focused on the specific site is most popular. Evidence of utility increasing with price suggests the price-quality heuristic. Three latent classes depicting preference models emerge which in turn have implications for producers of place-based products.