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Who Will Replace Parker? A Copula Function Analysis of Bordeaux En Primeur Wine Raters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2019

Don Cyr ,
Lester Kwong  and
Ling Sun
Don Cyr*
Affiliation:
Goodman School of Business, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada, and Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) at Brock University
Lester Kwong
Affiliation:
Goodman School of Business, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada, and Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) at Brock University; e-mail: lkwong@brocku.ca.
Ling Sun
Affiliation:
Goodman School of Business, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada; e-mail: lsun@brocku.ca.
*
e-mail: dcyr@brocku.ca (corresponding author).
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Abstract

The influence of the wine rater Robert Parker Jr. on Bordeaux wine extended over a 40-year period, with a particular impact on en primeur wine prices. Consequently, his announcement in 2015 that he would no longer rate en primeur wines creates some uncertainty for many chateaux that have purposely designed their production with his palate and preferences in mind. Although the wine rater Neal Martin was named by Parker to be his successor in terms of en primeur wine ratings, there are several other wine critics who have consistently rated en primeur wines over several years. Consequently, we employ copula function analysis to explore which wine critics’ ratings exhibit the closest linear and nonlinear relationship, for right bank en primeur wines, with those of Parker. The study employs data over the period of 2005 through 2012, during which time several wine critics, including Neal Martin for the period of 2010–2012, rated en primeur wines alongside Parker. Our results indicate that of the wine critics that continue to rate en primeur wines, the ratings of James Suckling exhibit the highest rank correlation and also bivariate upper tail dependence, identified through copula function analysis, with those of Parker. (JEL Classifications: C19, G13, L66)

Keywords

copula functionsen primeurwine critics
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Wine Economics , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 133 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2019 

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Footnotes

We are grateful to Ms. Sara Yazji for valuable research assistance. We also thank the attendees of the 2018 American Association of Wine Economics Annual Meeting, Karl Storchmann, and an anonymous referee for their valuable comments. All remaining errors are the responsibility of the authors.

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