Christophe Baron Prize
for the Best Conference Presentation
The Christophe Baron Prize for the best wine economics presentation at an AAWE Annual Conference is donated by Christophe Baron of Cayuse Vineyards, Walla Walla, Washington and consists of six bottles of Cayuse Syrah.
Christophe is a native of the Champagne region in France where his family has made champagne for centuries. He studied viticulture and enology in Champagne and Burgundy and in 1993, came to the U.S. to further his training. Among others, he has worked with Adelsheim Vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and interned at Waterbrook Winery in Walla Walla, Washington. After being a “flying winemaker” in Australia, New Zealand, and Romania for a few years, Christophe wanted to start his own vineyards and returned to the Pacific Northwest. In 1996, he bought an old 10-acre orchard covered with softball-sized cobblestones fifteen miles south of Walla Walla, Washington. He called the venture Cayuse Vineyards, after a Native American tribe whose name was derived from the French word “cailloux”—which means “stones.” In the decade since, it has grown to seven vineyards, soon to be eight, encompassing more than 55 acres. What was considered by many a foolish gamble on that field of stones has been rewarded year after year with some of the most acclaimed wines in the region—and in the nation. “Those stones are the reason I’m here in Walla Walla,” Christophe says. “It’s certainly not for the night life.”
The Christophe Baron Prize thus acknowledges outstanding economic work, sometimes conducted off the beaten track, service to the association, and utter dedication to the discipline of wine economics (often done instead of glittering night life).
2010 Davis
Jing Cao and Lynne Stokes (both Southern Methodist University)
Evaluation of Wine Judge Performance through Three Characteristics: Bias, Discrimination, and Variation
Magali Delmas (UC Los Angeles)
Consumers’ Responses to Wine Eco-Labels
Bernd Frick (University of Paderborn)
The Impact of Individual and Collective Reputation on Wine Prices: Empirical Evidence from the Mosel Valley
Local Organization: Julian Alston (UC Davis), Jonathan Barker (UC Davis), Leslie “Bees” Butler (UC Davis), Clare Hasler (UC Davis), James T. Lapsley (UC Davis), Stephen Sawyer (City of Vacaville, CA)
2009 Reims
Coco Krumme (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
A Nose by any other Name: Descriptions as Signals for Wine Price
Carlos Ramirez (George Mason University)
Do Words Add Value? The Effects of Wine Descriptions on Wine Prices: Evidence from Napa
Alex Robinson (Whitman College)
Exchange Rate Pass-Through to U.S. Import Prices. Evidence from the Wine Market
Local Organization: Christian Barrère (University of Reims), Stephen Charters (Reims Management School), Olivier Gergaud (University of Reims), David Ménival (Reims Management School)
2008 Portland
Robert Hodgson (Humboldt State University and Fieldbrook Winery)
An Examination of Judge Reliability at a major U.S. Wine Competition
Peter Roberts (Emory University)
Basking in Reflected Glory: Substantive and Symbolic Implications of Winemaker Mobility
Local Organization: Mellie Pullman (Portland State University), Karl Storchmann (Whitman College)
2007 Trier
The Liquid Assets Prize of the AAWE/VDQS was awarded to
Peter Roberts (Emory University)
Critical Exposure and P-Q Relationships for New World Wine in the US Market
The AAWE Prize was awarded to
Paolo Buonanno (University of Bergamo) and
Paolo Vanin (University of Padova)
Bowling Alone, Drinking Together
Local Organization: Dieter Sadowski (University of Trier), Karl Storchmann (Whitman College)