Why this topic?

Much has been written about wine’s globalization over the past two decades, during which time the share of global wine production exported more than trebled, to around 30%. But other dramatic
changes are in store for the next two decades, both in production (climate change, concentration and multinationalization of firm ownership in winemaking and retailing, emergence of Asian wineries) and consumption (income growth, population ageing, westernization of diets, environmental and health and concerns of consumers, wine taxation and regulation). Together these forces are altering national and regional comparative advantages, inter- and intra-national trade, and investment patterns.

Why Adelaide?

• Capital of the state of South Australia, where nearly half Australia’s winegrapes and two-thirds of Australia’s wine exports originate;
• Has four major wine regions within an hour’s drive (Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek/Southern Fleurieu) and Clare Valley and Coonawarra just a little further away;
• University of Adelaide is the nation’s premier wine research and teaching university and is part of the adjacent Wine Innovation Cluster which includes the Australian Wine Research Institute.

Why February 7-9?

• Late summer, vintage is about to happen; Sunday 7th will be a fieldtrip to nearby wine regions.
• Workshop precedes the Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES, www.aares.info) on 10-12 February 2010, which will have a strong food and wine theme (in addition to resource & environmental economics).
• Wine economics papers that cannot fit into the plenary or parallel sessions of the workshop or are not consistent with the workshop theme will be forwarded to the receiver of abstracts of Contributed Papers for the AARES conference.