Analysis of international competitive positioning of quality wine from Spain

The global vitiviniculture sector is immersed in a dynamic of systemic and thorough changes. Spain holds a privileged position in the global scene, ranking first place in surface area, third in production and second in export volume. In recent years interior consumption has experienced a clear and defined recession, the same as in the case of France and Italy. Therefore, exportation has become the main commercial exit for table and quality wine. In Spain, designated quality wine represents 50% of the total production and has undergone differentiated commercial dynamics compared to table wine in international markets. The object of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing the competitiveness in international markets for quality wine, represented by Designations of Origin. After defining a competitivity index, adapted from the Balassa index, and with environmental and internal variables, three panel data models of the most representative Designations were specified for the 2000/2001 to 2009/2010 seasons. The results showed that environmental variables were more determinant toward understanding the weak competitive international positioning of the more outdistanced Designations. European public regulation by the Common Agricultural Policy ( CAP) and the economic crisis have turned out to be significant and explanatory in this regard. Economies of scale, quality, and unit cost were the most determinant of the interior factors for the most competitive quality wine production areas