The World Wine Market and the Competitiveness of the Southern Hemisphere Countries, 1961-2010

Abstract

The global wine market has undergone intense changes in recent decades after a sharp increase in the competitiveness of the new Southern Hemisphere exporters. The dynamism of the New World and increased demand for new consumer countries have accelerated the process of wine globalization. We study the global competition and the main changes in the world wine trade from 1961 to 2010. The article shows the relative distribution of exports in the Old and New World, and it examines the comparative advantage of foreign trade through the Revealed Competitive Advantage Index (RCA). It concludes showing the Southern Hemisphere growing competitiveness in the global market, mainly from Chile, from the 1990s, and Argentina in the last decade.