Journal of Wine Research

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Great wine from the great white north? Producer’s
product positioning and marketing mix for
Canadian icewine
Ulrich Paschen, David Kerruish & Jeremy White
To cite this article: Ulrich Paschen, David Kerruish & Jeremy White (2021) Great wine from the
great white north? Producer’s product positioning and marketing mix for Canadian icewine, Journal
of Wine Research, 32:1, 55-66, DOI: 10.1080/09571264.2021.1932779
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09571264.2021.1932779

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JOURNAL OF WINE RESEARCH
2021, VOL. 32, NO. 1, 55–66
https://doi.org/10.1080/09571264.2021.1932779

Great wine from the great white north? Producer’s product
positioning and marketing mix for Canadian icewine
Ulrich Paschen

a,b

, David Kerruisha and Jeremy Whitea

a

Department of Industrial Marketing, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden; bBusiness
Management Department, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, BC, Canada
ABSTRACT

ARTICLE HISTORY

Icewine is a sizable niche in the Canadian wine industry that has
attracted little attention from marketing and branding
researchers. A first step in understanding the marketing mix and
brand positioning strategies was to develop a modified
Aesthetics and Ontology (AO) framework to classify consumers of
luxury wines and spirits specifically focused on icewine. This
paper examines where Canadian icewine producers place their
brand and consumers within this AO typology. The authors
applied a thematic analysis approach to categorize five semistructured interviews with representatives of Canadian icewine
producers. The modified AO framework was applied to the
findings to assess the positioning of the respective icewine
brands. The analysis uncovered decidedly homogenous
approaches to the positioning and marketing of Canadian
icewine. Most purchasers were regarded as novices, with the
largest portion of purchases occurring at duty free retail
locations; on-site winery experiences comprise a secondary
channel. Applying the modified AO framework, the predominant
customer group was identified as the ‘carouser’. Product
variances, pricing strategies, and product packaging were
comparatively minor. This homogenous approach to branding
and marketing mix should be further explored to understand the
potential for alternative and distinct positioning methodologies
for Canadian icewine producers.

Received 15 February 2021
Accepted 13 May 2021
KEYWORDS

Branding; wine marketing;
icewine; wine brand
positioning; typology; travel
retail

Introduction
Canadian table wines have been relatively unknown in the wine industry, with Canada
accounting for a mere 0.5% of a global production of 28.4 billion litres (CVA, 2018).
Icewine is a niche luxury product that has become synonymous with Canada in recent
decades (Dorozynski, 2011). The relative prominence of the product in Canada stands
in contrast with a limited academic literature, especially in relation to the business
aspects of icewine production, marketing, and branding.
CONTACT Ulrich Paschen

ulrich.michael.paschen@ltu.se

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

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U. PASCHEN ET AL.

Background
Icewine is produced by extracting and fermenting juice from grapes naturally frozen while
still on the vine. It is widely accepted that eiswein (or icewine) was discovered in Germany
in the late eighteenth century when an early frost froze the riesling grapes that were still
hanging on the vine. Vintners attempted to salvage the harvest by crushing the crop,
resulting in an extremely concentrated and sweet wine (Bowen, 2010). Europe’s production has remained low due to the absence of consistent low winter temperatures
(Diggs, 2011). Canadian conditions, however, are more reliable, which has led to
icewine becoming an iconic product for Canadian vintners. In just over three decades,
icewine in Canada has progressed from a fledgling, experimental industry to dominating
the world market of this luxury product. In some recent years, 100% of the world’s authentic icewine has been produced in Canada. In more typical years, the Canadian share is
around 90% (Csanady, 2015). Canada’s unique climate and a focus on quality has served
to place Canadian icewine producers on a successful trajectory.
From its first steps in 1973, undertaken by Hainle Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan region, the icewine industry in Canada grew to international acclaim with a Grand
Prix d’Honneur at the 1991 Vinexpo (Jones & Hirasawa, 2008). By 2015, the industry was
exporting over 234,000 litres of icewine annually (CVA, 2018). The value of icewine to
Canada is underscored by the fact icewine accounts for just 0.3% of wine export
volume, yet contributes 25% of the export value generated by the Canadian wine
industry.
Despite contributing one quarter of Canada’s export wine value, little attention has
been paid to understanding the positioning or marketing mix that has underpinned
this success. Further, it is approaching two decades since the most cited works on the
topic were published (e.g. Hashimoto & Telfer, 1999) and these publications therefore
have not considered the impact of recent market changes, namely the decline of sales
to Japanese tourists and the more recent decline of sales to Chinese buyers in Canada.
These shifts in consumer groups, together with the enduring importance of icewine to
overall Canadian wine exports, highlight the need for renewed research on the positioning and marketing of Canadian icewine.

Literature review
Brand positioning frameworks
The positioning of a brand has long been acknowledged as a core branding activity
(Romaniuk, 2001). Numerous researchers have defined brand positioning as an association of a brand in the mind of customers relative to its competitors in a way that
enables sustainable competitive advantage (Gwin & Gwin, 2003). A firm’s brand positioning strategy increases the customer’s perception, gaining competitive advantage and
strengthening superiority or value over other brands (Aaker, 1996). Hence, companies
must identify their brand capabilities in order to become a potential source of competitive
advantage and build a strong brand positioning around their own capabilities (Beverland
et al., 2007).
Aaker (1996) places brand position within a brand implementation system, with a
brand positioning statement detailing the parts of the brand identity to be implemented.

JOURNAL OF WINE RESEARCH

57

Keller’s (1993) integrated brand planning model ties brand positioning to a brand resonance model, which in turn drives a brand value-chain model. Much of the research has
focused on empirical testing of Keller’s and Aaker’s models and related constructs such
as brand identity (Malik et al., 2016; Romaniuk, 2001). Kuhn et al. (2008) tested the applicability of Keller’s (2003) consumer-based brand equity pyramid in a business to business
(B2B) setting. Their findings highlighted discrepancies in the applicability of Keller’s (2003)
consumer-based framework to an industrial market. Romaniuk (2001) also drew into question the generalizability of Aaker and Keller’s models across all industries.
While Aaker and Keller’s respective models are the most widely cited in twenty-first
century brand positioning research, they are not the only frameworks. Narrative branding
positions a brand through telling a narrative or story. Without a focus on benefits and
attributes, the five elements of narrative branding – brand story, consumer journey,
visual express for the brand, sensory engagement, and role of the brand in consumers’
lives – centre on the customer and creating emotive connections (Ringer & Thibodeau,
2007 as cited in Kotler & Keller, 2006). A similar approach is Holt’s (2004) cultural branding,
which describes a long-term approach where cultural symbolism and deeper cultural perspectives are systematically applied to position a brand as iconic. These broader views
may be considered especially useful in the context of luxury brands, which form the
focus of our research.

Luxury brand positioning frameworks
In 2017, the global market for luxury goods grew by 5% to nearly €1.2 trillion, led by sales
of luxury cars at €489 billion (D’Arpizio et al., 2017). Luxury food and wine rose 6% year
over year, with spirits growing faster than wines (D’Arpizio et al., 2017). With luxury
goods forecasted to continue an upward growth trend, there is huge opportunity for
luxury brand marketers.
Traditionally, income and price have been viewed as the primary drivers of what goods
an individual can and will purchase, and for many products, this is true. For goods such as
appliances, cars, and education, the decision to purchase one brand over another is
largely driven by the cost of the purchase and the income of the purchaser (Dubois &
Duquesne, 1993). Following this logic, it would not be a jump to posit that luxury
goods are the domain of the wealthy; and income should play a dominant role in segmenting the luxury market. This, however, would be a misleading statement as it neglects
to take into consideration the cultural and social aspects of why consumers purchase
luxury goods (Dubois & Duquesne, 1993).
It is important to differentiate a premium good from a luxury good. Dion & Arnould
(2011) define premium goods as those that are end-range products and have better
quality and higher prices than traditional goods, but still lack other characteristics
reserved for luxury goods. For example, Phau & Prendegrast (2000) assert that luxury
brands are characterized by those that ‘(1) evoke exclusivity, (2) a well-known brand identity, (3) increase brand awareness and perceived quality … and (4) retain sales levels and
customer’s loyalty’ (p. 124). The authors use these characteristics to extend the notion of
the ‘Rarity Principle’. That is, if everyone owns a particular ‘luxury’ brand, it ceases to truly
be a luxury brand. Other authors have defined luxury using further characteristics such as
quality, exclusivity, history, and sensuality (Kapferer, 1997). The characteristics view of

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luxury goods, however, still often overlooks social and cultural aspects that provide
context for what constitutes luxury.
In fact, culture and social aspects play an important role in determining what is luxury
and why one would purchase a luxury good. Dubois & Duquesne (1993) find that individuals with a positive attitude towards cultural change are more likely to purchase luxury
goods than those who prefer the status quo. Further, the authors posit that luxury
goods can satisfy ‘hedonic’ purposes, finding that individuals may purchase luxury
goods for simply symbolic reasons rather than for reasons of quality. Others, the
authors contend, purchase luxury goods as an extension of their personality via
possessions.
Berthon et al. (2009) also see luxury goods as more than just a collection of characteristics. Luxury is a concept that is deeply tied to both social and individual contexts, as well
as the material value the product brings. Luxury brands thus have three distinct and interrelated dimensions: Experiential (what a brand means to an individual), Symbolic (what
meaning the brand takes on in a social context), and Functional (the physical attributes
the brand possesses). Building on this, Berthon et al. (2009) define a typology of luxury
brands, based on the two dimensions of aesthetics and ontology, arguing that each quadrant on the two-by-two matrix can represent a different market for the same luxury good:
the Postmodern (those who love the ‘latest hot thing’), the Wabi sabi (those who view
luxury as ephemeral), The Modern (commercialized luxury), and the Classic (experts
who fully appreciate the special quality of a luxury item). We will utilize this framework
as a basis for our empirical work, as previous adaptions by J. Paschen et al. (2016) and
de Fauconberg et al. (2018) have demonstrated its particular suitability to the purpose.

Scholarly literature on positioning icewine in Canada
In scholarly literature, icewine has been well represented in articles that focus largely on
the product and its creation, covering aspects of viticulture, oenology, and sensory experiences (Chamberlain et al., 1997; Pigeau & Inglis, 2007; Rolle et al., 2010; Synos et al., 2015).
In addition, there is a sizeable body of work that examines the unique economics of
icewine production. Risk management is a particular focus here, as the requirement to
leave grapes hanging on the vine for months longer than regular table wine introduces
additional risks to growers and vintners (Cyr & Kusy, 2007; Turvey et al., 2006).
In the wider management literature, however, icewine has received comparatively little
attention. There are few exceptions, which curiously seem to focus mostly on Inniskillin
winery. Most notably, this would be a Harvard Business School case study by Jones & Hirasawa (2008) on Inniskillin and the globalization of icewine, and examinations of Inniskillin’s strategy of marketing exclusively to the niche market of Japanese tourists by focusing
on a well-known culture of gift-giving and souvenir shopping (Hashimoto & Telfer, 1999;
Teller & Hashimoto, 2000). The lack of broader literature on icewine is surprising in the
face of the previously described significant volume and revenue growth of this specialty
product, as well as its importance for Canada’s wine exports. It is similarly noteworthy that
icewine has not been included in the conversation about wine as a luxury good, even
among wine scholars, although it is widely perceived as luxury by wine producers, merchants, and consumers (Lee, 2013; Lois, 2015). These different perspectives, and the lack
of attention icewine has received in academic discussions of luxury wines, motivated our

JOURNAL OF WINE RESEARCH

59

empirical investigation into how icewine producers position their products as luxury
items. Continuing previous work by U. Paschen et al. (2017), the current research
intends to address a part of the identified gap.

Model
Modelled on Berthon et al.’s (2009) aesthetics and ontology framework for luxury brands,
J. Paschen et al. (2016) have adapted a typology specifically targeting the luxury wine and
spirits market, with a particular emphasis on icewine. Their framework divides the novice
from the expert in the aesthetic dimension, while it differentiates transience and endurance in the ontological dimension. These two dimensions yield classifications for four distinct consumer groups: Carousers register as novices in the aesthetic dimension, while the
ontological mode underscores the transient. In this category, customers lack the requisite
knowledge to genuinely appreciate luxury wines or spirits, but they do relish the status
conveyed by the extravagant goods they are consuming. Cabinet collectors are novices
as well, but the ontological mode highlights the enduring. Like carousers, cabinet collectors usually do not have a genuine appreciation for luxury products, but they are affluent
enough to gather a collection of ‘conspicuous possessions’ (Berthon et al., 2009, p. 52) in
their wine cellar – notwithstanding the fact that bottles may be kept incorrectly or not
even be appreciated by its owner.
Contrary to the two previous types, the connoisseur is a subject matter expert and a
veritable consumer whose behaviour emphasizes the transient. Wine connoisseurs are
the example in this quadrant most relevant to this paper; they are oenophiles who
savour everything about the consumption of wine – from the first uncorking, through
a full sensory examination of colour hues, bouquet, and taste by swirling, smelling, and
sipping, to finally sharing their thoughts on it. In short, connoisseurs are much more interested in the pleasure they derive from the wine than the prestige. Lastly, the cellar collector also possesses expertise, but the ontological dimension stresses the enduring. The
same as connoisseurs, they hold a profound reverence for fine wines, but rather than
appreciating them as a momentary enjoyment, cellar collectors believe in the lasting
value of their collection, either for own consumption in the future, or as an
investment. J. Paschen et al. (2016) have demonstrated how this typology can be specifically adapted to identify icewine customer segments and have additionally suggested
several possible adjustments to the marketing mix of icewine which would help
enhance the way each target segment is focused on.

Method
Data collection
Our study examines how icewine producers position icewine as a luxury product. Given
the exploratory nature of our inquiry, we deemed a qualitative research approach best
suited for our investigation. Qualitative research is often used to understand ‘complex
issues that may not be immediately implicit in surface responses’ (Goulding, 2005,
p. 301). It allows researchers to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances
related to the problem at hand.

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Semi-structured interviews with five Canadian icewine makers located in the Niagaraon-the-Lake region, Ontario, were conducted. Careful consideration was given to the
choice of icewine producers: not only did the five companies interviewed represent a sizeable share of the Canadian icewine market, they also encompassed different types of
business models. This breadth allowed us to examine similarities and differences in
how producers market their icewine in the context of luxury. Interviews were conducted
with senior representatives from:
.
.

.

.

.

Peller Estates Winery, a publicly traded company, with more than 50 years of winemaking history (Andrew Peller Limited – Corporate overview, 2015).
Inniskillin, at the time of the interviews a brand owned by US-based Constellation
Brands. Constellation is a publicly traded, multinationally active company, billed as
the ‘#1 premium wine producer in the world’ (Constellation Brands – About us, 2015).
Mike Weir Wines: Professional Golfer Mike Weir founded the company in 2005 out of a
personal love of wine and to raise money for the Mike Weir Foundation, dedicated to
advancing the welfare of children in Canada (Stanley, 2014).
Chateau des Charmes: This family-owned estate winery is based on seven generations
of winemaking background, brought to Canada from France when Paul Bosc and his
family relocated here in the 1960s (Château des Charmes, 2015).
Henry of Pelham: The winery is a second-generation family-owned estate winery, operated on lands that have been in the family since the late eighteenth century. Three
brothers are the current proprietors and have fully embraced current trends from sustainable viticulture to extensive presence on a variety of social media platforms (Henry
of Pelham, 2017).

The interviews were conducted either over the phone or in-person. Each interview
lasted approximately one hour and was audio-recorded, with specific permission
granted by all interviewees to use the non-anonymised data in further research and publication. The interview topics covered were: (i) icewine as a luxury good; (ii) icewine
product range; (iii) icewine demand/consumption; (iv) icewine consumers; (v) icewine
industry. A professional transcription service transcribed the audio-recordings into MSWord files. The research team reviewed a sample of the transcribed interviews, compared
them word-for-word with the original audio data, and concluded that the text files represent an accurate transcription of the audio files.

Data analysis
For the analysis of the data collected in the five interviews, we deemed a thematic analysis
approach appropriate, as the method enables a search for themes by recognizing patterns within the data (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). Following Braun and Clarke
(2006), we employed thematic analysis as a realist method to organize and describe
our data set in rich detail.
In our analysis, we used the deductive approach outlined by Crabtree and Miller (1999)
and followed the phases of thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (2006). The
first stage of analysis consisted of an in-depth immersion into the data, including a
detailed revision of the transcripts to ensure accuracy between the audio recordings

JOURNAL OF WINE RESEARCH

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and their written equivalent, at the same time constituting a first interpretative act
(Lapadat & Lindsay, 1999). The aim then was to generate initial codes that were subsequently collated into themes, which were mapped into thematic maps. These initial
themes were then reviewed on two levels: the first review occurred at the level of the
coded data extracts to verify if the themes formed coherent patterns. The final review substantiated that the themes reflected the meanings evident in the dataset as a whole.
Lastly, the themes were defined and named in the context of J. Paschen et al.’s (2016)
modified AO typology. The outcome of this analysis is presented in this paper.

Findings
The in-depth interviews that were conducted as part of this research ended up uncovering approaches to positioning and marketing Canadian icewine that were remarkably
consistent among the group of interviewees, largely irrespective of the size of the
company the individuals represented. All had chosen the travel retail market, and more
specifically airport-based duty-free stores, as their principal distribution channel. The generally accepted view of the average retail customer in this sales channel was that most
buyers of icewine were considered novices that did not have any significant knowledge
about wine in general or icewine in particular. A substantial share of the product was
assumed to be intended as a gift for a third party, most often a colleague, social, or
business connection of meaningful importance to the actual purchaser of the icewine.
This is assumed to generate considerable involvement on the part of the purchaser (U.
Paschen et al., 2018), while the purchaser was regarded as an intermediary between
the interviewed producers and the ultimate consumer of the icewine. This caused all interviewees to acknowledge that they had limited understanding of the possible positioning
of the actual consumer on the aesthetics scale of the framework, i.e. none of the producers knew whether the person who would end up drinking their product would be an
expert or a novice.
A secondary sales channel that all companies utilized was that of estate or winerydirect sales. All wineries offered culinary experiences through either permanent or seasonal restaurants, as well as wine-themed event locations with wine-oriented catering and
some sort of on-site retail store. Across respondents, an important goal of these activities,
apart from establishing the connection with the wine’s terroir to authenticate the complete wine experience, is educating the consumer. Introducing icewine with a range of
uses, perfectly served and delightfully paired, is a well-defined effort to move consumers
from novice to expert on the aesthetics scale that is common across all interviewees.
Additional efforts to further the knowledge of customers were carried out in varying
degrees of intensity and focused on tastings, retail staff training and on-site events in
the travel retail stores that carry icewine of the represented brands. The spectrum here
ranged from occasional support of staff training or sampling activities to having fulltime staff employed by the winery present at the point of sale in various airport locations.
Only some interviewees undertook comparatively limited efforts to address existing
experts, like star sommeliers or Michelin-starred restaurateurs.
The ontological dimension of the AO typology was largely defined by the physical
characteristics of icewine as described by the interviewees. Among them, consensus surfaced that icewine substantially alters its attributes through prolonged periods of

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cellaring. It loses its original crisp and fruity nature, transforming into a darker liquid with
heavier notes that are not generally associated with icewine. After a period of storage that
was generally estimated to be around five years, icewine would more closely resemble
classic fortified dessert wines, such as Port, Sherry, Madeira, or Marsala. While the interviewees acknowledged that this changed quality of aged icewine is not considered a defect
among experts, it was commonly assumed that this transformation would be regarded as
undesirable by consumers. Consequently, transience as an aesthetic mode was considered to be an almost inherent attribute of icewine, offering little opportunity to
cellar it for more than five years and thereby preventing the targeting of collectors as a
positioning strategy. In summary, the icewine producers that were interviewed for this
research targeted predominantly carousers as identified in J. Paschen et al.’s (2016)
modified AO typology. The efforts to appeal to or create connoisseurs were limited.
Following a similar trajectory, the different brands represented in our research sample
also employed a very similar marketing mix to position their products and brands in the
marketplace. Variances in product between the different wineries were comparatively
minor, and would be perceptible mostly to an expert audience. All offered a standard
set of icewines based on vidal, riesling, and cabernet franc grapes, which are varietals
that are commonly used for the production of Canadian icewine. Vidal is regarded as a
benchmark product, because this resilient grape forms the basis for the bulk of the
icewine volume. Riesling and cabernet franc grapes are more delicate; icewine based
on these varietals are regarded as the most premium offerings for icewine. In terms of
differentiation between brands, however, even the price bands encountered in the
market within each varietal were narrow. The represented wineries largely resisted
attempts to broaden the customer base down-market, except for the fact that a significant portion of the product was offered in 200 ml bottles that resulted in a lower purchase
price per bottle compared to the traditional standard of a 375 ml ‘half bottle’ of wine. The
only outlier on the price spectrum seemed to be Inniskillin, which viewed their brand recognition as a sufficient differentiator to position their product at a significant premium of
up to 20% to the competition. Only Peller Estates undertook a meaningful endeavour to
introduce a super-premium icewine with their ‘Brix 5o’ product, which retailed at $450, a
multiple of the more regular offering. Emphasis on ‘giftable’ packaging was universal, as
all producers realized its importance in light of the large part of product purchases that
was seen as being intended for gifting. The packaging solutions that the different producers chose varied, ranging from label graphics intended to invoke a luxury impression to
cardboard or wooden gift boxes.
The substance of the marketing measures described in our interviews reinforced the
impression that the wineries targeted predominantly carousers in their offering. It
appeared that any efforts to expand icewine’s appeal to a larger target market that
would include consumers from the other quadrants of the modified AO typology were
limited.

Conclusion and contributions to knowledge and practice
Using semi-structured interviews as a data set, this paper investigated the brand positioning strategies of Canadian icewine manufacturers. Drawing specifically on Berthon et al.’s
(2009) AO framework of luxury brands, and J. Paschen et al.’s (2016) adaptation of the AO

JOURNAL OF WINE RESEARCH

63

framework for the wine industry, the authors find that Canadian icewine manufacturers
follow a similar formula when marketing their goods.
Both from a contextual and characteristic perspective, Canadian icewine manufacturers tend to rely on a specific set of attributes when developing marketing strategies.
For example, all manufacturers rely on the same set of icewines based on vidal, riesling,
and cabernet franc grapes. All icewine manufacturers sell their goods in a very similar
price range, and all Canadian icewine manufacturers use travel and airport channels as
a primary vehicle for product sales. Fundamentally, Canadian icewine manufacturers
market their goods as gifts, primarily to the Asian marketplace. In terms of the AO typology, Canadian icewine manufacturers stick to the carousers segment. In short, the authors
find that there is a lack of differentiation between Canadian icewine brands.
This paper contributes to practice by outlining conceivable avenues for brand differentiation among Canadian icewine manufacturers. Possible actions here might target the perceived transience of the product and could include measures ranging from bottling icewine
under vacuum or using dark bottles to minimize oxidization, to innovations to the traditional cork closure. Efforts to position icewine so that existing experts are addressed, or
new ones are created also seem like an under-utilized strategy and could therefore be
strengthened. In combination, these measures may aid in positioning icewine in all four
quadrants of J. Paschen et al.’s (2016) modified AO typology, thereby broadening its appeal.
This research has also contributed to knowledge by operationalizing both Berthon
et al.’s (2009) original, and J. Paschen et al.’s (2016) modified AO typology. The findings
show that the typologies can provide useful guidance in contributing to practice as
well as to the academic literature.

Limitations and suggestions for future research
Notwithstanding the contributions demonstrated above, the current research brings with
it some limitations that should be considered in its applications, or that can serve as an
inspiration to continue the research. Inherent in the qualitative research methodology
used here are limitations to the generalizability of the findings. Since no statistical generalizability can be achieved in a quantitative sense, the sample based on theoretical considerations attains more prominence. Further research with a different subset of industry
players may serve to evaluate if the current research has explanatory value for the experiences of other individuals in a comparable situation.
In addition to these limitations, a substantial body of literature on wine marketing
exists that examines influences on brand positioning like consumer’s perceived and
objective product knowledge (e.g. Robertson et al., 2018; Robson et al., 2014), or the
use of specific extrinsic product attributes employed by consumers to help evaluate a
brand’s position (Robertson et al., 2018). A broader, consumer-oriented study could aim
to both validate the producer-centric view taken in this research and evaluate if the
classification in the AO typology does indeed yield actionable results.

Acknowledgements
We thank the five Canadian vintners (listed in no particular order) for providing extremely helpful
and interesting insights for our research: Greg Berti, Vice-President, Global Markets, Industry

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Relations, Business Development at Andrew Peller Limited; Randy Dufour, Director Travel Retail at
Constellation Brands (Inniskillin); Al Dupuis, Vice President of Sales at Mike Weir Wines; Paul Bosc,
President & CEO at Chateau des Charmes Wines; and Daniel Speck, Vice President Sales/Marketing
at Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery and President at Family Wine Merchants.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID
Ulrich Paschen

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1275-1632

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