Qualitative and Quantitative Engineering Criteria of Restaurant Wine Lists

Determinants of restaurant's owners/managers selection of wines to be offered on the wine list

“…Although Saura et al (2008) found that wine lists are personal creations of the restaurant owner or sommelier responsible for it, the set of factors that shape that creation fit into a few discernable patterns. The cluster analysis indicates the complexity involved with determining a restaurant's wine list strategy.…”

“…The content of the wine list appears to be important, but surprisingly very few studies focus on the engineering criteria of restaurant wine lists. When investigating 52 up-market Spanish restaurants located in Valencia, Saura et al, (2008) and Contri et al (2009) pointed out that owners mainly considered the wine list as an instrument to improve customer satisfaction, increase restaurant value and provide prestige to the restaurant. Their exploratory study indicates that an excellent wine list should be 'easy to use', 'easy to change', 'varied', 'extensive', 'specialised', 'imaginative' and 'selective'.…”

“…Saura et al (2008) point out that the restaurant wine list is mainly considered by restaurant owners as a means to improve customer satisfaction, increase restaurant perceived value and provide prestige to the restaurants. Fogarthy (2009) used the hedonic price approach to investigate the implicit price of individual reputation indicators, cuisine type reputation indicators and other indicators such as wine list rating for restaurant meals.…”

“…Saura et al (2008) suggested that the wine list is mainly a very personal instrument resulting from a combination of wine appreciation, innovation and risk, and used by the restaurant owner for projecting the restaurant image. The wines on the list may be chosen because they are seen to reflect the restaurant's style of food and personality (Corsey, 2006).…”

“…Research has shown that a good wine list combined with helpful wine service not only contributes to the financial success of the restaurant but also positively impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty (Saura et al, 2008;Dewald, 2008;Russell, 2009). But when the 2008/2009 global recession hit, restaurant owners in the US saw their wine sales tumble by 30-40% (Perdue, 2009), and in other countries, such as the UK, France and Germany, restaurant wine sales also decreased (France AgriMer, 2009;Decanter, 2009).…”