How did the French become the dominant competitors in the increasingly global wine industry for centuries? What sources of competitive advantage were they able to develop to support their exports? Where were they vulnerable?
“By the Christian era, wine became part of the liturgical services, and monasteries planted vines and built wineries. By the Middle Ages, the European nobility began planting vineyards as a mark of prestige, competing with one another in the quality of wine served at their tables – the first niche market for premium wine.” The French were the dominant competitors in an increasing global market because they believed in the same old tradition that brought so many of their ancestors’ success years prior. Many consumers preferred the taste and sophistication of a bottle of pure wine from a native land. To support their exports the French stuck by their plan of maintaining an old fashioned brand that was simplistic but full of quality. Consumers who drank aged wine originating from France considered themselves above normal society, in a class above the commoner. A medical publication supporting that French red wines helped promote low rates of heart disease certainly did not hurt either.
French wine producers had several sources of competitive advantage beginning with their geographic and climatic features. This played significant role with France at the center of European culture with suitable climate and soil condition for harvesting grape, leading to first-mover advantage and the ability to establish its place as the dominant competitor in the global wine industry. Furthermore, they became the first high-quality wine market and gained a lot of experience. The “negociants” traded wine between France and other countries primarily through a word-of-mouth effect, increasing the reputation and dominance of French wine. Using the latest innovations