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

The aim of the paper is to better understand wine list design in restaurants in four countries with very different wine cultures. An interview protocol was developed and administered to 286 restaurants across the four countries (France, Australia, USA and China). The interview questionnaire included a Best/Worst methodology to identify the most/least important factors influencing the restaurant's owner/manager's selection of wine for the wine list. One of the most important reasons for selecting wine across most countries is ‘to match wine with the food menu’. There were few major differences between countries, but a latent class analysis found four clusters that differed significantly with membership also differing between countries. The cluster analysis also indicated that while some restaurateurs are more brand-driven, others value local wine or its matching with the food menu.

► Wine list design in restaurants is studied in 286 restaurants in France, Australia, USA and China.
► Best–Worst approach is used to investigate factors influencing the manager's wine selection.
► One of the most important reasons for selecting wine is ‘to match wine with the food menu’.
► Latent class analysis finds four clusters that differ significantly.
► Apart from China, no cluster has a majority of its restaurants located in any one country.