A Tale of two Tongues: Does Language Moderate Sparkling Wine Prefernces in Belgium

Belgium, a relatively small country, with roughly 10 million people ranks fifth in terms of wine importations with roughly 300 million bottles per year. As a result of a complex history and profound and ongoing political crisis, the country is mainly composed of two communities: the French speaking and the Dutch (Flemish) speaking. Despite the cultural differences in these two Belgian communities and the political difficulties Belgium faces, all Belgians share a common bond, the love for ’bubbles’. The sparkling wine market is particularly important in Belgium and represents 20% of the market in value. The main proposition of this research is that French speaking and Dutch speaking Belgians have different sparkling wine purchasing behaviour. The main intention of this paper is to identify the differences related to the attributes that define sparkling wine. The full length version of this research will explore the impact of culture, demographics, consumption behaviour and how all of this mediates sparkling wine purchase behaviour in the Belgian market.