Does Storytelling Add Value? The case of Bordeaux Fine Wines

Wine is a product for which producers tell many stories: story of their own family, story of their wine estate, story of their winemaking… as much communication signs. The wine drinker also refers to different stories to make his choice: his own history, his memories, his beliefs, his experience with wine are often requested to buy the ‘right’ wine in the wine shop. Even wine experts, wine journalitsts, wine blogers are charged to tell their story, among other as a justification of their skills or expertise. And wine tasting is often the starting point of many stories. Indeed, wine tasting is a sensorial and highly subjective aesthetic experience. Translating this organoleptic experience in comprehensible and shareable terms implies the abundant use of figurative language (Caballero, 2009): aromas and other characteristics of the wine are evoked by consumers as well as by wine experts, sometimes in a very poetic way, thanks to many metaphors. Indeed, as noted by Lehrer and Lehrer (2008, p. 114), “wines are described as masculine or feminine, muscular or sinewy, for example, in addition to being described as heavy or light, delicate or harsh”. Story ‑ or at least wine talk (Bach, 2008) ‑ itself can be part of the pleasure, when the experience is relived by periodically retelling the story of wine tasting or visit in a winery, when wine talk provides show off and admiration, but also allows learning, understanding, teaching and explaining. In such a context, one can ask what happens in markets driven by evoked images more than objective criteria.