Study Abroad

Perrotis College

Greek wine business

• Course description

This short business course is an overview of the Greek wine business, which also covers all-important basic wine knowledge and is suited for people who wish to follow a professional wine career in the trade. It is a course offering an insight on wine marketing, wine business and management and wine trading. Strategies are discussed. We focus at Greek wine market as a success story and look at the prospects of Greek wine in the US market.

There are no pre-requisites to take this course. Just come and listen and ask questions.

• Course goals

One of the biggest challenges facing Greek wine producers today is getting Greece known as a quality wine producing country. Most consumers associate Greece with the summer holidays, the sea and the sun and winemaking barely comes to mind. This calls for collective nation- marketing to place Greece on the winescape. It is logical that, after a certain degree of homogenization prevails in the world of wine, the consumer will tire and turn once again to what is genuine and authentic.

Therefore the goal of the course will be for the students to be able to understand the uniqueness of Greek wine, to familiarize students with all aspects of the international wine markets, to acquire an in-depth understanding of a wine brand building strategy and finally to be able to submit a well-structured marketing plan for the positioning of a Greek wine brand in the highly demanding and very competitive US wine market.

A final assignment will be given: for the students to create a brand of their own to launch in the US market, including the following key points:

• Determine the brand's target audience.
• Create the brand’s identity.
• Research brands within your industry niche.
• Outline the key qualities and benefits the brand offers.
• If possible, create a brand logo and a slogan

• Learning outcomes

By the end of this course it is expected that the students will be able to:

• Acquire an insight knowledge of the global wine scheme
• Identify the current image, awareness and positioning of Greek wine in the US market.
• Identify and review the strengths and weaknesses of Greek wine relevant to the US market.
• Identify and review the opportunities and the threats and weaknesses of Greek wine relevant to the US market.
• Identify consumer segments in the US that Greek wine should be target for promotion and why.
• Identify the type of strategy Greek wine should adopt in order to penetrate further the US market
• Based on the information provided, identify the types of activities and tactics that should be used to market to them.

• Course Outline

Week 1: Getting to know Greek wine.

• Greek wines of today – An Overview
• Greek wine in numbers
• Greek wine terroirs
• Greek varietals
• Modern wine styles that match the current lifestyle trends (organic, vegan

Week 2

• State of the World Wine Industry 
• Matured wine markets
• Emerging wine markets
• Wine Consumer segments
• Wine Consumer trends
• Identifying Target Consumers

Week 3

• Define the current Greek wine brand image in the countries of interest
• A SWOT analysis for Greek wine
• Identify the most promising markets for Greek wine
• Prospects of Greek wine in the USA

Week 4

• Past and current marketing activities
• Tracking the trends of the wine trade
• Marketing and Promotion for Greek wine

Week 5

• How to Build a Successful Greek wine brand for the USA market

• Learning and teaching
• Instructor: Periklis Drakos