Mike Veseth
Wall Street Journal wine columnist Lettie Teague writes that “Of all the wine blogs in the wide, wide blogosphere, one that I look forward to reading the most is Mike Veseth’s Wine Economist. There’s nothing else quite like it—a blend of economic insight … and often irreverent winespeak.”
Economist Mike Veseth (pronounced VEE-seth) is an authority on global wine markets who travels the world studying wine economics and speaking to wine industry groups. He reports his discoveries on this blog, The Wine Economist, and in more than a dozen books including Wine Wars (2011), Extreme Wine (2013) and Money, Taste & Wine: It’s Complicated! (2015).
Around the World in Eighty Wines (2018), received the Gourmand International award for best U.S. wine tourism book and is included on BookAuthority.com’s lists of the “Best Wine Books of All Time” and (#2) “Best Wine Audiobooks of All Time.”
Wine Wars II: The Global Battle for the Soul of Wine (2022) received a special Gourmand International award for outstanding “Sustainability & Wine” book.
The Wine Economist was named 2015 “Best in the World” wine blog by Gourmand International.
Money Taste, and Wine received the 2016 Gourmand International award for “Best in the World” wine writing.
Mike speaks frequently at national and international wine conferences. Click on “The World Tour” link to see where Mike’s been recently and where he is going next.
Scroll down for more information and video clips of Mike in action.
>>><<<
Mike Veseth is professor emeritus of International Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He is an authority on globalization and the global wine market. Mike was named Washington Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His 2005 book Globaloney was selected as a Best Business Book of 2005 by Library Journal. JancisRobinson.com’s annual book review named Wines Wars a Wine Book for the Year in 2011.
Mike has also taught at the American Institute on Political and Economic Systems in Prague and at the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Italy. He was Academic Advisor to the award winning educational website for the PBS/WGBH series, The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy.
Mike earned the B.A. degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Puget Sound and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Purdue University.
Selected Publications
- Wine Wars II: The Global Battle for the Soul of Wine (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022).
- Around the World in Eighty Wines (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018, paperback 2020).
- Money, Taste & Wine: It’s Complicated! (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).
- Extreme Wine: Searching the World for the Best, the Worst, the Outrageously Cheap, the Insanely Overpriced and the Undiscovered. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013, paperback 2015).
- Wine Wars: The Curse of the Blue Nun, the Miracle of Two Buck Chuck and the Revenge of the Terroirists. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011, paperback 2012).
- Globaloney 2.0: The Crash of 2008 and the Future of Globalization. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).
- Globaloney: Unraveling the Myths of Globalization (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),
- The New York Times’s Review of the 20th Century: The Rise of the Global Economy (Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2002),
- Selling Globalization: The Myth of the Global Economy (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998) and
- Mountains of Debt: Crisis and Change in Renaissance Florence, Victorian Britain, and Postwar America (Oxford University Press, 1990).
Mike has also authored or co-authored innovative university textbooks in the fields of Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Public Finance and International Political Economy.
Presentations and Videos
Mike is a frequent speaker at regional, national, and international wine industry meetings. Click here to see a list of recent presentations.
>>><<<
Here is a brief video from our 2022 visit to the Agriverde Winery in Abruzzo, Italy.
>><<<
2019 Porto conference on Climate Change and Wine.
>>><<<
A 2018 interview at the Washington Winegrowers annual meetings.
>><<<
A 2018 television interview about Around the World in Eighty Wines.
>><<<
A 2017 interview with Natalie MacLean, editor of Canada’s largest wine review site, on her “Sunday Sipper Club” Facebook Live program.
>><<<
2016 interview at the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s 1st Global Conference on Wine Tourism in Tbilisi, Georgia.
>>><<<
2015 interview at the California Association of Winegrape Growers meetings in Napa, California.
>>><<<
2015 interview at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, the largest wine industry gathering in the Western Hemisphere.
>>><<<
Juneau, Alaska World Affairs Council presentation in February 2015.
>>><<<
Here’s a highlights video from Wine Vision, 2014 in London.
>>><<<
An interview with BeverageDaily.com editor Ben Bouckley at Wine Vision 2014, the global wine conference that was held in London in November 2014.
>>><<<
Here is a video of my keynote at Savour Australia 2013 in Adelaide, Australia (September 2013). Click here to see the speech and the slides together on one page.
>>><<<
Mike interviewed on Well Read (June 2012)
>>><<<
Mike interviewed for Wine Press Northwest (February 2012)
>><<<
Mike had an unexpectedly large part (larger than this brief trailer suggests) in Boom Varietal: The Rise of Argentine Malbec, a 2011 documentary.
>>><<<
Here is an older video where Mike is interviewed by an animated character named Roger Numbers.
>>><<<
Mike on a 2009 economic crisis panel discussion featuring journalist Todd Benjamin.
>>><<<
Hi Mike, My Brother Mark gave me Wine Wars for our anniversary. I just finished it and I wanted to let you know I loved it. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun reading. Thanks! Hope to see you at the Wine Wall at the Met! Vive les Terroirists!
Pete and Christy Hoffman
Thanks! And happy anniversary to you both.
Mike
Have you had the pleasure of discovering Laetitia yet? My favorite winery. Their Pinot Noirs are my favorite!
Mike, Thank you for your blog. I am a student and Monterey Institute of International Studies and currently working on a casestudy of bringing Constellations Brands into BRIC markets. Thank you for shedding light on Brazil, where they were and where they are going. An interesting time in the wine world. cheers!
Danielle
Aloha Mike, last night we had a few friends over for our blind Two Buck Chuck tasting. The wines were a 2011 De Loach Pinot, 2011 Erath Pinot, Bistro Pinot (French no year given), 2009 Toscana 1967, TBC CS, and a Franzia Chianti in a box! Well, the results could not have been more shocking. 3 out of 4 of us chose the Francia boxed Chianti and the 4th chose the TBC as our favorite!! It was wonderful. I had never bought wine in a box before and probably never would have if it hadn’t been for Wine Wars. Now a question: According to the DaVino code Chianti has to come from Tuscany but this box says “product of Argentina”. How can this be? Is this just Franzia and Argentina thumbing their nose at Italy?
I’m not a lawyer, but my understanding is that some US wineries were grandfathered in when we agreed to the international appellation standards. They could continue to use names like Burgundy and Chablis even though the wines were not from those regions in France, for example. That’s why we have Cook’s California Champagne, which of course isn’t Champagne at all. My guess is that Franzia was grandfathered in for use of the Chianti name and is taking full advantage of that fact.
Cheers,
Mike
That decision must have set Franco-American relations back ten years. Like wise with Italia.
Hi Mike
A small winegrower in Australia (The Bridge Vineyard) thinks that if a dry economist can write wine books (extreme wine) with out prejudice and include a” That’s right” then the next big thing is a juicy bright ruby lipped book of poetry about some small wine grower from anywhere or every where. A great read -That’s a challenge.
linz
Mike,
I love your work. Unfortunately, I just listened to the audio version of Extreme Wine, and the narrator was terrible. He mispronounced, or simply misread the majority of your text. I hate to see such great thought ruined by improper interpretation. I’ll certainly buy the hard copy, but just wanted to give you my feedback.
Steve
Mike
I’ve really enjoyed reading some of the articles on your site. I read from the wine tourism conference that a leading trend in many markets was the combination of wine and activity ie people’s hobbies/passions such as cookery courses or cycling holidays. This is an area of interest for me – are you aware of any research / stats / articles that explore this further which you could point me to please?
Best regards
Claire
Hi Claire,
I’m sure that you are right, but I don’t know of any research into this. I’ll see what I can find. In the meantime, does anyone have suggestions?
Mike
Mike, I stumbled across your blog while researching my new blog. …and hopefully it morphs into a book. Would love to get to know you. We are very like-minded.
also, I plan on being in Seattle later this year, and would enjoy meeting you.
Trader Bill
Hello Mike,
How can I contact you re: wine-related news?
Thank you,
Heather Greene
Hi Heather. You’ll find my email address on the blog’s main page in the right hand column. Mike
Hi Mike,
I’m writing with zagat regarding a story on the future impact of the fires in Northern California. I’d like to explore how this disaster could affect wine prices nationally as well as the potential economic impact on the region over the coming years. Are you available to comment?
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
Thanks,
Sara Ventiera
Hi Sara
It is just too soon for me to comment. I am focused on the well-being of my many friends in that region, some of whom have already lost their homes and others who are threatened. Sorry to disappoint you.
Mike