Wine growers, producers, and marketers face an array of new challenges in today's global economy. Despite traditional images of hillside rolling vineyards on famous estates, today's wine industry is undoubtedly part of the global technological culture, deploying constant innovations to secure profitable competitive advantages. There is an urgent necessity to market quality wines with lower production and distribution costs without undermining the integrity of traditional products in the minds of consumers. Today the role of R&D in maintaining successful competitive advantages is evident in some or the newer wine producing countries where quality products are reaching larger markets.