Authors: Safaan Shawl
Abstract: In an era increasingly dominated by algorithmic precision and data-driven decision-making, the question of whether an artisanal product such as white wine can be priced through a deterministic model seems both audacious and tantalising. This paper embarks on precisely that odyssey—an independent attempt to formulate an original pricing algorithm for white wines by reverse-engineering the latent relationships between their physicochemical properties and their market value. Drawing from publicly available datasets and deploying statistical intuition rather than merely machine learning brute force, this research proposes a novel, human-designed formula that accurately estimates the price of white wines. The formula integrates variables such as acidity, sulphates, residual sugar, and volatile acidity—each weighted with philosophical and economic significance—into a predictive framework that is both interpretable and intuitive. Unlike conventional black-box regressions, the methodology underscores transparency, causal inference, and domain-sensitive calibration. This work is not only a tribute to the enduring relevance of analytical thinking in a machine age but also a call for more interdisciplinary bridges between oenology and economics, chemistry and computation, palate and price. It aims to empower connoisseurs, traders, and vineyards alike to understand, forecast, and perhaps demystify the economics swirling within every bottle. The findings reveal a striking congruence between predicted and actual price tiers, suggesting that white wine pricing, far from being capricious or arbitrary, often adheres to a hidden logic that this paper attempts to uncover and articulate.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17104035
