Guillermo Castillo,* Liliana Castro-López, and Saúl Méndez
*Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Carretera Transpeninsular 3917, Carretera Transpeninsular Tijuana-Ensenada #3917, Ensenada, Mexico (castillo.guillermo@uabc.edu.mx)

International competition in the wine industry and trade have increased dramatically in the last thirty years. This growth was triggered largely by wine globalization, during which new wine-producing and -exporting countries have emerged. In the last decade alone, wine consumption has declined in countries traditionally considered to be wine producers and consumers (e. g., Spain and France), while they have entered the competition in countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Australia. Mexico has also been part of the process of wine globalization, reflected in the 12% growth in national consumption for 2010 to 2015. However, domestic wine production has decreased while foreign wine production has been the primary beneficiary of the growth in the Mexican market. This highly competitive environment intensifies the need of the Mexican wine sector for empirical, scientifically obtained evidence and technological innovations to guide better management choices in field and winery. This paper shows the results of a systematic evaluation of the contribution of Mexican academics, universities, and research centers to the Latin American scientific refereed literature in viticulture and enology. Mexican academia has failed to keep pace with the growth of the Mexican wine industry and article production in México is significantly lower than in similar Latin American countries like Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. The research published was highly dependent on foreign research and was not diverse, focusing primarily on three areas: grape chemistry, agricultural sciences, and medicine.

Funding Support: NONE