Unlocking the digital terroir: exploring the potential of Web3 technologies for wine professionals in France, South Africa and Germany[Libérer le terroir numérique : explorer le potentiel des technologies Web3 pour les professionnels du vin en France, Afrique du Sud et Allemagne]

Purpose: While Web3 technologies have been explored for enhancing customer engagement and digital branding in the wine sector, their impact on the professional ecosystem-vintners, sommeliers, oenologists, and distributors-remains underexplored. This paper reports on a study on how 12 wine professionals in three key wine-producing countries-France, South Africa, and Germany-can benefit from or be challenged by Web3 innovations, including NFTs and blockchain.•Design/methodology/approach: Through a comparative, qualitative analysis anchored in emerging industry cases, we aim to answer three research questions: (1) How can Web3 tools contribute to the professionalization and differentiation of wine craftsmanship? (2) What technical, cultural and regulatory barriers limit their adoption among wine professionals? (3) What national dynamics influence the perception and implementation of these technologies in traditional winemaking contexts? •Findings: Our findings suggest that Web3 holds distinct, context-specific promise, but requires adapted models of integration aligned with the values and constraints of each national wine culture.•Practical implications: The study revealed a mixture of valuable, uncertainty, and challenges regarding Web3 technologies among respondents. The primary practical implication of this finding is that respondents' views range from finding such technologies as very useful to resisting their application. Ignorance and lack of knowledge appear to be the major factors underlying uncertainty and resistance to change among respondents who are pessimistic towards Web3 technologies.