This Is the Most Powerful Brand in Wine (Again)

An Australian crowd-pleaser wins the Global Wine Brand Power Index for the third year in a row

Group of drinkers holding up glasses of red wine
The top wine brand may not surprise you, but the rest of the list might.
Kelsey Knight on Unsplash

What’s the most powerful brand in wine?

According to Wine Intelligence’s annual Global Wine Brand Power Index, it’s once again Yellow Tail.

The Index is built off of feedback from 20,000 wine consumers in 21 markets, according to Beverage Daily. It’s more about awareness and “consumer connection” as opposed to sales figures.

Some other interesting facts from the survey:

  • The Chilean brand Casillero del Diablo finished second, like it did in 2019. Chilean brands account for four of the top 15 wine brands, even though the country only produces four percent of the world’s wine.
  • Barefoot, from California, jumped eight places to finish fifth. Other big climbers include Frontera (fifteenth to eighth) and Santa Carolina (nineteenth to twelfth).
  • Headed in the opposite direction: Mouton Cadet (from fifth to tenth) and Robert Mondavi (seventh to fourteenth place).

Overall, the report suggests brand awareness for wine is down across the board, with wine now competing against hard seltzers (though many brands, like Barefoot, are stepping into that category) and an aging, shrinking wine-drinking population (aka millennials aren’t drinkers).


Related: Hard Seltzer Is Pretty Much Taking Over the Booze Industry


As Wine Intelligence CEO Lulie Halstead noted, “The advantages of a powerful brand are clearly demonstrated in the global wine market today. However, the path to becoming a power brand is becoming harder, as consumer knowledge levels in the wine category decline and ‘noise’ from other drinks categories increases.”

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