Revealed: The Most Powerful Wine Brands in the World

In the continually evolving landscape of the global wine industry, Wine Intelligence's Global Wine Brand Power Index remains an essential compass, guiding us through shifting market dynamics. The latest edition of this extensive study, surveying more than 25,000 wine consumers across 25 key markets - representing over 400 million wine drinkers worldwide - unveils some crucial insights. It underscores the brands Yellow Tail and Casillero del Diablo as the powerhouses in the world of wines.

Pandemic's Ebb and Flow Impact on Wine Brands

2021 proved to be a trying year for wine brands as they experienced a sharp depreciation in their value amid the health crisis triggered by COVID-19. However, the silver lining comes with the 2022 report indicating that brand value in the wine industry seems to have achieved stabilization, despite not yet returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Crafting the Power Index: The Methodology and its Findings

The Global Wine Brand Power Index of Wine Intelligence 2022 grounds itself on consumer feedback about key measures of brand health. It then calculates an index at both the global level and the country level in 25 key wine markets. This year, Denmark replaced Russia, which was not surveyed.

At an aggregated level, the top 15 global brands scored a joint higher in 2022 compared to 2021, marking a difference of 6.5 points. Despite this rebound, scores are still noticeably lower than those obtained in 2020 when consumer surveys were conducted before the onset of the pandemic.

In the two-year period from 2020-2022, brand recognition levels appeared more resilient. The primary driver of change in the index during this period seems to stem from a decrease in scores for connection and purchase recall, which fell significantly for the top 15 global brands in 2021.

Yellow Tail and Casillero Del Diablo: The Leaders of the Pack

Yellow Tail and Casillero del Diablo reoccupied the first and second spots respectively in the Global Wine Brand Power Index 2022, with their brand power index scores far outstripping all other wine brands. Each of these brands holds the top spot in three of the 25 markets. Further, Yellow Tail ranks among the top ten brands in 10 markets, and Casillero del Diablo in 14 markets.

Yellow Tail's strength in the U.S. market continues to fortify its first-place position globally on the index. Conversely, Barefoot now stands as the third most powerful wine brand globally, climbing annually from its 13th position in 2019.

Prominent Rise Within Top 25 Positions: Santa Carolina, Apothic, and Dark Horse

Among the most notable ascents within the top 25 positions of the Global Wine Brand Power Index 2022 are Santa Carolina - climbing to the number 7 spot, Apothic - rising five places to number 14, and Dark Horse - leaping eight positions to number 25.

Lulie Halstead, COO Wine at IWSR Group, noted on the rankings, "In a year characterized by relative fewer shocks for consumers, it's heartening to see that equity for wine brands has stabilized in terms of consumer connection as wine drinkers have returned to more frequent touchpoints with wine both in retail and on-premise."

She further added, "Successful wine brand owners will be those with a focus on restoring the fundamental positive connections that have driven their brands to such widespread success on the global stage in the first place, while doing all they can to maintain availability and value proposition amidst rising input costs and supply chain disruptions."