Drinks International announces the world's top wine brands

There’s no escaping the fact that when it comes to buying a decent bottle of wine, a multitude of different brands, and often misleading labels, can be something of a minefield. In short, there are few drinks where it can be so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff while not putting a major dent in your bank balance.

Thankfully a recently published poll within the wine industry has just shared its findings on the world’s most admired wine brands.

Drinks International, who published this list are one of the main global magazines for drink industry insiders.

Topping the list of 50 of the biggest names in wine is South American powerhouse Concha y Toro, whose widely praised Casillero del Diablo brand is loved by both ordinary drinkers and wine critics alike.

What makes this survey so interesting is that it’s not simply based on sales. As Drinks International point out:

“Achieving mega volumes does not necessarily mean that a wine can be regarded as great. Winning the admiration of your peers, and wine professionals across the world, is not something that can be achieved merely by installing 1-million litre tanks at your winery, shifting 10 million cases a year, or buying the sponsorship of a major sporting event.”

Although the strength of a brand is in many ways an intangible concept, the judges for this survery looked at a number of factors when coming to their decision.

“When casting their votes, we asked judges to use the following criteria: wines should be of consistent or improving quality, they should reflect their region or country of origin, they should respond to the needs and tastes of their target audience, they should be well marketed and packaged, they should have strong appeal to a wide demographic,” say the organisers.

Anyway, here are the top 10 wines selected by Drinks International as the most admired brands out there.

1. Concha y Toro

For the third year running this Chilean giant has topped this poll. The company’s famous Casillero del Diablo wine was described by wine critic Matthew Jukes as the ‘finest value Cabernet on the planet’

2. Torres

This Spanish wine company has vineyards right across the country. It’s main brands such as Viña Sol and Sangre de Toro are lauded for their consistent quality.

3. Penfolds

This Aussie winemaker has long been considered to be one of the best wine producers down under. Over the past year it has become one of the leading luxury wine brands and has made big gains in Asia.

4. Michel Chapoutier

The most popular French brand in the poll has a longstanding reputation for creating quality organic and biodynamically produced wines. Started in 1808 Michel Chapoutier’s Chateauneuf du Pape has been one of the most high acclaimed from this brand.

5. Cloudy Bay

Ever popular in the UK, especially for its Sauvignon Blanc, Cloudy Bay is a flagship brand for the renowned Marlborough region of New Zealand.

6. Ridge

Taking pride in their ‘pre-industrial’ style of wine making, Ridge is one of the hippest organic producers in the US. Shunning modern mass-production techniques its wines come from California’s Santa Clara and Sonoma Counties.

7. Brancott Estate

One of the earliest Marlborough producers this New Zealand pioneer has recently made big gains in North America and China, selling the now classic Sauvingon Blanc that it helped to define.

8. Guigal

This French family owned producer is famous for its many top notch reds from the Rhone valley. They’ve made a name for attention to detail and hands off approach.

9. Duboeuf

Although the French didn’t do so well earlier in the poll, they clearly make up for it with a strong representation in the top 10. The Duboeuf family are at the pinnacle of the Beaujolais wine industry, shifting some 2.5 million cases of the stuff each year.

10. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti

Having produced their first vintage in 1232 DRC continue to be lauded by the critics this brand is widely considered to be the best in Burgundy and as some would have it, the world.