With larger market, vineyards may need to emphasize branding and label

A new study from Technomic, an industry consulting group, shows that many of the major wine labels experienced growth over the past year, even ranking the top 10 brands.

According to the study, Franzia Winetaps remained as the most popular wine label. Number two was held by Barefoot Cellars with a strong 30 percent increase from 2011. And then five of the top 10 wine labels came from the E&J Gallo Winery, these included: Apothic, La Marca and William Hill, among others.

“These volume and sales rankings indicate that today’s wine consumers favor affordably-priced wines,” said Donna Crecca, senior editor at Adult Beverage Resource Group. “What’s more, that fast pace of growth for Apothic shows the growing appeal of blends to today’s consumer. The number of Italian sparklers and strong performance of La Marca showcases that these attractively-priced wines are striking the right chord, as well. Barefoot’s double-digit volume gain speaks to wine drinkers embracing bands that fit their casual lifestyles.”

Crecca’s observation about consumers preferring lesser expensive wines is similar to Forbes’ article on whether there is a distinct taste difference between expensive and “cheaper” wines. According to the article, the writer spoke with the wife of a “wine snob” who, during a tasting, took what is called the “dump bucket” (where drinkers spit out the unconsumed wine) and filled an empty wine bottle with its contents. She then served it and said that all the sommeliers “swooned over it.”

While much of Forbes‘ article is anecdotal, most experts can agree that wine sales are, often determined by the wine’s label and branding, especially considering how there are so many companies selling the same kind of vino.

If wineries wish to establish their own personal identity and carve a niche in the market they may want to invest in a Primera LX900 series color label printer to create the custom labels needed to do so.