Skip to main content Read by millions of consumers I agree to the terms & conditions * What code is in the image? Click here to download the report The Power 100 is an annual research study monitoring the power of the world’s leading spirits and wine brands. Now in its tenth year, The Power 100 has become an industry benchmark of performance, recognising brands which have performed well and identifying those which haven’t. The unique brand ratings highlight each brand’s strengths and weaknesses - providing exclusive insight into what drives the world’s most powerful spirits and wine brands. Attaining Power Brand status is an impressive achievement. There are over 10,000 spirits and wine brands in the world and many of the leading brands are over 100 years old. Every brand featured in The Power 100 has earned its status as a Power Brand, entitling them to use the official award logo, contact us for details. The Power 100 is produced by Intangible Business, the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

Intangible Business specialises in valuing intangible assets, such as brands, for financial, management and litigation purposes. In the beverages industry Intangible Business provides advisory, due diligence, valuation and transfer pricing advice for all forms of assets and liabilities. Intangible Business is the leader in brand valuation for the spirits and wine sector, having worked on an extensive list of deals for both listed and private companies. THE TOP 10 WINE BRANDS BY SALES 3. Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi 6. Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve 7. Chateau Ste. Michelle 8. Mènage à Trois #Source: Wines & Vines July 14, 2016 BAREFOOT CALIFORNIA CABERNET SAUVIGNON While I have not tasted, say 30 of the 33 different wines made by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, I have tasted their California Cabernet Sauvignon, California Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. And for the price and purpose, they all three work. The goal of these wines is not to change your life, but to give you something to sip with friends around a BBQ.

The wine is easy to drink, light on tannins, big on fruit. Give it a try. One problem with wine writers, yours truly included, is that, too often, they write for themselves instead of readers. That is to say the vast majority of wine stories are about wines, or winemakers, who appeal to the tastes and sensibilities of the writer. Now, on the surface there is nothing wrong with that. We write about what we like to drink and hope to encourage readers to try those wines as well. But sometimes, my colleagues and I get a little too "inside baseball," recommending obscure wines made with obscure grapes from obscure regions. Sometimes you can't even find the wines. But beyond that, we often ignore the wines that people are actually drinking. The more popular the wine, the less likely we are to write about it. So what is the best selling wine in America? You may or may not be surprised to learn that it is the Barefoot Wine & Bubbly brand of wines made by E. & J. Gallo Winery.

According to Wines & Vines, an industry publication, which cited an IRI report, Barefoot sold $665 million worth of wine in a 52-week period. That is an astounding figure for a wine that sells for an average price of around $5.60 a bottle. Not only that, the Barefoot wines are so far ahead of the second highest selling wine that there is not even a foot race. (Sorry, I had to.) Sutter Home, which is owned by Trinchero Family Estates, comes in second with sales for the period of just over $358 million.wine in a box bad So when was the last time you read a wine story about Barefoot Wines? wine of fire costI kind of think it is a little bit like film critics who love to watch, write and review the small movies that play on Thursday afternoon at the Tribeca Film Festival rather than the latest Captain America film. red spots all over my arms

But still, it is the Captain America franchise that draws the folks in. Not only does Gallo sell a ton of Barefoot wines, but the story about the origin and growth of Barefoot is fascinating as well. It all began in 1965 with a Berkeley, California, based, self- taught, home winemaker named Davis Bynum, who made jug wines in his garage under the Barefoot Bynum label. Cheap and sweet, it was named for the image of bare feet crushing grapes. aa best wine listBynum went on to become a significant winemaker, making the first of the Russian River pinot noirs that would become darlings of wine writers to this day and some of the best wines to be made in Sonoma, California. get red wine stain out of woodHis first pinots from the now iconic Rochioli vineyard, made in 1973, were seminal wines in the discovery of a grape and a region that are perfectly matched for each other.red table wine types

In 1986, Bynum sold the brand to Michael Houlihan who, with business partner Bonnie Harvey, began to bootstrap what was then just a fledgling brand. Without much cash or wine industry experience, but with a seriously entrepreneurial spirit, the pair rebranded the wine as Barefoot Cellars and created the now ubiquitous Barefoot label. Focusing on making wine for customers who wanted something that was not fussy, and was affordable and quaffable, Barefoot began using what they termed Worthy Cause Marketing. Working with nonprofits that they believed in, the company built the brand by offering wines for events and relying on the word of mouth that came from actually getting wines into the glasses of consumers. But the real key was listening to wine drinkers, not wine connoisseurs. People in the marketplace were craving wines that were easy to drink and did not require a review of the AVA, the source of the grapes, or a discussion about the methods used to make it. The brand grew so much that in 2005 it was sold to Gallo, which has overseen the exponential growth of Barefoot.