The Biggest Wine Companies in the Land
Wine Business monthly’s annual list of the Top 30 U.S. wine companies arrived yesterday in the mail. It had the usual list of companies. To wit:
1. Gallo
2. Constellation Brands
3. The Wine Group
4. Bronco Wine Company
5. Beringer
6. Trinchero
7. Brown Forman
8. Kendall-Jackson
9. Ste. Michelle Wine Estate
10. Diageo Chateau & Estates
11. Allied Domeq
12. Heck Estates
13. Delicato
14. Vincor
15. C. Mondavi & Sons
16. Don Sebastiani & Sons
17. Ironstone Vineyards
18. J Lohr Winery
19. Neibaum-Coppola Estate Winery
20. Peak Wines
22. Bogle Vineyards
23. Barefoot Cellars
24. San Antonio Winery
25. Smith & Hook/Hahn Estate
26. Hess Collection
27. Wente Family Estate
28. Bonny Doon
29. Domaine Chandon
30. Rutherford Ranch
Some observations.
#1-5 and #s26-30: There really is no comparison between the top 5 companies and bottom five. The top five wineries average 40 million cases produced annually. The bottom five companies average 388,000 cases produced annually
Of the top 10, Kendall-Jackson must stand out has the high quality leader. Look at their brands: Cardinale, Atalon, Lokoya, Carmel Road, Cambria, Hartford Family Wines, Matanzas Creek, La Crema, Stonestreet, Verite, Archipel. Jess Jackson knows quality.
The only free standing Mondavi left I the top 30 this year is C. Mondavi and Sons, producers of Charles Krug. They make 1,000,000 cases per year.
Bonny Doon, at #28 produces 365,000 cases of wine. Here is a winery that appears very small, very idiosyncratic, very artisan, very oddball. Yet, they’ve managed to retain this reputation while pumping up volume to 365,000 cases annually. Impressive on all counts.
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