Wine Conglomerates, Explained

Photo by Scott Warman on Unsplash

Just like many industries, the wine world can sometimes feel like a battle between the big corporation and the small business. And the wine conglomerate is one of the biggest drivers. Estimates vary, but the general consensus is that even just the 10 largest wine brands produce over 15% of wine drank worldwide.

Many of these mega producers have a portfolio of wines covering all price ranges, from $5 Barefoot to $50 Napa Cabernet. The popularization of “masstige” wines, mass produced high end wines, has made the buying and selling of some of our favorite brands a very favorable business.

There are a few things to know about “buying big”:

1. Big brands are incentivized to make wines taste the same vintage to vintage because most consumers expect that. Instead of letting the wine reflect the given year, the goal is to create a wine that is as similar to the existing style as possible.
2. Big brands have further reach, so you’ll see their wines more often. Effective distribution channels is one of the major reasons wine brands consolidate. Once a brand has built a relationship with a retailer (say, Whole Foods who I’ll explore in a minute), they are able to get more reach for their other brands in their portfolio.
3. Big doesn’t always mean better, worse, more expensive, or cheaper. On quality, I like to think of big brands as being more average and safer choices. Nothing that’s going to blow you away, but with enough oversight in the process to make sure the wine isn’t egregious either. For price, you’ll see big brands on the cheap to mid-expensive ($50–80) price range. Very few big brands have successful wines selling above $100.

So how many of our favorite brands come from conglomerates?

I love shopping at Whole Foods, and their wine selection is solid. Unlike Trader Joe’s who has a lot of “TJ-only” brands, Whole Foods tends to have a variety: familiar and new, big and small. The data we will look at for the rest of this post is based on the wines listed on Whole Foods’ website. I then cross referenced with big conglomerate brands, critic scores, consumer scores, and my own personal wine ratings.

Roughly one third of wines on the shelf at Whole Foods are owned by conglomerate brands. A few of the wines I was surprised about were Bread & Butter (owned by WX Brands), The Prisoner Wine Blend (owned by Constellation), Alamos (owned by E J Gallo), and La Crema (owned by Jackson Family Wines).

Are conglomerates good for consumers?

My first instinct was no (I am very pro small business). But thinking about price, reach, and quality — conglomerates seem to be OK for us wine drinkers.

Scores do not vary (stat sig) and prices are actually slightly cheaper when we consider the sample of wines sold at Whole Foods. Yes it means that these wines aren’t the hand crafted gem you’re getting when you buy local and small, but if you like the wine that’s what really matters!

What are my thoughts after this?

It’s useful as a wine consumer to know what you’re getting in a bottle. Big producers have pros and cons. But some of the wine is actually really good. I suggest you buy big and small, support both, and at the end of the day, drink what you like.