“Wine Intelligence”: Ferrari, Berlucchi and Donnafugata, the most powerful brands in Italian wine

Among the most important wine brands in the world, those indicated by consumers in the main markets, there is not much space for Italy: only Ruffino, a reality with its heart and roots in Chianti Classico, but vineyards owned and important investments also in Veneto, in the land of Prosecco, owned by the Constellation Brands group, manages to place itself at position no. 30 of the “Wine Intelligence Global Wine Brand Power Index 2022”, which lined up the 30 most popular global brands, judged according to six different inputs: the “awareness index” (the percentage of those who recognize a brand from a list of names and logos), the “purchase index” (made by the percentage of those who have bought a brand in the last three months or are thinking of doing so), and the “connection index” (the percentage of those who find the brand relatable to people like it, and those who would recommend it to a friend).

This is not bad, because Italian wine is made up of many excellences but of numbers far from those of those who can boast industrial production dimensions, and this cannot be considered a limitation. Especially on the domestic market, which remains the third largest in terms of overall consumption and a reference point for our productions - which make a good half of their turnover in the Belpaese - to which Wine Intelligence devotes a specific focus. From which it emerges how the strongest brands in Italy are, confirming the positions of a year ago, the Trentodoc griffe, Ferrari, the winery that invented Franciacorta, Berlucchi, of the Ziliani family, and Donnafugata, the Sicilian winery of the Rallo family, among the signatures of the wine renaissance of that Sicily.

At the bottom of the podium, there is a new entry such as Corvo, another historic brand of Sicilian viticulture, owned by Duca di Salaparuta, followed by a historic name in Barolo such as Fontanafredda, parent company of the Farinetti family’s wine group. At the No. 6 position, one of the iconic brands of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, Mionetto, and then one of the most important groups in Italian wine ever, such as Antinori (climbed to No. 7), led for 26 generations by the Antinori family (today at the top are Albiera, Allegra and Alessia Antinori, with the guidance of Marchese Piero Antinori and CEO Renzo Cotarella). And again, Feudi di San Gregorio (No. 8), a reference winery for viticulture in Irpinia and the south of Italy, led by Antonio Capaldo, then Sella & Mosca (No. 9), one of the reference wineries for viticulture in Sardinia, of the Terra Moretti Group, and, to close the Top 10, Zonin, one of the largest private wineries in Italian wine, with over 2. 000 hectares under vine divided among the 7 estates in Italy (Cantine Zonin, Ca’ Bolani, Castello di Albola, Castello del Poggio, Tenuta Il Bosco - Oltrenero, Principi di Butera, Rocca di Montemassi and Masseria Altemura), plus Barboursville in Virginia and the Dos Almas project, the joint venture with the Vial family in Chile.

Continuing on, there is Caviro (No. 11), the largest of the cooperatives and producer of the popular Tavernello, then Cantina di Soave (No. 12), the largest and most historic cooperative winery in the territory of the white wine from Veneto, followed by Duca di Salaparuta (No. 13), by another historic name in Prosecco Docg and Valdobbiadene, such as Valdo (No. 14), and Rapitalà (No. 15), a Sicilian estate founded by Hugues Bernard Count de la Gatinais and controlled by Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV). At position No. 16, another historic Franciacorta winery, Bellavista, owned by the Moretti family, then Banfi (No. 17), a company that played a key role in building the success of Brunello di Montalcino in the world, and today a giant of Italian viticulture, Bolla (No. 18), a historic Veneto brand owned by Gruppo Italiano Vini (Giv), Frescobaldi (No. 19 ), the group led by Lamberto Frescobaldi-and the second most profitable entity in the wine industry of Italy, according to Mediobanca-which puts together more than 1. 500 hectares planted with vines in the most important wine territories of Tuscany, all under the umbrella of “Tenute di Frescobaldi”, to which are added companies that have become absolute myths of world wine, such as Masseto and Ornellaia in Bolgheri, above all, or Luce in Montalcino, not forgetting Attems, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Val d’Oca (No. 20), a cooperative reality of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene with 15 million bottles.

At position No. 21 stands one of the benchmark wineries on the Chianti Classico scene, Barone Ricasoli, followed by Mezzacorona (No. 22), a cooperative wine model from Trentino, led by Luca Rigotti, then Mastroberardino (No. 23), the iconic winery of the Campania wine region led by Piero Mastroberardino; Settesoli (No. 24), one of Sicily’s most important cooperative wineries, with 6,000 hectares of vineyards and a membership base of 5,000 winemaking families; and La Gioiosa (No. 25), a popular Prosecco Doc brand. Rounding out Wine Intelligence’s top 30 wine brands on the Italian market are Santa Margherita (no. 26), the group led by the Marzotto family and ad Beniamino Garofalo, one of the most important realities of Italian wine (with wineries such as Santa Margherita, Kettmeir, Cà del Bosco, Mesa, Lamole di Lamole, Cà Maiol and more), Ronco (no. 27), Planeta (No. 28), a true beacon of Sicily’s wine, a winery that marked the island’s oenological renaissance, founded by the late Diego Planeta, and today led by Alessio, Francesca and Santi Planeta, Masi (No. 29), the Amarone label controlled by the Boscaini family, and San Crispino (No. 30).