In conjunction with The Drinks Business, Liv-ex has released the 2014 edition of the Liv-ex Power 100, the annual list of the most powerful brands in the fine wine market. And for the second year in a row, Pavie took the top spot in this list (VitaBella Luxury Wine advised Pavie in 2013 and 2014). Also, three names from the Rhone Valley made the TOP 25: Guigal #8, Beaucastel #11 and Chapoutier #23 (VitaBella Luxury Wine advised Maison M.Chapoutier and Beaucastel in 2013 and 2014).
Times are changing…Wine Spectator has just announced that the winning wine of its TOP 100 was a vintage port from Portugal. A great surprise in fact that it was not the usual French or California bordeaux. In fact, in the world of fine wines, we have seen a tremendous change, not only in terms of quality but also in terms of buyer perception. As Liv-ex mentions it: In 2014, “brands from nine different regions feature amongst the 20 most powerful fine wines this year. This is unprecedented in the nine years of publishing the Power 100: only four years ago, 18 of the top 20 came from Bordeaux“.
Creative Marketing and communications give a new power to luxury wine brands. And that creates obviously a new momentum: “The highest new entrant this year is from Italy: the wines of Gaja entered the table at number 14. Close behind was Californian Opus One, a new entrant at number 16.”. In 2014, only 18 names come from France in the TOP 25. Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Gaja (new entry), Dominus, Opus (new entry), Penfolds, Masseto have done a great job over the last few years to promote their brand at the highest level and to gain worldwide respect and a spotless reputation.
The competition at the top level has never been so fierce. Wine Brands need to work continuously on their image if they want to keep their position or move up in the ratings. And outside Bordeaux, more and more wine estates are investing heavily in this intangible asset called Brand. For them, what is at stake is obvious and very important. In a medium-term, they need to appear in the top 25. Then they will leverage on this success to broaden and reposition their offering. Finally, in the long term, they will get a better valuation of their business in the case they plan to sell it. Who said the world of fine wines was a world frozen in time?
See the full list of the 2014 Power 100.
(*Since 2003, Guillaume Jourdan has been advising more than 200 prestigious wine estates for their international Marketing & Communication strategy incl. Chapoutier, Hugel, Dr Loosen, Famille Perrin, Cos d’Estournel, Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie’s Miraval…Write to Guillaume info@vitabella.fr)
