The trade magazine, Market Watch, also featured the top imported wine growth brands of 2007. These are wine brands which showed the most growth over 2006 in 12 bottle case depletions. Many of these names are familiar faces on ethnic restaurant wine lists, on grocery store shelves and featured in the price clubs. Most of them are "fake" brands created to fit a niche, especially for the sweet driven American palate. In my experience, many of these wines aren't even known in the countries from which they come. In other words, the locals don't even drink the stuff. They just ship it to the US.
Top Growing Imported Wine "Hot Brands" 2007 from Market Watch
Brand - (Import Company) - Cases growth
- Cavit (Palm Bay International) 3,355,000 cases
- Little Penguin (Foster's Wine Estates) 1,140,000
- Mezzacarona (Prestige Wine Imports) 870,000
- Verdi Spumante (Carriage House Imports) 775,000
- Santa Margherita (Terlato Wines International) 635,000
- Banrock Station (Centerra Wine Co [Constellation Brands]) 530,000
- Real Sangria (Shaw Ross International Importers) 425,000
- Castello di Gabbiano (Foster's Wine Estates) 360,000
- Greg Norman Estates (Foster's Wine Estates) 355,000
- Kim Crawford (Icon Estates [Constellation Brands]) 260,000
- Nobilo (Vintas [Constellation Brands]) 250,000
- Wolf Blass (Foster's Wine Estates) 230,000
- Trapiche (Frederick Wildman & Sons) 220,000
- Relax Riesling (Schmitt Söhne) 200,000
Again, these are brands which showed top growth, not necessarily top sales for imported wines. The volume of cases is far and away beyond most of the estate grown wines which we feature at Wine Authorities. When a winery is working at these numbers, quality is maintained with extra chemicals, color additives and stabilizers rather than being made from just grapes. I like wine made from grapes. But I guess I am grape nuts. -Salamanzar
