The 10 Largest Wine Companies In The World

Wine is the second most popular alcoholic drink in the world after beer, and it is one of the most highly consumed beverages. Plus, the wine industry is also interesting because of the sheer variety of niches and opportunities for fulfilling consumer demand.

There are wine brands that offer something for every type of customer no matter their taste preference, budget, or lifestyle.

Some wine brands cater to those looking to buy a bottle for casual drinking, while others market themselves as being perfect for celebrations such as New Year’s.

It’s no surprise then that with so many opportunities, wine companies develop and release an average of 240 new wine brands each year.

If you’re an investor or wine enthusiast looking to jump into the industry, you should first study the largest wine producers and develop a greater understanding of their reasons for success.

In this article, we’ll discuss the top ten wine companies in the world so that you can gain further insight into the industry.

These 10 wine giants are:

The 10 Largest Wine Companies in the World: A Closer Look

1. Castel Freres. Headquarters: Bordeaux, France

   2021 Annual Revenue: $15.87 billion

   Castel Freres started as just another modest wine merchant in the famous wine region of Bordeaux, but is now an international wine giant that produces over 1% of the world’s entire supply.

   Many experts predict Castel Freres to be the main representative of Bordeaux in the growing Chinese wine market over the next several decades.

   This is mainly due to the fact that the company has aggressively expanded into the country and has over 70 years of experience in marketing and distributing its products to international fans.

2. Pernod Ricard. Headquarters: Paris, France

   2022 Annual Revenue: $11.17 billion

   Although Pernold Ricard produces less wine than many of the other wine giants on this list, their Pernod pastis and flagship champagne brand of Jacob’s Creek are probably extremely familiar to the average wine drinker.

   The company first rose to popularity with its invention of Pernod.

   This was due to a moral outrage in the late 1800s surrounding absinthe, with the press claiming that the drink could cause anything from stress and insanity to blindness and spontaneous combustion.

   Pernod became a popular alternative as it had a similar flavor to absinthe but has less alcohol content and wasn’t associated with the same side effects.

   In the 1990s, Pernod Riccard expanded beyond just Pernod by producing a wide range of alcoholic drinks, ranging from brandy to champagne and everything in between.

   The company was founded and is currently based in France. Ironically, however, their products enjoy relatively mediocre sales within the country and are mostly popular internationally.

   Their largest brand, by a large margin, is currently Jacob’s Creek.

3. Constellation Brands. Headquarters: Victor, New York

   2022 Annual Revenue: $8.82 billion

   Constellation Brands, another wine giant based in the United States, possesses a 1.7% market share in the global wine market.

   The company was founded in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The area was once the country’s leading producer of wine but has since been overtaken by states on the west coast.

   Constellation Brands employs over 9,000 workers and owns over 100 brands related to wine, beer, and spirits.

   The company’s value dropped drastically during the start of the coronavirus pandemic, due to concerns that shutdowns across the country would hinder the company’s widely spread-out supply chain.

   However, these worries seem to have been overstated for the most part. Constellation Brands only saw a small hit to their sales in 2020 compared with prior years.

4. E J Gallo. Headquarters: Leuven, Belgium

   2022 Annual Revenue: $5.3 billion

   E J Gallo is by far the largest wine company in the world, producing over 3% of the world’s entire annual supply of 35 billion bottles.

   Although the company was founded in the 1930s, it was only in the last few decades that it really exploded in popularity and sales.

   Despite the rapid growth, E J Gallo still sticks closely to its roots as a California-based family-owned business.

   The organization is still privately owned and is the biggest producer and distributor of Californian wines, brandies, and grape products worldwide.

   E J Gallo owns over 75 subsidiaries, ranging from large well-known brands such as Barefoot Wine to seemingly small and independent companies such as Turning Leaf and Ghost Vines.

   Their main specialties are in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

5. Treasury Wine Estate. Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia

   2022 Annual Revenue: $1.67 billion

   Treasury Wine Estate is based in Australia and produces approximately 1.2% of the entire world’s wine supply.

   Most of the company’s breweries are based in Australia in New Zealand. However, they also own many in California, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

   Treasury Wine Estate saw its most explosive growth during the mid 20th century when it collaborated with legendary wineries such as Penfold.

   The company eventually joined Fosters Brewing Group, which provided them with the funding and access to a worldwide distribution network that allowed them to rise to the global wine powerhouse they currently are.

   Treasury Wine Estate constantly develops new varieties and brands to target new audiences and remain popular with existing ones. One example of their recent successes includes the popular wine brand 19 Crimes.

   The company is also focusing much of its efforts on the growing Antipodean wine trend in the industry. The long-term purpose of this plan is to develop a presence in the massive Chinese market that is set to explode in growth.

6. Viña Concha Y Toro. Headquarters: Santiago, Chile

   2022 Annual Revenue: N/A

   The Chilean wine market has absolutely exploded in growth over the last two decades, in large part due to the popularity of Vina Concya Y Toro’s many wine brands.

   This massive company produces just over 1% of all wine on the planet with its over 9,000 acres of vine-growing land.

   Vina Concha Y Toro was founded in the 1880s and has ties to both Spanish and Chilean nobility. The company first started with just a few barrels of grapes shipped across the ocean from Bordeaux, France, and has since grown into a massive wine powerhouse that continues to grow rapidly.

7. Accolade Wines. Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia

   2022 Annual Revenue: $774.9 million

   Accolade Wines produces about 0.97% of the world’s entire wine supply and is among the largest wine companies in Australia.

   The company was founded by Thomas Hardy winemakers, a just as legendary company that founded much of South Australia’s greatest wine regions back in the 1850s.

   Hardy’s is the same company that owns Casella Wines, which produces America’s most imported wine brand of Yellow Tail.

   Many of Accolade Wines’ products are still under the Thomas Hardy label and are especially popular in the United Kingdom.

   However, they also own a broad range of other popular international wine brands such as Banrock Stations, Kumala, and Echo Falls.

   Although most of Accolade Wines’ wineries and vineyards are based in Australia, the company is quickly expanding its operations into the United States due to the popularity of its products within the country.

   Accolade Wines’ wine brands are sold in over 80 countries across the globe.

8. Grupo Penaflor. Headquarters: Vicente Lopez, Argentina

   2022 Annual Revenue: N/A

   Despite the fact that Argentina’s prolific production of wine really only goes back a few decades, drinks from the region commonly place at the top of international wine competitions and tastings.

   Although many variables are at play, one of the largest factors for this success comes down to the megalithic presence of Grupo Penaflor.

   The company is legendary in its ability to recognize promising vintners and vineyards and acquire them for themselves before they’re discovered by anyone else.

   Grupo Penaflor has used this strategy to expand into over 6,000 acres of prime vineyards in Mendoza, Catamarca, and San Juan.

9. Fecovita Co-op. Headquarters: Buenos Aires, Argentina

   2022 Annual Revenue: $272.4 million

   Fecovita Co-op is a collective of many different winemaking groups based in the Mendoza region of Argentina, together generating just under 1% of all wine sales in the world.

   Much of the cooperatives success comes down to the constant focus they place on developing new technologies and techniques for exceptional winemaking, as well as their acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment.

   Fecovita Co-op owns popular brands such as Toro, which accounts for over one-fifth of all wine sales in Argentina.

10. The Wine Group. Headquarters: Ripon, California

    2022 Annual Revenue: N/A

    The Wine Group was founded relatively recently in California in 1981, yet has grown to control a 1.5% market share of the global wine market.

    Most of the company’s presence is currently focused in the United States.

    However, The Wine Group has been expanding aggressively into Latin America since the late 2000s, especially into Argentina where they’ve acquired several major wine brands.

    The Wine Group’s many vineyards across California were also hit hard by coronavirus-related shutdowns during 2020. However, their sales only took a small hit and the company seems to be in recoverable shape for the future.

Largest Wine Company FAQ

1. How big is the wine industry?

   The global wine industry is worth over $340 billion. The U.S. earns $49.8 billion in revenue from its wine industry, which is the biggest in the world.

2. Is the wine industry competitive?

   Yes, the wine industry is very competitive. There are over 7,475 wine businesses in the U.S. alone. This number has grown by 50% since 2009 and is only expected to continue to grow.

3. What country consumes the most wine per capita?

   Portugal consumes the most wine around the world. The top five countries for the most wine consumed per capita are:

   • Portugal – 12.8 gallons per person

   • France – 10.3 gallons per person

   • Italy – 9.6 gallons per person

   • Switzerland – 8.5 gallons per person

   • Austria – 6.9 gallons per person

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.