What's The Best-Selling Wine Brand In The World?

Around the world, France, Italy, and Spain are countries most historically associated with wine. But when it comes to sales volume, the world's best-selling wine actually comes from the United States. The crown belongs to California's Barefoot Wine, with The Drinks Business reporting an estimated 22.5 million nine-liter cases sold globally in 2019. The brand is also the best-selling wine brand in the United States as of 2024.

What makes this accomplishment so impressive is that Barefoot Wine wasn't founded generations ago, like many European producers. The brand, instead, began in a laundry room in Sonoma, California, in 1965, and it was acquired by E&J Gallo, the largest family-owned winery in the United States, in 2005. This move helped to greatly expand its reach, and under Gallo's distribution, Barefoot is now sold across six continents.
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Although Barefoot stays ahead in global sales, it still has competition. Franzia Wine, the classic boxed wine, and Gallo Family Vineyards (also owned by E&J Gallo) regularly rank near the top. Australia's Yellow Tail and China's Changyu often sit in the top five of best-selling wine brands.

How Barefoot Wine dominated sales

This brand made wine feel approachable for the average person who might not know much about wine. Its bottles are affordable, easy to find in grocery stores and corner stores, and highly recognizable. Being "barefoot" is almost always associated with casual environments, say a backyard BBQ or beach sunset, and a foot is stamped right on the front of every label signals the brand's laidback approach to wine. Rather than targeting high-end consumers, Barefoot positioned itself as an everyday bottle for casual drinkers and shoppers at the supermarket.

You can find 30 varieties of Barefoot, including reds, whites, roses, and sparkling wines, with the average bottle priced at $6 to $10. The brand offers seemingly something for every taste, ranging from classics like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon to more unusual ones, like pink Moscato and white Zinfandel. But if you need help deciding which wine to choose, take a peek at our ranking of Barefoot wine.

The brand has also made an effort to stay relevant with consumer trends. It's expanded its portfolio to include canned wines and spritzers, made for wine drinkers who prefer something outside of the standard bottle. At times, they've branched out a little too far — like when Barefoot made an Oreo Thins wine. While the wine industry continues to evolve, Barefoot Wine remains a brand many consumers can recognize almost immediately.

Source: mashed