Smirnoff tops wine and spirits 'most powerful band'

Smirnoff is the most powerful brand of all wines and spirits in the world, according to a new report.

The vodka beat Bacardi and Johnnie Walker in the annual league table from brand consultancy Intangible Business.

US brand Gallo was the top ranking wine at number 17 followed by Hardy’s at number 21.

Scotland’s successful whisky brands made it the most powerful producing country ahead of the US and Russia.

Taittinger champagne dropped 14 positions from last year to 91st in the “Power 100” league table.

Yellowtail wine was the highest new entry at number 43.

Commenting on Smirnoff’s success, Intangible Business MD Stuart Whitwell said: “It has so many variants – numerous flavours and tastes – and it dominates the world’s biggest market which is the US.

“It has got modern day cache and a huge range.”

Drinks giant Diageo, which owns Smirnoff, said the vodka brand was sold in 130 countries on six continents.

The top six brands in this year’s league remained the same as 2006.

The 2007 report was based on research of nearly 10,000 spirit and wine brands from around the world.

Rankings were based on a set of eight criteria which included “hard measures” such as market share and price, plus “soft measures” including brand heritage and awareness.

Power was defined as “a brand’s ability to generate value for its owner”.

The report says: “Brands are playing an increasing role in a number of categories. In wine, the importance of country of origin and grape variety is diminishing in favour of brand.”

A panel of 10 drinks industry experts ranked each brand on a scale of 0 to 10 for each of the eight judging criteria.

The top 10 most powerful brands of all wines and spirits are listed in the report as follows:

1. Smirnoff

2. Bacardi

3. Johnnie Walker

4. Martini

5. Stolichnaya

6. Hennessy

7. Absolut

8. Jack Daniel’s

9. Chivas Regal

10. Bailey’s