Wine industry analysts today follow Rabobank’s distinction of the wine market into ‘basic’, ‘premium’, ‘super premium’, ‘ultra premium’ and ‘icon’ categories. These do not refer simply to price points, but also to the markets in which these wines compete.

Basic wine, comprising about 50 per cent of the international wine market, is anonymous, with little or no linkage to vineyards or even countries. Premium wines comprise around 30 per cent of the wine market: they are usually of better quality, often retail through the supermarkets in the “value for money” market, and are usually linked to distinct brand (rather than vineyard or cellar) identities.

Super premium wines comprise about 10 per cent of the wine market and sell on the basis of quality, style and perceptions about their unique identity in the market. Ultra premium wines are of highly distinctive and individual quality, and are not marketed on a mass basis.

Finally, icon wines are those whose value is mainly linked to the act of purchasing them.

Rabobank is the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the bank provides financial services to more than nine million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1900 offices and branches in 35 countries. Rabobank is owned by its 369 member banks in the Netherlands.