The wine you're probably drinking (in Michigan)

Phil Howard et al. released a study on the wines available for sale in Michigan (yes, I want his job!). 
I know, I know, "Michigan?" etc., etc., but go read the synopsis here - its pretty valid for most of the U.S.
Highlights include
  • Just three firms, however, account for more than half of the wine sales in the United States
  • The vast majority of varieties were [extremely uncommon], with 72.8% recorded in only one store, and 87% in two or fewer stores
  • The top firms contribute to an illusion of diverse ownership by offering dozens of brands (and hundreds of varieties), many of which do not clearly indicate the parent company on their label
  • Even company websites may not make ownership apparent. To give just one example, “Octavin Home Wine Bar” is in smaller print on a number of boxed wine brands, including Silver Birch (New Zealand), Pinot Evil (France) and Herding Cats (South Africa). If you go to the Octavin website you’ll see it is a trademark of Underdog Wine & Spirits. If you then go to the Underdog Wine & Spirits website and make the effort to go to the “about” page, you will see in the fine print that it is a unit of The Wine Group, the second largest wine company in the U.S. (hardly an “underdog”).
For additional bonus points, here is a (humongous) image showing all the "sub" brands associated with the major firms, viz. Gallo (Carlo Rossi,  Barefoot, Livingston, and yes, Thunderbird), The Wine Group (Franzia, Inglenook, Corbett, and yes MD 20/20), and Constellation (Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Ravenswood)
(Click to embiggen unbelievably)



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