In the struggle to build brand equity in the wine category, few have it harder than the marketing folks representing wine regions. Countries can at least trade on their broader cultural reputation; grape varieties have the advantage of appearing on lots of bottles.

Where regions have made it, it's because of long-standing, brand-building strategies - Champagne and Rioja spring to mind.

For Languedoc-Roussillon, the brand equity picture is mixed. As measured by Vinitrac Global, awareness of Languedoc is reasonably high in The Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland, but falls to a paltry 12 per cent in the US, arguably the most exciting wine market in the world right now.

Richard Halstead

wineintelligence.com