Rising fuel prices compound market hesitancy
The sluggishness of activity on the bulk wine market globally since the turn of the year continued through March into early April, with hesitancy compounded by a rise in fuel prices – by approximately 30%+ in most countries – as a consequence of the conflict in the Middle East. Prices spiked amid the Southern Hemisphere harvests, directly impacting the picking of at least one: this month’s report provides the latest insights from the vineyards.
As this month’s California page states, the Iran war is likely to compound some pre-existing consumer pessimism, “with upward pressure on fuel costs exacerbating the reduced spending power consumers have possessed since the 2021-23 post-pandemic inflation spike. Unlike in previous eras when there has been economic misfortune, consumers are pessimistic about the long term – not just the short or medium term – and could curb spending accordingly”. Not what an industry going through a painful rightsizing process – and searching for a levelling-off in sales declines – needs.
Another issue common to nearly every producer country in this month’s report is abnormal weather: notable deluges occurred amid two country’s harvests in March; winter and early spring were very wet in Spain and southern France, with the Languedoc receiving more than 100% of its annual rainfall in the first quarter of the year; early spring has been unseasonably warm in California, where a number of veteran growers have reported that they have never before seen vine development so advanced at this stage. “Advanced” is the current viticultural buzzword, with a number of Southern Hemisphere harvests having conformed to that description.
The 2026 instalment of ProWein on 15-17th March hosted 31,000 visitors, down 25% from 42,000 in 2025, itself down from 47,000 in 2024. This visitor figure was well short of the 63,500 attendees at Wine Paris 2026 on 9-11th February, and the exhibitor number – 3,400 – was half that of Paris. The outbreak of the Iran war two weeks before ProWein will doubtless have dampened its numbers, but there is no denying Wine Paris is becoming the dominant wine show in Europe.
The Ciatti broker team found ProWein 2026 highly useful, and – for diary efficiency and longer, better-quality meetings – there is something to be said for a less populous show with fewer massive halls. But the proximity on the calendar of the two shows has always made it hard for non-European visitors to justify attending both, and with next year’s instalments separated by just three weeks, Paris is set to take further attendee and exhibitor numbers from Düsseldorf.
For the latest intel on each of the leading bulk wine markets, the Southern Hemisphere harvests, and spring conditions in the Northern Hemisphere, click on the button below to go through to the full Ciatti Global Market Report for April. The Global Pricing Grid, with all the latest pricing tables, will arrive into your email inbox soon.
Read the full Ciatti Global Market Report for April
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