(Manfred Klimek / Editorial team)
For the past few days, WINEPARTY has been receiving data from the wine trade anonymously via a Hotmail address. These are sales figures from major retailers, leaked to us by a whistleblower. We are publishing these figures with all due caution. We do not know their source with absolute certainty, nor can we verify them independently. However, the material has a certain authenticity, which the sender deliberately weaves in: small details that make it appear credible. That is why it deserves attention. For even if individual figures are inaccurate, they paint a picture that many winegrowers and retailers have long recognised from their own experience.
The most recent data relates to the first half of 2026. According to this, a major online retailer is reported to have recorded a two per cent decline in sparkling wine sales, white wine is down eight per cent, whilst rosé has risen by seven per cent – albeit from a level that remains low. The situation is truly alarming when it comes to red wine: a 46 per cent decline. The picture is even more dramatic for sweet wine, port and related categories: a 78 per cent decline. At the same time, non-alcoholic products are growing by 180 per cent – albeit from a very small base so far.
If these figures are even remotely accurate, it raises a question that is surprisingly rarely discussed.
Do we need to save red wine?
For years, the main focus of discussion has been on the rise of non-alcoholic wines. Before that, rosé had taken centre stage, accompanied by lighter white wines and new sparkling wines. Red wine, on the other hand, was taken so much for granted that hardly anyone considered the possibility that its position might one day be seriously under threat.
Was that precisely where the mistake lay?
Red wine today demands many things that the spirit of the times increasingly fails to provide. Patience. Attention. Often a shared meal. And cooler seasons. Anyone sitting down at the table at home after a long day’s work in this new world of work, or meeting friends for a drink, now often reaches for other beverages. This is no longer just a fad. It is a change in lifestyle.
Added to this is climate change. Hot summers automatically lead many consumers to seek out cooler wines. Even die-hard red wine drinkers are suddenly rediscovering Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc or champagne. At the same time, a new generation is coming of age for whom great Bordeaux, Barolo or Rioja are no longer as much a given part of their own wine universe as they were for the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Burgundy still enjoys a certain status as a wine of distinction, that special something. Yet even that seems under threat.
Even more disheartening, however, is the outlook for another category.
Sweet wine.
For decades, Sauternes, Tokaj, Trockenbeerenauslese, Beerenauslese and great ice wines were among Europe’s most prized wines. Today, they are quietly disappearing from many wine lists. Not because their quality has declined, but because they are hardly ever ordered anymore. If you ask young sommeliers, you’ll often be surprised by what you hear. Some have scarcely ever had any truly great sweet wines in their glasses.
That would be a cultural loss.
For sweet wine is not a marginal phenomenon in European wine history. It is one of its oldest and most significant chapters. Simply allowing it to disappear from the cellars would be rather like doing away with Mozart in classical music at some point simply because streaming services are currently favouring other tastes. So perhaps the question isn’t whether red wine or sweet wine will disappear, but how we can bring them back into our everyday lives.
Does red wine need new serving temperatures? Different dining concepts? More courage to embrace lighter, early-drinking styles? And isn’t it high time we finally showcased sweet wine where it belongs – not just with dessert, but with cheese, foie gras, spicy Asian cuisine, or simply on its own? And why are there no sweet wines for mixing in the bar scene?
WINEPARTY will continue to publish data leaked to us anonymously – always with the caveat that we cannot conclusively verify its source. At the same time, we invite winemakers, retailers and sommeliers to share their experiences with us. And we, too, are now setting about verifying the information ourselves.
For one thing already seems certain: if this trend is confirmed, we will no longer be discussing short-term market trends. Instead, we will be talking about a profound transformation of European wine culture.