(Manfred Klimek, Editorial Team)
1. More lightweight bottles. More reused containers.
Winemakers worldwide have for too long pretended that glass is neutral and inconsequential. It isn’t. Weight equals CO₂, prestige equals emissions. Anyone who still believes today that heavy bottles are a sign of quality has neither done the maths nor listened. 2026 should be the year in which lightweight bottles and reused containers no longer need to be explained. They are neither a compromise nor a downgrade. Wine needs no posturing.
2. Living room, kitchen – more Kabinett.
Kabinett wines: not a matter of nostalgia, but of the future. ‘Kabinett’ means: less alcohol, greater drinkability, greater precision. Above all, however, it means a flavour profile that appeals to a generation unfamiliar with wine and perhaps keen to discover it. 7.5 to 9 per cent by volume is not a weakness. It is an opportunity.
3. Get rid of Lugana.
Or at least: take it out of the permanent rotation. Lugana has become a canvas for everything that’s convenient. A white wine that says little, except for nuttiness, yellow plastic and the persistence of sameness. This isn’t bashing; it’s simply fatigue. There are more exciting wines that cost the same.
4. An election defeat for Viktor Orbán in April.
Not out of any political desire, but out of a necessity for wine culture. Hungary is one of the most exciting wine-producing countries in the world. Tokaj, Somló, Szekszárd, Eger, Villány – all of these have international significance. Yet political clamour is drowning out the wines. 2026 could be the year in which Hungarian wine speaks for itself once again. And in which the Fidesz party’s state stake in wineries should also come to an end.
5. High-end red wine prices like in 1999.
The red wine crisis is real. But it is also a correction. Perhaps that is exactly what is needed: prices that are once again in proportion. Great wines are allowed to be expensive. But they don’t have to be expensive to be great. 2026 could be a year in which significant and great Bordeaux, Barolo or Brunello are once again affordable for the middle class.
6. Greater variety of grape varieties – despite fewer consumers.
A paradox? Only at first glance. Precisely because fewer people are drinking wine, it needs more stories. More grape varieties, more regional identities, more deviation from the global canon. A high density of varieties is not a problem. Monotony, however, is.
7. More experimentation with very light, dry wines (5–7 per cent).
Not as a substitute, but as a complement. These wines are not compromises, but responses – to changing eating habits, to different daily rhythms, to a different relationship with alcohol. They demand skill. And courage.
8. Put an end to the search for ‘non-alcoholic wine that tastes good’.
That is not progress; it is a step backwards. Without massive technical intervention, this idea cannot be realised. And with such intervention, wine loses what makes it what it is. Anyone who wants to drink alcohol-free should do so – but please not at the expense of the integrity of viticulture.
9. Save vineyards before they disappear.
By 2026, the abandonment of vineyard areas will be an issue. Economically logical, but disastrous for the landscape. Not every hillside is interchangeable. Some are a part of our memory; others, our identity. If vineyards are to be cleared, then please not where the landscape is more than just a production area.
10. An International of Viticulture.
Not as an association, but as a movement. A platform that discusses prices, alcohol policy, agriculture and enjoyment. One that intervenes when wine is treated merely as a problem. Enjoyment is not a side issue. It is culturally, socially and politically relevant.