Shorter harvests fail to stir uncertain bulk market The Northern Hemisphere harvests are in full swing and this month’s report relays the latest news from the vineyards on crop size and grape quality. Only one of California, France, Spain and Italy appears on course for a crop size in line with its five-year average, the others look set to come in short to varying extents, whether due to Mother Nature, vineyard removals/mothballing, or both. But with inventories long and North American and European retail sales of wine continuing to struggle, the bulk market has been largely unmoved. This month’s report identifies the activity that has occurred. Inflation and a cost-of-living squeeze are increasingly cropping up again in industry conversations. While the worst of the post-pandemic inflationary tailwinds are in the past, grocery and energy prices remain significantly elevated versus 3-5 years ago and consumers are reducing their spending on discretionary items accordingly.

Through the opening six weeks of 2025, the major bulk wine markets of the world continued where they left off at the end of 2024 – experiencing differing activity and pricing levels. One common theme is that the shorter winegrape crops of 2023 and 2024 have been most felt on generic wines, which appear to be in tight supply – at least in Europe, Chile and South Africa. This has led to some elevated generic-wine prices, especially in Spain where pricing increases since November have stimulated European interest in alternative sources such as France, Chile and Argentina.  The market for standard-quality varietal wines is less tight, but supply of varietal whites does feel closer to some kind of balance than reds, with carryover low in Chile, South Africa and Australia as the Southern Hemisphere’s 2025 harvests get underway. Early expectations are for average-sized crops at best: Chile’s is likely to be constrained by extensive vine removals over the past 24 m

Did your crop come in a bit heavy this year? After harvesting a bumper crop, laboratories need precision in their quality control. One indispensable tool for maintaining consistency and excellence in winemaking is the use of automatic analyzers in the laboratory. Admeo’s partners at BioSystems sophisticated instruments provide real-time actionable data on key parameters, ensuring that each lot of grapes and wine meets the highest quality standards. Testing each barrel is easy with automated analysis. In this article, we'll explore how to use automatic analyzers to streamline quality control during a bumper crop.  Malic acid is essential in a winery during a bumper crop as it provides valuable insights into the wine's tartness and aging potential. High levels of malic acid can contribute to a crisp and refreshing taste in white wines, but its presence in excess can make the wine overly acidic. Monitoring malic acid allows winemakers to decide whether malolactic fe

After harvesting a bumper crop, laboratories need precision in their quality control. One indispensable tool for maintaining consistency and excellence in winemaking is the use of automatic analyzers in the laboratory. Admeo’s partners at Biosystems sophisticated instruments provide real-time actionable data on key parameters, ensuring that each lot of grapes and wine meets the highest quality standards. Testing each barrel is easy with automated analysis. In this article, we'll explore how to use automatic analyzers to streamline quality control during a bumper crop.  Select the Right Analyzer  Through conversation with us about your specific winemaking needs, choose an automatic analyzer which is known for accuracy and reliability. The SPICA, Y200 and Y400 are all excellent options to consider for additions to your laboratory.  Malic and Lactic Acid  Malic acid is essential in a winery during a bumper crop as it pr

After harvesting a bumper crop, laboratories need precision in their quality control. One indispensable tool for maintaining consistency and excellence in winemaking is the use of automatic analyzers in the laboratory. Admeo’s partners at Biosystems sophisticated instruments provide real-time actionable data on key parameters, ensuring that each lot of grapes and wine meets the highest quality standards. Testing each barrel is easy with automated analysis. In this article, we'll explore how to use automatic analyzers to streamline quality control during a bumper crop.  Select the Right Analyzer  Through conversation with us about your specific winemaking needs, choose an automatic analyzer which is known for accuracy and reliability. The SPICA, Y200 and Y400 are all excellent options to consider for additions to your laboratory.  Malic&nb

The historically high heat spike in early September resulted in an unusually high level of dehydrated fruit in what was otherwise looking to be a bumper crop in Northern California. Estimates indicate the raisening of 20%-30% of the grapes, which means 20% or 30% lower tonnage. This accelerated raisening led many wineries and vineyard managers to harvest early to avoid the rain. "If it should have been 22-26 Brix and now it's over 30 Brix, that's a big difference, and there are reports of juice reaching 40 Brix or more, with VA's over 1 g/l," says Bryan Tudhope, Founder and CEO of VA Filtration. "People are coming to me asking, 'How are we getting vinegar in our grapes?"  Tudhope adds, "I can't explain how, but I can say that excess vinegar in the actual fruit out on the vine is unusual. Fruit typically comes in at 0.2 g/l or less; instead, it's at 0.8 g/l or more. We've never seen levels this high before. Winemakers used to see

The wine industry heads to the first ProWein fair in three years experiencing – like every other industry – inflationary costs, a global supply chain crisis, and a shortage of dry goods. It is undoubtedly a difficult environment in which to do business, and fairs like ProWein can provide an important opportunity to gain clearer visibility of market pitfalls and thrash out workarounds in person – even before one takes into account the fact that, for two years, having such meetings has been very difficult due to the pandemic. See our ProWein Preview this month for more details.  The OIV’s latest ‘State of the World Vine & Wine Sector’, published in April, gave a preliminary global wine production figure for 2021 of 260 million hectolitres, in line with 2020 and slightly down from the ten-year average, with good-sized Southern Hemisphere crops offsetting the impact of spring frost in Europe. Global consumption, meanwhile, was estimated at 236 m

The Southern Hemisphere harvests are in full swing and crop-size expectations vary from country to country: Argentina (frost damage, hailstorms), Chile (drought) and Australia (La Niña) are expecting smaller crops versus 2021, South Africa a crop in line with or just down from last year’s, with New Zealand’s bouncing back after 2021’s short output. La Niña has made for a cooler and in some cases more humid growing season than normal, setting picking back behind a normal schedule in many areas.  Southern Hemisphere bulk prices are – broadly speaking – trending upward due to a number of factors, each of which apply in some or all of the supplier countries: low or negligible carryover of white wines going into the new vintage; expectations of a shorter 2022 crop; inflationary pressure. Some price rises are modest, such as the 5-8% increase between vintages on South Africa’s good-quality varietal whites (despite strong demand), while o

Each season brings new and exciting happenings for our World Cooperage Account Managers around the globe as they work with our partner winemakers. We checked in on a few of them recently to see what was shaking in their part of the world. Come take a peek with us! Today we bring you updates from Napa, Sonoma, Israel, Australia, and South Africa. Stay tuned for our next update where we will hear from France, South America, Mexico, Canada and possibly more. NAPA Yuri DeLeon, Account Manager Hi, from sunny Napa Valley! Outwardly, everything seems to be quiet and still, but it is a critical time of year for the vines. Bud break has occurred, and crews are pruning the vines. In cooperage news, I've been busy partnering with wineries on barrel trials for their different programs - including one with Rombauer to see how extended wood aging effects wine maturation. Exciting stuff for sure! In the cellar, it is bottling time for many wineries. White wine barrels are being emptied then