New grapes, old vines, lower alcohol – wine trends to watch in 2025 | Wine

AAlthough I might like to think of fashion in wine as about elegance, quality, and discovery, the truth is that trends are often shaped by broader economic and political factors that have nothing to do with taste.

Take the mini-boom that Australian wine enjoyed in the UK earlier in the decade. It was a side effect of Australian producers cutting prices to fill the gap caused by tariffs in their main export market, China. Or the rise, over the past couple of years, in wines with alcohol contents below 11.5% ABV – a development in the UK that was at least as much about overcoming the threshold for new higher serving rates as it was about demand for lighter styles.

We’ll be seeing more of those wines this year, and some of them lighter, as from next month the new sliding scale duty of 11p per 0.5% alcohol takes full effect – and that’s just one of the changes that will make wine more expensive for you and me in 2025. Another factor shaping Vin is the ongoing impact of the climate crisis, with France a notable victim of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns with a historically low crop in 2025. 2024 (down by 23% from 2023) Prices will likely increase, with some preferred methods being made more difficult.

But the impact of the climate crisis goes beyond stock levels and pricing. They also shape approaches to packaging (you’ll see far fewer examples of CO2 glazes, elbow-striking bottles, and super-heavy bottles on shelves this year), and influence grape variety and vineyard choices. Last year was a breakthrough for a new group of grape varieties, Pewiswhich have been bred specifically for greater resistance to the type of fungal diseases that increasingly occur in more frequent warm and humid years (such as 2024 in France). I fully expect to see more wines made from the likes of Floréal and Souvignier Gris in the coming months.

We will also see more wines made from Mediterranean varieties such as Grenache (AKA Garnacha), Carignan and Assyrtiko, which are appreciated in regions where the main consequence of the climate crisis so far has been an excess of heat and an absence of water. In the same hot climate zones, wines made from coastal, island and high-altitude locations, where growers can temper the heat with cool sea and mountain breezes, will continue to climb.

Other styles that appeared to be reaching a turning point in 2024 and, according to most retailers I speak to, are likely to continue to grow this year, include Greek wines, orange wines, pet and light sparkling wines, mailable reds, and wines.” Appassimento” made from dried grapes, while popular styles that seem to have reached their peak and are on or approaching a downward slope include Pale Pink Rosé from Provence and elsewhere, Prosecco and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As for the reasons: Well, maybe someone smarter than me can find a more sophisticated explanation, but perhaps some wine trends are driven by nothing more complex than one of the most powerful forces of all: boredom and the desire for something new.

Vector bottles: six wines in 2025