The 2025 harvests in the Southern Hemisphere are now in full swing and the picture – so far – is mixed: white grape tonnages have been exceeding expectations in Australia and bunches are large and heavy in New Zealand, but Argentina and South Africa’s crops appear to be – at best – on course for their downwardly-adjusted long-term averages, while Chile’s crush could come in significantly short due to a hotter-than-normal growing season reducing yields. 

Globally speaking, the bulk market can be characterised as slow and steady since mid-February, with the Southern Hemisphere focused on harvest and demand in the Northern Hemisphere dampened by flat or declining retail sales and, in Spain, some elevated pricing on those wines most needed in Europe: generics, and especially generic white. Outside of generic white, few if any wines are making bulk-market waves as need is not pressing. 

Pockets of activity have arisen: domestic demand in Chile has surged since the start of March as crop expectations there have been revised down; California’s bulk market continues to be more active since the turn of the year, as some buyers now require volumes after a prolonged period of foregoing purchasing; Italian wine exports to the US have been robust in anticipation of US import tariffs on EU products, which could potentially include wine. Tariff wars are, to say the least, unhelpful for a wine industry battling a number of pre-existing headwinds, their implementation or the threat of their implementation injecting even more uncertainty into bulk wine and grape markets working hard to come to terms with the structural supply-demand imbalance and the changing consumer trends that have been a drag on demand post-pandemic. 

But as this month’s France page states: “Most in the industry remain sanguine and focused on growing sales where they can.” Attractive sourcing opportunities abound, as necessity – being the mother of invention – opens up new business avenues. Argentina can supply generic white for as much as 10% cheaper than European alternatives, and Malbec prices have also softened over the past year; California can now offer globally competitive generic wines in addition to traditional export offerings like White Zinfandel; the Cognac region of France, adjusting to reduced brandy exports, is serious about supplying competitivelypriced generic white to the wine market for the long-term. As tastes change, supply is moving flexibly to meet it: the Cognac Ugni Blanc can go into conventional wines but also sparkling bases, lower-alcohol wines, and RTD spritzer/cocktails; Australia is upping white wine production at the expense of red; California is already well advanced as a producer of low/no-alcohol wine. And as the traditional bottled wine avenues feel the sales squeeze, some redirected premium-quality wines are helping lift the overall quality of the bulk market’s offer. 

Now available are high-quality growers, vineyards and wine supply historically tied up in contracts or other parts of the business. Suppliers are rightly bullish on price when protecting margin and cashflow, requiring sustainable pricing in the longer term in order to survive and thrive. Ciatti’s experienced broker team, present in all the major wine-producing countries, is on hand to bring suppliers and buyers together in mutually beneficial relationships: don’t hesitate to reach out directly and, in the meantime, read on for the latest from each market.

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