It should really not be any surprise to anyone that Wine Paris has, in effectively four years, blown ProWein out of the water to become the number one international wine and spirits trade show.
As soon as Comexposium, one of the world’s biggest trade show companies that handles over 400 B2B and B2C events across 11 industries, formed a 50/50 alliance with Vinexposium in 2020 the writing was on the wall. It’s just that not many people were looking at the right wall to read it.
Most of all - and most surprisingly - at Messe Dusseldorf, organisers of ProWein, it seems were fast asleep at the wheel.
The numbers of buyers and producers heading to ProWein later this month is dramatically down now that Wine Paris has firmly cemented itself as the number one international wine and spirits drinks show
On more than one occasion I asked the powers that be at ProWein in 2022, 2023 and 2024 what they thought about the emergence of Wine Paris on the scene, only to be told each time they saw it as essentially a French wine show, with a growing international influence, but ProWein was still number one.
As Peter Schmitz, ProWein’s then show director, told The Buyer in January 2024: “Wine Paris is growing, but it is still mostly French producers, whilst ProWein is the whole world. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but when you are on top you are the hunted one. ProWein remains the true global wine fair.”
ProWein now has a new director - Frank Schindler - in charge. But he only took on the role in October, and it will take time for his new ideas to bed in. Time that ProWein is desperately short of. But as someone who joins from senior wine producer roles in the industry, it is clear he is already bringing fresh ideas and arguably a more humble approach to the role that should serve him and a new, albeit smaller show, well.
But first the facts. This was the year that Wine Paris cemented its position as the number one international wine and spirits trade fair with 63,541 trade visitors from 169 countries - up 21% on 2025. Crucially over half (51%) of visitors came from outside France, and were able to visit 6,537 exhibitors from 63 countries, of which 51% were also international. That’s a 94% increase in international participation since 2024, according to Vinexposium.
The switch by producers and buyers alike from ProWein to Wine Paris over the last three years has been remarkable.
Wine Paris has surged from 36,334 visitors in 2023, to 41,253 in 2024 and then a high of 52,622 visitors in 2025 - more than double the 25,739 that went in 2022. It has now added a further 10,000 plus in 2026.
Crucially Wine Paris now has more exhibitors taking part than ProWein did in 2023 (6,000 exhibitors) with the Dusseldorf show dropping to 5,000 exhibitors in 2025 and an expected 4,100 from around 60 countries next month.
ProWein’s visitor numbers have slumped from its pre-Covid heydays when in 2019 it broke records for visitors and exhibitors with 6,500 producers from 67 countries and 61,500 visitors from 142 countries to an expected 42,000 visitors from 129 countries in 2026.
Global show
Wine Paris enjoyed record numbers for its 2026 event with 63,541 visitors from all over the world
It’s the increase in international exhibitors at Wine Paris in 2026 that has most pleased the departing head of Wine Paris Rodolphe Lameyse, chief executive of Vinexposium - who is moving to a new role heading up food and drink for Comexposium - for there is no point, he says, in increasing your overseas visitors if that is not matched by the producers coming from all over the world.
The true test was the reaction from major players who have switched from ProWein to Wine Paris for the first time.
New Zealand Winegrowers chose 2026 as the year to move its large international pavilion over to Paris.
In total there were 70 New Zealand wineries, from eight regions at Wine Paris, including 40 wineries represented on the main New Zealand Winegrowers Pavilion.
Chris Stroud, New Zealand Winegrowers’ market manager for UK and Europe, said: “The feedback from participating wineries has been overwhelmingly positive as they had a very successful show. Indeed one of our members told us they met with 90% of their customers at Wine Paris, reinforcing the fact that this is currently the biggest event of its kind in the world.
He added: “Ultimately, Wine Paris delivered. The layout was relatively easy to navigate, the atmosphere was positive, and the opportunity to meet customers face‑to‑face, to engage them in individual brand stories, sample wines, and just chat on a personal level remains invaluable and hard to beat.”
Wine Australia had over 40 producers take part in Wine Paris - the majority for the first time
Wine Australia had 43 producers from 34 regions on its generic stand with a further 20 producers on their own stands and was delighted by the response it got and is asking for more space for next year’s show. It also had 28 producers on its stand in 2025 and six producers in 2024 and made the decision to move from ProWein last year.
California Wines had an increased presence at Wine Paris with around 90 producers on its impressive “Barn” stand concept.
Chuck Cramer, of Terlato Wines, said it was even more important this year in light of the damaging impact of the Trump tariffs on US wine exports and problems in its domestic market to be at Wine Paris. “It’s been a great show for us. We’ve been super busy,” he said.
WineGB also had an increased presence at the show and chief executive Nicola Bates, came back pleased with what its producers were able to achieve.
“We are seeing unprecedented year-on-year export sales growth of 35% and are nearing 10% of UK wines going to international sales. We are aiming for 15% or more of sales to export markets by 2030, so Wine Paris is an integral part of extending our overall reach,” she said.
Faith in Paris
This was also the year that a large number of producers and suppliers decided to cut their ties with ProWein and put their weight, and hopes behind Wine Paris.
Like Lanchester Wines and Greencfroft Bottling that have been able to build their global footprint - to some extent- off the back of their long-standing presence at ProWein.
They could not have been happier with the decision to move to Paris and the opportunity it gave them to see their existing customers and partners, but also explore a raft of new opportunities too.
“This is what a wine show should be. We decided within five minutes of walking through the door that 100% we’ll be back next year,” said sales director, Mark Roberts. “It’s been a great show for us and we have seen all our customers.”
For a group focused on sourcing and importing wine and then bottling and packaging it, the talk on its stands was very much around the demand and interest in its new 300gm lighter weight glass bottle that it believes is now the benchmark for the most progressive producers and retailers in the market.
“We have moved the needle quite dramatically with our bottles,” said director of purchasing Lesley Cook.
Wine Paris has succeeded in bringing both international producers and buyers to its show
Boutinot Wines was also confident it had made the right decision to switch its large internationally-focused stand from its long-standing presence at ProWein. Its main concern had been whether it would get to see the same level of overseas buyers and distributors it had been guaranteed in Dusseldorf.
But with a packed stand for three days, and potential customers from all continents of the world, it said it will be back with a potentially bigger presence next year.
Helena Martin, managing director of Schenk Family UK, was another convert: “Wine Paris has now become a must-attend event for us. It provides a valuable opportunity to have conversations that we may not be have face to face otherwise, as well as to broaden our perspective and expand our strategic thinking. While it was an intense and demanding three days, it proved to be both productive and highly rewarding.”
Simon Thorpe, managing director of Thorman Hunt described the show as “excellent”.
“It’s very accessible, well organised, busy, but not too busy. There’s a good buzz and it’s growing in importance. We won’t be heading to ProWein. Wine Paris, plus some other smaller regional shows, covers all our needs.”|
Focus for independents
President Macron gave Wine Paris his personal stamp of approval at this year's show
Chris Davies, UK national account director of Grand Chais de France said Wine Paris had proved particularly useful in connecting with its UK independent and regional wholesaler customers many of whom had targeted and committed to the show in greater numbers this year.
With particular interest, he added, in how they can make more use of its consolidated distribution network and make up mixed pallets with wines from producers from across its estate.
The fact so many independent wine merchants are now targeting Wine Paris is a key factor for importers such as North South Wines to be fully behind the show, said Tim Carlisle, head of head of independents for on and off-trade.
“Paris is attracting far more now – we had maybe 40 to 50 independent retailer and wholesale customers who came along,” said Carlisle.
Roberts at Lanchester Wines, agreed: “Independents should be going to Wine Paris in their droves.”
John Chapman, managing director at Oxford Wine Company, said ProWein is now far less “viable fair to attend where Paris is not only closer, but cheaper to find accommodation, easier to travel around and the fair itself is more friendly to do business at. Never say never but currently it is far from attractive”.
Carlisle added: “Wine Paris has placed itself very firmly at the centre of the western wine business - for the UK and western Europe, Paris now rules the roost. There isn’t currently a better place for buyers and producers to meet. We are already seeing new business from it, and met some potential producers who we expect to be starting to work with over the next 12 months.”
Jamie Avenell, wine buying director at C&C Group C&C Group, agreed: “In its expanded state with a much larger non-French and international contingent Wine Paris offers us a valuable opportunity to see, talk with, and taste with a large number of our suppliers in one place over three days.”
ProWein: time for re-invention
ProWein was slow to recognise and appreciate the threat of Wine Paris and is now having to rebuild its relevance to international buyers and producers
The “momentum” behind Wine Paris leaves ProWein in a difficult but not impossible place. The days of its 17 plus halls are clearly over - this year’s show will be reduced to seven - down from the 11 it had in 2025. Its challenge and opportunity now is to re-invent itself and make it relevant for the 40,000 plus visitors who do see and want a future in Dusseldorf.
It’s good to see the steps it has taken over the last 12 months to start putting those new foundations in place with its new “Shape, Create, Elevate” strategy that places a greater focus on content, and carefully targeted incentive programmes to attract key buyers from its target countries including the US, Scandinavia, the Benelux and Asia.
But it shows what a pickle it has got itself in when it is actively looking to recruit and pay to bring UK buyers to the show when you would struggle to get a plane ticket out of London just two to three years ago.
Marius Berlemann, chief operating officer at Messe Düsseldorf is finally now talking about the “bold steps” it is taking to “strategically realign and ambitiously develop the brand further”.
New show director, Frank Schindler, is coming in at a similar stage in its history to when Rodolphe Lameyse took over a slowly dying (in the heat) Vinexpo show in 2019. He has the platform and opportunity to really stamp his mark on the show and there are still many in the industry ready and willing to listen and give him a fair hearing.
There will still be a healthy 4,000 exhibitors at the show, with a new show layout that brings them all closer together for the expected 42,000 visitors, and it remains of vital importance to its core visitor base across central and Eastern Europe. Its challenge, though, is convincing international buyers to either prioritise it over Paris, just a few weeks earlier, or commit to doing both.
ProWein is working hard to re-invent the show as a smaller, more focused fair with a greater emphasis on content, education, spirits and no and low drinks
Which is becoming increasingly more difficult for buyers to do.
Even for UK-based companies that have German owners. As Robin Copestick, managing director of Freixenet Copestick, part of Henkell-Freixenet, explained: “I do expect ProWein to remain relevant but to a slightly different audience and supply base.”
He added: “Wine Paris is growing and is becoming the main focus for many suppliers and UK customers. We are going to be at Prowein, but will have fewer people from the UK team this year.”
Richard Dennis, commercial director at Watermill Wines, believes there is opportunity and a need for both shows. He said being able to do so much business at Wine Paris is “taking a huge amount of pressure away from ProWein - which is a great thing”.
“I do still feel that there is a place for both - if anything, ProWein has the opportunity to represent the southern hemisphere producers even stronger,” he adds.
Wines of South Africa is hoping to capitalise on the fact there will be far fewer Australian and New Zealand producers at ProWein this year
Wines of South Africa, for example, is well placed to take advantage of the fact that Australian and New Zealand producers won’t be there backed by their national stands and it still has plenty of producers that want to do both shows, or the option of backing one or the other. It had around 40 producers on its generic stand in Wine Paris and will have 36 producers at ProWein.
California Wines will also have around 20 producers at Dusseldorf, but that is well down on its large presence in Paris.
Alex Green, co-founder at Beyond Wines, believes the fact fewer of its competitors are going to ProWein is actually a tactical advantage for those that do.
He explained: "I feel like ProWein is a bit like the London Wine Fair and why we invest so much there. I would rather be at a show a year later than everyone else so see what opportunities there are that they are not seeing. There is a chance to stand out more. We will also get more time at ProWein with our major customers as so many others won't be there."
Martin agreed that ProWein’s future is more likely to be around strategic meetings and “an efficient opportunity to follow up on key supplier discussions – particularly with long-haul partners where face-to-face engagement can be especially valuable”.
It’s also where its parent Swiss-based business, the Schenk Group, has long had a major presence.
Jamie Avenell, wine buying director at C&C Group added: "We will have a limited presence at ProWein this year. I’m not sure there is a requirement for two fully international wine fairs in such quick succession and for them to co-exist successfully from our perspective they would need to do different things which is difficult to see.”
What next?
Wine Paris has quickly and determindly earned its postion as the numer one international trade show and with the power of Paris behind it it's hard to see it give up its crown
It’s a key point and one both shows will have to address in the coming years. Particularly as both are also putting more emphasis on spirits and no and low alcohol products. The question for both shows is now much of a bigger audience is there to go after?
Wine Paris is now the size that ProWein was at the peak of its powers in 2019 -with around 60,000 visitors and 6,000 exhibitors. That was the last year Vinexpo was held in Bordeaux and whilst a large number of those visitors and producers will now be going to Paris, it’s clear we are dealing in an increasingly contracted and consolidating world of wine and spirits.
With consumption down, huge inventories of unsold wine and spirits and tanks bursting to the seams with last year’s harvest, there simply is not another ‘X' thousand buyers and producers waiting in the wings deciding which of the two shows to go to.
It’s now a case of being the most relevant show you can be for your target audience.
Time and again exhibitors and visitors alike now bring up the cost factor of attending a major international drinks fair. Particularly for those businesses that are looking to bring large teams across the world for three to four days.
It’s why Paris is winning hands down. It is a city that does not care there is a major drinks show happening. It does not respond with increased hotel, taxi and restaurant prices. At a time when there is so much pressure on costs there is no doubt it has been a major factor in how quickly the pendulum has swung away from Dusseldorf with its much criticised over priced £300-£400 a night plus hotel rooms.
It’s also Paris. One of the most beautiful, historic and popular cities in the world. With 1,000s of high-quality restaurants and bars for the drinks industry to enjoy its time in.
Perhaps the most baffling decision made by ProWein, in face of the exodus of visitors and exhibitors to Paris, was the move to re-brand the show as ProWein Dusseldorf - after all it was not the actual show the industry was fed up with, but the city and the fact it was increasingly taking advantage with its increasingly exorbitant prices.
When Vinexpo was faced with the same structural and operational issues that now plagues ProWein it made the brave decision to dump its traditional home in Bordeaux and move the show to Paris.
Only by switching the show to an equally exciting, dynamic and famous city such as Berlin or Munich has ProWein any chance of stopping the Wine Paris express.
