After 30 years of success, Wine Paris has overtaken the world market leader in wine fairs. There are many reasons for this. Is this the beginning of the end for ProWein? Or the reinvention? Matthias Stelzig was there for us.
At nine o'clock on Sunday morning, relatively few people get off the train at the north entrance to the trade fair centre. Even in the still relatively wide aisles, it won't be overly crowded for the next three days. It's easy to work here, this time without the crowds that used to block the aisles.
"We had few expectations, but they were exceeded," says Soave winemaker Gianni Tessari with satisfaction. Many Italians describe their impressions rather soberly in view of the party atmosphere in Paris. "At ProWein, we meet existing customers in Germany, our most important export market," says Klaus Gasser, sales manager of Cantina Terlan from South Tyrol, as if the name "Wine Paris" should rather not be mentioned. "This is our first time here," says Zoltán Bock from Villány in Hungary in a sceptical voice, looking at the rather empty aisle in front of him. "The hall is probably not that popular. We'll see."
The German exhibitors report significantly fewer visitors, but more time for new contacts.
Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmannOverall, the mood among exhibitors is cautiously positive. German winegrowers in particular, who were complaining about too much international competition just a few years ago, are in a good mood again. "We can't speak French," says a Palatinate winegrower half-jokingly, "we didn't dare go to Paris. With "too little Riesling, exports will be tight", says winegrower Johannes von Gleichenstein from Kaiserstuhl, summarising the realisation of many colleagues. The majority of respondents from Germany praised the quality of the sometimes few, but very good contacts in Düsseldorf. "I haven't been there since 2019," summarises organic winemaker Thorsten Melsheimer from the Moselle, "the talks with several new importers were very promising".
"We will remain at ProWein," explains Petra Mayer, representative of Wines of South Africa, "the cooperation has always been good and has proven itself." However, the impressions of the foreign exhibitors in 2025 are again very mixed. Many winemakers were bored in empty aisles and don't want to come back, while others went home with good contacts and lavish orders.
The trade fair has continued to shrink: by 5,000 visitors to 42,000 and by over 1,100 exhibitors to the current 4,200. 5.5 per cent fewer bookings from Germany are still manageable, as are 12.8 per cent fewer bookings from France. Despite Wine Paris, the Union des Grands Crus was also present and the Champagne Lounge was waiting for interested visitors on an area of 600 square metres. However, the Italians in particular are fleeing their most important export market in droves: the fair had to cope with a drop of 32.3 per cent this time. In Paris, on the other hand, Italy doubled its exhibition space, partly with subsidised presentations.
The Spanish (-15.6%), Portuguese (-19.6%), Americans (-11.5%) and Austrians (-9.8%) also made themselves much scarcer, while Wine Paris did not grow to the same extent. Since Covid, some wineries have apparently completely dispensed with expensive trade fairs. Chile (-34.3%), Argentina (-34.8%) and Australia (-46.3%) also suffered an abrupt slump. It is not possible to determine how many producers preferred to travel to Paris despite it being harvest time in the southern hemisphere.
South Africa, Chile and Australia made their debut there this year. There are plenty of rumours about aggressive price marketing at Wine Paris during small talk at ProWein. The overseas countries in particular are important partners for both trade fairs in order to present themselves as a global trade fair location.
If you compare the figures for ProWein with the record year of 2019, it becomes even more bitter for the Düsseldorf organisers. Of the 6,900 exhibitors, 4,200 remained (-39.1%), while Paris broke the 50,000 visitor mark and recorded 5,300 exhibitors. The comparative figures for ProWein between 2019 and 2025: France down 71 per cent, Austria down 81 per cent, Italy down 62 per cent and Germany down 39 per cent. That speaks for itself.
This development is also being felt by exhibitors from overseas. For them, exhibiting at the fair is associated with particularly high costs. Paul Molleman, European Director of the California Wine Institute, is clear: "We had significantly fewer visitors and virtually no walk-in customers. It is questionable whether we will be able to organise two trade fairs in Europe in the long term. ProWein needs new ideas." Many South Americans were similarly sceptical, but did not want to talk about it openly.
While in Paris all visitors use countless taxis and the excellent metro network and rave about the nightlife, the good German organisation is lost in Düsseldorf. In previous years, there have already been strikes at the exact time of the trade fair, including arrivals and departures. This year it was probably more luck: after a quasi-general strike by the public sector in North Rhine-Westphalia, the buses and trams were still at a standstill on the Friday morning before the trade fair began. Representatives of the trade union Verdi and the Düsseldorf transport company later argued about who was responsible for the cancellation.
Public transport is no longer free for trade fair visitors, and travelling on the trams, which have been overcrowded for years, is expensive. The chaotic jungle of fares is difficult to navigate even for the control staff, let alone trade fair visitors from abroad. On top of that, there was construction work on one of the Rhine bridges, which is prone to traffic jams. Deutsche Bahn, whose notorious delays and cancellations can hardly be expected of trade fair visitors, did the rest.
The biggest annoyance was and is the brazen hotel prices, which have long been among the highest in Germany in this moderately attractive city for tourists. 70 per cent of all visitors come to the city of just under 650,000 inhabitants on business and their employers pay.
During trade fairs, hoteliers allowed themselves surcharges of 400 per cent, even a pub behind the train station cost a fortune. For a long time, the industry association DeHoGa categorically referred to "free competition". There are no legal clauses against excessive hotel room prices due to usury.
The statistics provide clear figures: in 2023, there were 209 "accommodation establishments" in Düsseldorf with a total of 36,200 beds - for 50,000 trade fair participants. That's not enough. In comparison: Paris and the nearby Île-de-France have over 2,450 hotels - many of them with the usual four stars for trade fairs - and enough accommodation for a whopping 50 million tourists a year. Wine-Paris visitors don't even stand out among them.
In 2025, however, the calculation on the Rhine did not work out. Messe Düsseldorf had organised a room pool to cushion the prices. The main factor this time, however, was the lack of visitors. Shortly before the trade fair, rooms were still available at normal prices, which early bookers grudgingly registered.
The trade fair organisers finally started talking to the caterers - with dubious success. Timo Schmitz, DeHoGa spokesman and director of a 200-bed hotel in the city, complained in an interview with the daily newspaper "Rheinische Post" that the expected occupancy of the overpriced hotel rooms this year did not materialise, although the average hotel prices in Paris were higher. But there you have free choice. In Düsseldorf, the hoteliers are the cause of the crisis. Things were similarly overpriced to outrageous for a long time in Düsseldorf's catering trade during the ProWein period. And so there were significantly fewer evening events for trade fair visitors this year. Another home-made problem.
Another internal problem at ProWein is that the trade fair management has been changing in quick succession for years. Time and again, managers take over the management on a temporary basis. The trade fair has no face. In Paris, on the other hand, President Emmanuel Macron acts as patron. Rodolphe Lameyse, CEO of organiser Vinexposium, shines with speeches on the global situation, while members of parliament and ambassadors from many countries sit in the audience. Marius Berlemann, who has known the trade fair for years and could change that, is now in charge of ProWein.
As always, the WLAN works subterraneanly badly. The same goes for the legendarily rough handling of press accreditation. Not every stand is easy to find, some stand numbers are not even available. But at least there are plenty of food stalls outside, albeit quite hearty ones. On the other hand, visitors rarely had to complain about drunken guests.
On Tuesday, things were a little more sedate than on the two previous days of the fair. In some halls, travellers with suitcases marched past empty stands towards the exit from midday at the latest. "Only my colleagues are coming to taste today," confirmed many of the winegrowers who were waiting.
However, for some winegrowers from less prominent regions, the hour is now even more favourable, as many traders are taking some time for unusual growing regions at the end. "Today was our best day," says Zoltán Bock happily, packing up in the evening.