Wine Paris puts governments in sights as show hits new high

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 05 December, 2025

With record numbers of exhibitors signed up and record numbers of attendees also predicted to attend, Wine Paris has evolved its content for this year’s event to send a clear message on unfavourable government policies.

Talking at a press briefing in London ahead of the February edition, Rodolphe Lameyse (pictured), CEO of event owner Vinexposium, announced that this year’s content and communication would have a focus on “geopolitical issues that we face globally”.

Highlighting this emphasis, Lameyse referenced a specific panel entitled ‘Tariffs: The Spirits Industry Under Pressure’, which is to feature Miles Beale, chief executive of the UK’s Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) and CEO Chris Swonger of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, along with the growing global reach of Vinexposium’s drinks events.

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“Paris is our flagship, this is where we connect the buyers, the journalists, the influencers, the associations, the syndicates, the unions, also the different embassies, [and] it’s an opportunity to create bonds and connect,” said Lameyse.

“Besides just the trade show itself, we consider that we are a catalyst in communication… so let’s make this a channel to lobby. This is not about wines against spirits, or Europe against the US, we’re way beyond that, the idea is to say, ‘it is us against government policies, because we are facing difficult times’.”

The WSTA’s Beale, who was present at the briefing, spoke of the relevance of this to the UK trade, reminding that the country is the largest importer of wine in the world, at 1.7 billion litres, and the biggest exporter of spirits, with Scotch the leading category.

“We are still holding on to that position, despite Brexit and Covid and international disruption and the latest version of globalisation and Donald Trump trying to repatriate a lot of production,” he added. “Geopolitics has never had more of an influence on trade, and it’s very obvious with the international trade in spirits.”

As a platform to raise the trade’s concerns, Wine Paris – which Lameyse described as the hub of Vinexposium’s international events, which span the US to Singapore and Hong Kong – is well placed to communicate such messages.

“Paris is the flagship for the whole world to connect, we consider it a catalyst for communication,” said Lameyse.

This year’s show, which takes place from 9-11 February at the Paris Expo, has confirmed 6,000 exhibitors, from 60 countries, now with a waiting list and with some 60,000 visitors predicted to attend. These figures represent not just an increase from last year’s edition, but a new record for a wine and spirit fair, building on last year’s success when Wine Paris surpassed Dusseldorf rival Prowein in numbers of attendees (52,000 versus 42,000).

Moreover, in addition to expanding the number of halls for the event, this year’s Wine Paris is being billed as “three events in one”, with Be Spirits Paris growing the spirits side, and Be No Paris delivering a focus on the No & Low category.

The show has also been particularly successful in attracting UK visitors, who are second only in numbers to French attendees, with the mix of international exhibitors versus French exhibitors having grown to 50:50 across both wines and spirits.

This is set against a backdrop of difficult global trading conditions, with Lameyse highlighting that “the two engines of the US and China are slower than they used to be”, impacting trade in wines and spirits around the world.

“We are facing turbulent times, either we sit and we cry, and the next day we cry a little bit more, or we share the latest data, [ask] what are latest opportunities that we do have in the market, because even in difficult times there are always opportunities,” said Lameyse. “But we need to look for them.”

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