Merano WineFestival sets up a wine observatory for 2027
The 35th edition opens at the Kurhaus on 6 November with 810 exhibitors. Its founder also wants the fair to start measuring how wine will be made, sold and drunk.
The Merano WineFestival will open its 35th edition at the Kurhaus in Merano on 6 November and, from 2027, run a permanent observatory on where wine is heading, founder Helmuth Köcher said in Rome on 7 October.
The programme was presented not in South Tyrol but in a hall of the Italian Senate, at the invitation of its vice-president, Gian Marco Centinaio. The Merano WineFestival runs for five days, until 10 November, and is organised by Gourmet's International. Köcher, who also runs the selection label The WineHunter, founded the event in 1992.
The organisers count 810 exhibiting companies and more than 2,600 products to taste. Over 350 of them are Italian wineries, and more than 100 producers come from 12 other countries.
A tasting fair now wants to measure who will still be drinking wine in twenty years.
What the Merano WineFestival costs this year
The week is split in three. Friday 6 November belongs to organic, biodynamic and natural wines; Saturday to Monday is the main tasting; Tuesday 10 closes with Champagne and other sparkling wines. A day ticket bought by 19 October costs €64 for the opening day, €134 for the Saturday and €124 for the Sunday or Monday, according to the festival's price list. Day tickets rise by €10 from 20 October. A three-day pass for the main tasting costs €314.
The festival's own award also changed scale this year. For the first time its judges gave 100 points out of 100, to four wines: Ferrari's Perlé 2002, Cantina Terlano's Rarity 2013, Contini's Vernaccia di Oristano Riserva 1998 and Avignonesi's Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice 2012. The scores arrive in the same season as Gambero Rosso's Tre Bicchieri 2027 awards for Veneto.
An observatory with a question, not yet a method
The Merano Wine Observatory is due to start work in 2027 as a year-round platform. According to the organisers, it will bring together producers, experts, trade operators and institutions to collect data, compare experiences and spot trends early. Köcher put its brief as a question: how will wine be produced, sold, consumed and perceived in five, 10 or 20 years?
The presentation named no members, no budget, no indicators and no publication calendar.
World wine consumption fell 2.7% in 2025 to 208 million hectolitres, the lowest level since 1957, according to figures from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine reported by Reuters. Supply is shrinking as well: France's 2026 grape harvest is its smallest in decades.
A fair that sells tickets to taste 2,600 products has a direct interest in knowing who will still be drinking them. This year's Merano WineFestival already gives floor space to drinks with little or no alcohol.
The first test comes in 2027: whether the observatory publishes numbers, or only panels.
