Occitania’s no-GI bulk wine trade rose 8% in the first 48 weeks of 2025/26

Bulk wine contracts in Occitania showed a clear gain for wine without geographical indication during the first 48 weeks of the 2025/26 marketing campaign, while trade in IGP wine was nearly unchanged, according to figures published by DRAAF Occitanie and FranceAgriMer.

The data cover contracts presented for approval through July 1 in France’s largest wine-producing region. They track registered bulk transactions, not production, exports or final retail sales. Even so, they offer a close look at how buyers and sellers are moving in one of Europe’s most important wine markets.

Transactions involving wine without geographical indication reached 1.81 million hectoliters, up from 1.67 million hectoliters in the same period a year earlier. That is an 8% increase, equal to about 14 million more liters of wine moving through the registered bulk market.

By contrast, IGP wine, the category linked to a protected geographical indication, was almost flat. Registered contracts totaled 5.17 million hectoliters, compared with 5.19 million hectoliters a year earlier, a decline of about 2 million liters.

The gap becomes more pronounced over a longer period. Compared with the average of the previous four campaigns, the volume of wine without geographical indication is up 24%. IGP volumes, by contrast, remain 12% below that average. The figures suggest that the shift toward non-origin wine in the bulk market is not limited to one season.

At the same time, IGP wine continued to show stronger pricing power. The average price for IGP contracts rose 3% to €95.73 per hectoliter from €93.24 a year earlier. Wine without geographical indication was nearly unchanged at €80.77 per hectoliter. That leaves IGP wine selling at a meaningful premium, even as its traded volume has stopped growing.

The combination of higher no-GI volumes and firmer IGP prices points to a split market. Buyers appear willing to take more wine without geographical indication, which usually offers greater flexibility for blending and private-label use in bulk channels. But the IGP category is still showing that origin labeling can support prices even when volumes are under pressure.

Occitania matters because of its scale. The region in southern France is a major supplier of bulk wine for domestic and export channels, and shifts there can reflect broader changes in French and European demand. When no-GI trade rises in Occitania, it can signal that buyers are leaning toward lower-cost or more adaptable wine styles. When IGP prices rise despite flat volumes, it can suggest that a segment of the market still values traceability and place of origin enough to pay more for it.

The latest figures do not show why each contract was signed, and they do not reveal how the wine will ultimately be sold. Bulk trade data also cannot show whether end consumers are changing their preferences, since the wine may later be bottled under different labels, used in blends or sold through business-to-business channels. Still, the registered contracts provide a timely indicator of commercial behavior between producers, cooperatives, merchants and other market participants.

For producers in Occitania, the data underline a familiar tension. Wine without geographical indication is gaining ground in volume, which can help move stock in a difficult market. But its price is holding well below the IGP level and showed almost no increase in the latest period. IGP wine, meanwhile, is not expanding in traded volume, yet it remains the category with more room to improve value per hectoliter.

The figures were published on Aug. 13 by DRAAF Occitanie and FranceAgriMer. Taken together, they show a bulk wine market in which demand is still shifting toward wine without geographical indication, while IGP wine continues to hold a stronger position on price.