German wine groups urge Berlin to drop planned taxes on sparkling wine and spirits

German wine and spirits industry groups used a meeting with lawmakers in Berlin on Tuesday, November 3, to urge the government to drop planned tax increases on sparkling wine and spirits and to support a broader adjustment of the country’s wine sector, which they said is facing a deep economic crisis.

The appeal came at a joint parliamentary wine evening organized by the German Raiffeisen Association, known as DRV, and the Federal Association for Wine, Sparkling Wine and Spirits, or BWS. According to the groups, members of Germany’s Bundestag and staff from parliament, state representations and political offices took part in discussions about the sector’s economic problems, the 2026 harvest season and possible policy responses.

DRV President Jörg Migende said the German wine industry was in its deepest crisis since World War II. He blamed falling wine consumption, cautious consumer spending, high production costs and strong international competition. He said wine cooperatives and their members were under heavy pressure, even as they continued to produce high-quality wines.

The groups said the small 2026 harvest could speed up changes that are already reshaping German wine production. Migende argued that the main issue was no longer whether the structure of winegrowing would change, but how that change would be managed. He said businesses needed economic prospects, planning certainty and political conditions that would make adaptation possible.

Among the measures discussed were support for voluntary land swaps to preserve continuous winegrowing areas, temporary vineyard set-asides to ease market pressure and, over time, financial incentives for growers who choose to leave wine production. Migende said cutting vineyard area alone would not be enough. He argued that policymakers also needed to strengthen sales and help producers find new market opportunities by aligning production and marketing more closely with consumer demand.

That approach matters beyond grape growers. Higher taxes on sparkling wine could raise retail prices and weaken demand in a key beverage segment, while also making it harder for wineries to use sparkling products to diversify as still wine sales fall.

BWS Managing Director Alexander Tacer focused his remarks on the planned tax increases. He said additional taxes on sparkling wine and spirits would lead directly to higher prices for consumers and would add pressure at a time when households were already dealing with higher living costs. He urged policymakers to abandon the plan.

Tacer said the measure would increase the burden on already strained companies and would also hurt restaurants and regional economic activity. He said many wine producers were turning to sparkling wine because sales of still wine had fallen sharply and sparkling products offered a new source of value. A higher sparkling wine tax, he said, would make that strategy harder and weaken the financial base of many businesses.

He also questioned whether the policy would deliver the extra tax revenue expected by the government. If sparkling wine and spirits become more expensive, he said, consumers may switch to other products instead of simply paying more. That could limit any gain for the state and create further uncertainty for producers and distributors across the beverage market.

The industry groups did not detail the size or timing of the proposed tax increases in their statement, but their message to lawmakers was clear: they want any response to the wine downturn to avoid adding costs to companies that are already trying to adjust to lower demand and changing consumer habits.

Tacer said he viewed the European Union’s wine package more favorably, especially where it offered tools to adapt to changing market conditions. At the same time, he said rules on geographic origin should preserve established standards without creating new bureaucratic barriers.

The event also highlighted a push for closer coordination within the industry. DRV board member Christian Weseloh said the challenges facing wine producers were now too broad to be addressed by individual market segments acting alone. He pointed to Forum WeinWirtschaft, a coalition that grew out of an earlier technical wine association platform, as a way to present common positions more effectively to political decision-makers.

In addition to DRV and BWS, the forum includes the association representing Germany’s fruit wine and fruit sparkling wine industry and the Trier Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The groups said the alliance brings together major parts of the German wine business and wine trade, including large and mid-sized companies across the supply chain.

The meeting also carried a more positive message about the 2026 vintage itself. Paula Löber, a national wine ambassador who holds the title of German Wine Majesty, told attendees that consumers could expect strong wines from the 2026 vintage despite the smaller harvest. She said healthy grapes, high must weights and concentrated aromas pointed to an excellent year, with particular potential in red wines and strong aromatic structure in whites.

Guests later tasted a selection of wines intended to showcase the range of German wine regions, according to the statement.

DRV said it represents cooperative-oriented companies in Germany’s agriculture and food sectors. It said its 1,635 member companies, active in production, trade and processing, employ about 110,000 people and generate 77.8 billion euros in sales. BWS said it represents around 140 companies in the wine, sparkling wine and spirits business. It said its members market more than half of total German wine production and account for about 95% of sparkling wine production in Germany.