As climate change and young consumers reshape the wine world, can India take advantage?The wine world is changing. For the traditionalists, a bit too fast. For the progressives, perhaps not fast enough. While they debate whether wine is a cultured ritual or a casual convenience, climate change has entered and overwhelmed the conversation. No longer a looming threat, it is rewriting the global wine playbook.As old bastions face challenges, unlikely places emerge as destinations for wines and related experiences. Georgia is reviving and building tourism around orange wine. China is doing viticulture, from Ningxia to high-altitude Yunnan. Even English sparkling wines are getting recognised. From Australia moving beyond Shiraz, to Germany doubling down on new-age methods, wine has indeed gone global. Can India take advantage as the wine map gets redrawn?Also Read: Peg by peg, Vodka's share is rising in IndiaIn India, people are not just swigging more wine, but they are also drinking in the vineyards. Rajeev Samant, founder and CEO of Sula Vineyards, says its revenue from wine tourism has crossed Rs 100 crore. “Today our vineyards and resorts welcome over 400,000 visitors each year. Our wine tourism business has grown rapidly, seeing a strong double-digit growth over the last five-six years, and crossing the Rs 100 crore revenue mark for the first time in FY2026,” he says. Sula Vineyards, which unveiled its third resort in Nashik, the wine capital of the country, in 2025, has signed an agreement to acquire Chandon’s 19-acre estate to expand its tourism footprint. Samant says the stay at Sula’s estates is driven by affluent millennials.The wine tourism market is flourishing globally even when other areas are languishing. According to Persistence Market Research, the global wine tourism market is expected to be $57.4 billion in 2026 and could reach $138.4 billion by 2033, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4%. Driven by a rising middle-class and expanding wine tourism infrastructure, Asia Pacific is growing fastest at 15.2%.RED ALERTMeanwhile, the traditional wine regions in Europe are battling multiple issues—falling demand, drought, water stress and reduced yields. Topping it all was the heatwave that rattled the continent this summer. Wildfires and smoke have impacted the wine-growing regions of Bordeaux and Provence in France. It has been a harsh warning on how Europe could be affected by climate change and rising temperatures.France is the second biggest wine producer in the world, with yields of 35-37 million hectolitres (mhl, 1 hectolitre = 100 litres). Temperatures in French vineyards have risen by 3°C since 1980.Also Read: How the wine world is set to change in 2026In the report, State of the World Wine Sector, released in May by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), the global wine consumption in 2025 was 208 mhl, a fall of 2.7% from 2024 and the lowest since 1957. The global wine production of 227 mhl in 2025 was only slightly above (0.6%) the historical low of 2024.“The 2025 vineyard surface represents a small reduction of 0.8% compared to 2024. While relatively minor, this is the sixth consecutive year that the world vineyard area has decreased in size,” said John Barker, director general of OIV. The fall in Europe’s vineyard area was primarily driven by significant removals of grapevines in France and, to some extent, Spain.An article in the online journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment issues a dire warning: “About 90% of traditional wine regions in coastal and lowland regions of Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California could be at risk of disappearing by the end of the century because of excessive drought and more frequent heatwaves with climate change.”By contrast, India’s vineyards have been expanding at an average of 4.6% since 2019. In 2025, the total area under vines was 1,97,000 hectares, the seventh largest in the world. However, there is a catch: only around 3,000 hectares are growing wine grapes, with the rest dedicated to the production of table grapes and raisins. It shows both the limits and potential of India.NEW WORLDSAs leading regions struggle, newer worlds are seeing an opportunity. A case in point: OIV is holding its World Congress of Vine and Wine in China this October, underlining the shifting trends in the oeno-universe.Says Sula’s Samant: “Consumers have evolved. They are shunning Old World archetypes that suited a region, like the room temperature rule, and are not shying away from enjoying their wine the way they like, chilled or otherwise.” Sula, India’s largest wine producer, holds over 50% of the domestic market share, with its Shiraz Cabernet the highest selling and grossing wine.Sula's winery resort in NashikThough India’s wine consumption is low, at less than 1% of the alcoholic beverage market, it has been growing at a CAGR of 25% over the past decade, according to the Indian Grape Processing Board. Meanwhile, the global consumption has declined steadily since 2018, with volumes falling by 14%.While millennials are the leading consumers, it is Gen Z that is forcing a change. The sober-curious generation is making the industry push the envelope on sustainability, organic wines and alcohol-free and low-alcohol options, and immersive wine-led experiences.“It is not that wine has fallen out of fashion among the young, but the way it is marketed to them needs to change,” says 25-year-old Abhiroop Ray, restaurant manager and sommelier at Captain’s Cellar, the wine lounge at the Taj Mahal hotel in Delhi. He points to the changing tastes: “Our legacy customers still prefer established producers from Bordeaux and Burgundy, or a Barolo from Italy. The younger crowd, in the late 20s or early 30s, is more receptive to niche producers, small estates, blends from single varietals, organic wines and quirky labels.” He is in the process of adding Panic Button from Spain’s Yecla region and crisp wines from Austria.The change is reflected in travel, with younger oenophiles favouring offbeat, unconventional and up-and-coming wine regions over legacy estates.Skyscanner’s Travel Trends Report 2026 showed a 105% increase in Indian travellers searching for Tbilisi as a destination— Georgia’s 8,000-year-old subterranean wine culture and its claim as the birthplace of winemaking have played quite a part in that.Wine tourists are becoming climate conscious too. Surveys in the Global Wine Tourism Report 2025 show that 84% of visitors think sustainability is relevant. Meanwhile, 92% of wineries believe sustainability will be important for wine tourism.Wines that are low on travel footprint are championing the cause of local producers. For instance, many who sit down at Restaurant Sonnenberg in Zurich, overlooking its micro-vineyard, opt for its own Pinot Noir Stadt Zürich aus den Sonnenberg Reden. However, Swiss growers are struggling— consumption in the country has fallen almost 20% in two decades while vineyard area has remained steady, leading to overproduction.PRESERVE GRAPESEurope is trying to keep pace with changing times and demands. The Staatsweingut or the state wine estate in Freiburg, Germany, engages in organic viticulture. Keeping an eye on young consumers, it is producing alcohol-free and dealcoholised wines that are becoming popular despite being costlier. In dealcoholised wines, alcohol is removed from traditionally fermented wines to under 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV).The winery is also using technology and AI to ward off any looming crisis. Martin Linser, head of Competence Center for Viticulture 4.0, an experimental platform to help small and medium-sized wine estates handle climate change, says heat severely affects the grapes in the winery, which is located in a warm region and has steep slopes. It has installed viti-photovoltaic systems that not only produce electricity but also protects grape from extreme heat as well as hail, heavy rains and frost.While drones are being used for cost-effective spraying of pesticides on steep slopes, autonomous tractors and machines, equipped with advanced sensors and self-steering systems, are making up for a limited workforce.Harsh summers are prompting wineries to go for early harvests as prolonged exposure to heat could make the grapes sweeter and increase the alcohol content.The changing weather patterns are affecting the production of wines. Riesling, for instance, which requires a long cool autumn is getting harvested earlier than usual because of late-spring frost. So Germany is working on new hybrids and fungus-resistant grape varieties.FUTURE-PROOFING VINEYARDS“Future vineyards will move from reactive farming to predictive farming—where sensors measure, AI interprets and the grower acts before the problem becomes visible,” says Manjunath VG, vice-president of viticulture at Grover Zampa Vineyards.India, though nascent in the wine world, is confident of future-proofing the vineyards as they have embraced technology right from the start. Dogridge, a grapevine rootstock that has high tolerance to drought, is now used in more than 90% of grape acreage, contributing to yield improvements and reduced water requirements, says Manjunath.“The next major leap will be AI-driven decision support which can convert thousands of data points into a simple question for the grower: What should I do today?” he adds. “The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre for Grapes is already working with AI, IoT sensors and image-based disease detection platforms, and developing geospatial artificial intelligence- and satellite-based precision-viticulture systems.”So, on August 30, the International Cabernet Sauvignon Day, as you raise a glass to that accidental cross that happened in Bordeaux in the 17th century, remember your next exceptional glass could come from anywhere— Argentina, Chile, or as north as Hull in England, or along the Helan mountains in China—weathering climate change with the help of technology.Though India’s wine consumption is low, at less than 1% of the alcoholic beverage market, it has been growing at a CAGR of 25% over the past decade.Today our vineyards and resorts welcome over 400,000 visitors each year. Revenue from our wine tourism business crossed Rs 100 crore for the first time in FY2026” RAJEEV SAMANT, founder, Sula Vineyards.Future vineyards will move from reactive farming to predictive farming—where sensors measure, AI interprets and the grower acts before the problem becomes visible”MANJUNATH VG, vice-president, viticulture, Grover Zampa Vineyards.