In the red wine-dominant Rhône Valley, white wine is gaining in both production and prestige. In Lirac, for example, annual volumes of white wine have nearly doubled and now account for almost 12 percent of the appellation’s production. Meanwhile, Gigondas added white wines to the AOC in 2022, and Rasteau and Vinsobres are both petitioning to do the same.
While this represents a meaningful shift for the Rhône, the trend is occurring more broadly with white wine production growing in several other regions that are more typically known for red wines. With wine sales down, producers are searching for new ways to attract consumers, and, as the 2025 Silicon Valley Bank “State of the U.S. Wine Industry” report highlighted, white wine is one of the few categories in the wine industry that is experiencing positive growth.
Now, many producers are giving their white wines as much attention as their top reds—but hurdles still remain. Changing production regulations for European wine regions is no small task. But what’s harder is changing the perception of a region in the minds of consumers, or even the trade.
Shifting preferences towards white wine
“The market is moving towards more drinkable wines,” says Helen Durand, the owner of Domaine du Trapadis, and the leader in the effort to add white wines to the Rasteau AOC. According to Durand, that translates to a preference for whites, which are often more acid-driven, lower in alcohol, and generally fresher than the international style of red wine that once reigned.
Bordeaux is seeing some of the same developments as the Rhône. “The Medoc has applied to add white wine to the appellation,” says Mary Gorman-McAdams, MW, who is at work on a book about white Bordeaux for the Académie du Vin’s Classic Wine Library. “There are probably about 100 producers making white wine in the region at the moment, but those are [currently labeled as] AOC Bordeaux.”
According to the CIVB, exports of white Bordeaux to the U.S. grew over one-third by volume and almost doubled in value from 2015 to 2023. But Gorman-McAdams says that growth could be stronger. “Producers have really exciting [white] wines, but their importer partners aren’t bringing them in.”
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