Wine consumption volumes are sliding, yet news that Concha y Toro experienced a near 5% sales drop in the fourth quarter of 2025 still made headlines given the company’s success over the past decade.

Despite this blip, Concha y Toro recorded an overall revenue increase of 1.7% for the full year, which highlights its healthy trajectory. The group attributed its growth performance to the strength of its premium and above brands, which saw value sales rise by 4.3%.

“During 2025, Viña Concha y Toro demonstrated the strength of its business strategy,” says chief executive Eduardo Guilisasti.

“The robustness of our brand portfolio, the efficiency of our vertically integrated business model and our extensive international distribution network – both proprietary and through strategic partners – made it possible to achieve positive performance in value sales, despite the challenging environment of the global alcoholic beverages industry and the international economic context marked by high uncertainty and volatility.”

For context, premium and above brands now account for 57.4% of the company’s wine sales and it’s this success at the premium end which has guided investment. In a separate statement provided to Drinks International, the company explained that its growth is also anchored in a “long term, disciplined strategy” rather than targeting short-term volume expansion.

“Viña Concha y Toro has systematically premiumised its portfolio, strengthening global brands at different price points while reducing exposure to low margin segments.

“International markets remain essential for scale and long-term growth. In the case of Viña Concha y Toro, approximately 85% of its sales come from exports.

“Geographic diversification comes through our more than 10 wholly owned distribution offices worldwide, which also provides us with flexibility in a volatile environment, allowing us to stay very close to our consumers in order to anticipate trends.”

The company also identified “strategic, high impact markets” as a key focus, including Brazil, Mexico and Asia, “where brand equity and long term growth potential intersect”.

There are, however, some markets where Chilean producers are pouncing on sales opportunities at the lower end. In a report by Vinetur, which analysed data from Interprofesional del Vino de España on Mexican customs, Chile recently overtook the volumes of Spanish wine in Mexico.

The report read: “Spain maintained its position as Mexico’s leading supplier of wine by value in 2025, with exports totalling €90.3m – a decrease of 1.7% from the previous year. In terms of volume, however, Spain lost its top spot to Chile, which increased its exports to Mexico by 25.2%, reaching a total of 29.4 million litres. Spain’s export volume fell by 9.6% to 22.2 million litres.

“Chile’s strategy focused on offering lower-priced wines, with an average price per litre of just €1.64 – a drop of 23.2%. This allowed Chile to become the largest supplier by volume while ranking fourth in value at €48.3m, down by 3.8%.”

Market insights

One of the traditionally strong markets for premium Chilean wine is the UK. Terry Pennington, export director at Santa Rita Estates for UK, ROI & Iberia, provided to Drinks International his insights into the market.

“In 2025, the UK ranked as the fourth-largest export market by volume for Chilean wine, behind Brazil, the US and Japan,” he said. “While shipments to the UK were down around 10% year on year, this sits within a wider context of softer export performance across several established markets.

“The UK remains one of the most important strategic markets for Viña Santa Rita, even though it is no longer the largest export destination for Chilean wine.”

According to Pennington, premium remains the key opportunity, but it comes with its challenges. “Overall consumption trends are declining and competition remains intense across all price points. However, this environment continues to create space for premiumisation, which is increasingly where the opportunity lies.

“A key structural challenge remains the £12-plus price segment, where Chile still faces perception barriers despite consistently strong quality-to-price credentials. At the same time, this also represents a clear opportunity to further elevate category perception and unlock greater value.

“In this sense, while the UK is no longer a straightforward volume growth market, it remains highly important for value growth, brand positioning and building long-term premium wine credibility. It therefore remains a highly influential and strategically important market for Santa Rita.”

Pennington added that for Santa Rita, the emphasis in the UK is increasingly on value creation, premiumisation and differentiation as consumer preferences develop.

“There is a clear and growing focus on premiumisation and differentiation, with increased investment in estate-led and higher-tier wines designed to engage more experienced consumers seeking provenance, authenticity and a stronger sense of place,” he said.

“The overall objective is to maintain broad accessibility while creating a clear ladder of progression across the portfolio, supporting both recruitment and long-term brand development.”

Despite a few inconsistencies in recent sales results, Chile remains one of the countries showing stability in the still wine sector. What is consistent is the changing trends in different markets leading to a change in market roles, with the likes of Mexico emerging as a key country for volume growth compared to the UK, which is transitioning into a region for brand building, style development and premiumisation.