This isn’t your regular Saturday newsletter. I’m sending this mid-week because something’s been on my mind and I think you’ll want to see it.
The wine industry just lost 9 million drinkers in two years. Not because wine got worse. Because the industry made people feel unwelcome.
I’ve been turning this over for weeks. The data. The patterns. What it means for how we think about taste, hospitality, and who gets to feel “allowed” in spaces that should belong to everyone.
This one’s personal. I hope you’ll read it.
The US wine market just lost 9 million drinkers in two years.
Not because wine got worse—but because the industry forgot how to make new drinkers feel welcome.
After 30 years of continuous growth, American wine hit a structural wall in 2024-2025. Sales dropped 6%. Baby Boomers (who built the industry’s growth) dropped from 32% to 26% of wine drinkers.
Silicon Valley Bank’s annual report frames it with devastating clarity:
“The market is rotating out of 60+ consumers who index higher for wine and making way for consumers who index lower for wine versus other alcohol categories.”
Translation: we built our business on one generation, and now they’re aging out while we failed to recruit replacements.
But here’s the part that matters for us.
The Paradox Nobody’s Talking About
The International Wine and Spirits Research consortium calls it “an emerging paradox”:
“We are missing a chunk of recruits we would normally expect from younger generations, but those younger consumers we are recruiting are typically much more involved and higher spending.”
Read that again.
Fewer new drinkers, but the ones who get in are more valuable than ever.
Millennials are now the largest wine cohort at 31%. Gen Z jumped from 9% to 14% (with only half of them at legal drinking age). And crucially: these younger drinkers spend more per bottle and engage more deeply than the Boomers they’re replacing.
The industry’s traditional approach actively repels potential new drinkers. But the ones who DO get past the gatekeepers become passionate, high-value customers.
This tells us everything we need to know about the real problem.
It’s Not About Wine. It’s About Hospitality.
Younger consumers approach wine fundamentally differently:
- They drink less frequently but spend more per bottle when they do
- They value experiences over possessions and authenticity over prestige
- They discover wine through social media and favor experiential, less formal drinking
- They crave immersive experiences—73% of wineries surveyed plan to expand activities beyond tastings
The Wine Market Council found that Millennials and Gen Z “indulge in sparkling wine much more than Boomers do.” Why? Because bubbly is now “a lifestyle wine for every day, like rosé, something to sip with takeout Thai or Chinese. Not to mention that in a flute, fizz is wonderfully Instagrammable.”
40% of younger consumers say they choose wine “to make occasions feel special.”
Not to perform expertise. Not to prove sophistication. To make the moment matter.
They don’t want pretense. They want permission to enjoy wine on their own terms.
The industry calls this a recruitment crisis. I call it a hospitality failure.
The Pretension Tax
Every person who feels judged at a wine bar pays a tax.
Every guest who orders “the second cheapest” because they’re afraid of looking ignorant pays a tax.
Every potential enthusiast who bounces off wine because nobody gave them permission to learn pays a tax.
That tax doesn’t show up on financial statements. But over two years, it cost the industry 9 million customers.
The brands winning in this environment share a common trait: they make wine feel like discovery instead of intimidation.
- Natural wine bars packed with younger consumers who value the “unintimidating” vibe
- Small producers outperforming large wineries because their intimate service feels genuine
- Experience-forward wineries expanding beyond tastings into adventures, culinary experiences, wellness activities
The through-line: authenticity, accessibility, and experience over formal intimidation.
What This Means For You
If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably already past the gatekeepers. You’re curious enough to want to learn, confident enough to pursue it.
But you probably remember what it felt like before you got here.
The uncertainty at a wine shop. The embarrassment of mispronouncing a region. The sense that everyone else knew something you didn’t.
That feeling is what’s costing the industry millions of drinkers. And that feeling is completely unnecessary.
Wine isn’t a test you have to pass. It’s an experience you get to have.
The moment you stop asking “what should I drink?” and start asking “what do I actually like?”—that’s when it gets interesting.
The industry’s recruitment crisis is a hospitality crisis. It’s a reminder that expertise means nothing if you can’t make someone feel welcome.
For those of us who already love wine, it’s worth remembering: every time we share a bottle without pretension, every time we let someone discover something on their own terms, we’re doing what the industry forgot to do.
We’re making wine feel like it belongs to everyone. Not just the 76 million who stayed. The 9 million who left, too.