Young People Aren't Drinking Wine—And This Headline Isn't Landing

Reporting live from the ground floor of the scariest wine graph of 2024.

The year has started a bit doomy and gloomy for the wine industry and it’s not totally unwarranted. The Silicon Valley State of the Industry Report contained a survey and accompanying graph showing a stark difference between how much wine boomers are helping themselves to vs. the rest of us. 

Looky here.

Source: SVB State of the US Wine Industry Report

The expected headlines have followed: Young People Aren’t Drinking Wine. Scrolling through these over the first few weeks of the year began to feel like sitting on a scratchy carpet—I didn’t like it. Then I came across a different article that, in its opening paragraph, demonstrated to me one of the ways the wine industry fails to reach my generation and my younger peers. The writer of this article, which provided a historical overview of a non-European winegrowing country, described the development of viticulture as an “intricate dance of settlers, explorers, and indigenous populations”. 

Now, I’m 35 years old and that makes me a graph-floor-dweller—I’m in the group we’re scratching our heads over. And in my brain, a voice in my head went herein lies the problem. 

When we talk about wine history and the context in which wine exists, we really need to call things by their name. We youngsters and old-people-to-be are connecting the dots between capitalism, white supremacy, settler colonialism, patriarchy, and the climate crisis. We’re navigating an increasingly unaffordable world. And we’re not interested in perpetuating myths or propaganda that protects those institutions.

At the end of the day, we’re looking for ways to course-correct and make amends for the legacy we’ve inherited. Insert the phrase “intricate dance” here, not above. 

I have some suggestions. My first is to consider this: it’s actually fine that younger people aren’t drinking. The first person I heard express this opinion was Elaine Chukan Brown at the 2023 Wine Writers’ Symposium. It was a revelation for me. They’re right—this cultural moment is focused on wellness and mental health, and giving up alcohol as a strategy to achieve that is all good. We really can’t—and shouldn’t—try to “fix” this. 

You could totally do an “intricate dance” here too: instead of hyper-focusing on the consequences of sobriety culture, we should consider the dimensions of our world that have led young people to this consumption trend. Remember: we retired the “young people aren’t buying” trope back with avocados and housing. We learned then that if we want to have conversations about how young consumers are spending, we must frame it within a real analysis of why that might be. That means we need to be talking about global warming, late capitalism, settler colonization, racism beyond February, homophobia, and misogyny. If we’re not ready for honest conversations about how we’ve embodied these systems in our industry, we may not be ready to talk about young consumers at all. 

My next suggestion: now that we’ve observed the graph in horror, it’s time for us to shift our messaging from “young people aren’t” to “young people are”. We need to double down on supporting and spotlighting the young people who are already committed to the wine industry. There are so many!

Christopher Renfro and Jannea Tschirch are doing the opposite of gatekeeping with the Two Eighty Project, Jahdé Marley is connecting underrepresented communities and grape varieties through [ABV] Ferments, Maryam Ahmed is helping brands deepen their impact through sustainability and equity, and Farrah Berrou is writing about Lebanon in ways that will have you penciling in a Tuesday cry. Wild Arc Farm in N.Y., Addison Farms in N.C., Ward Four Wines in C.A., Day Wines in O.R.—there are young people among us. Kelly, can we handle this? Michelle?

(That’s a Destiny’s Child reference.)

Consider this article that profiles Alessandro Salvano, a Piedmontese winemaker with plans to create space for his winemaking peers. In the article, Salvano’s ambition prompts the writer to daydream about established winemakers shaving off corners of their vineyard for their protégés to play in. From where I’m standing, we need more of this kind of creative thinking about how to make our spaces accessible, affordable, and not problematic for the younger people already committed to this industry.

When I look at the State Of The Industry survey and graph above, I see a major cultural shift. It’s the same shift I feel when I’m in rooms with industry leaders who recognize that wine is a lens through which we can critique institutions and liberate marginalized communities. There are people in our industry connecting the dots between wine and collective wellness. Luxury, excess, and exclusivity are out—wine as a way of engaging in climate action, reckoning with our past, and connecting people to resources is in. 

Let’s bring up that slide again, please.

Source: SVB State of the US Wine Industry Report

That stark dip in consumer habits is an inevitable growing pain for our industry. I have learned, through the work of young wine professionals, Black and brown wine professionals, indigenous wine professionals, women, and queer wine professionals in our industry, that wine has the potential to make the world habitable for future generations. If we want young people to engage with us, we have to recognize how wine is a tool for building a world where they’re able to. 

I asked my Instagram followers to name millennial and Gen Z wine professionals who impress them. Here is a list of those names and others; add yours in the comments and I’ll add them to the list. 

The Graph-ity Defying Young People’s List

Note: I have no editor! Please correct me if I misspell a name. 

• Fiona Mak - SMAK Wines

• Justin Trabue - Ward Four Wines

• Reggie Leonard II - Oenoverse

• Matt Duerstock - Addison Farms

• Michele D’Aprix - MDX Wines

• Meghan Zobeck - M.Zobeck Wines

• Chris Denesha - Pleb Urban Winery

• Kelsey Albro Itämeri - Itä Winery

• Joshua Grainer MW - RdV Vineyards

• Rosalind Reynolds - Emme Wines

• Brooke Delmas - Delmas Wines

• Sierra Blair - Ghost Rock

• Brianne Day - Day Wines

• Sam Rush - Rush Wines

• Yael Sandler - Josef Chromy

• Stephanie Cohen - Col Solare

• Phoebe Grant - Nature of the Beast

• Ben Mullen - Mulline

• Derek Baljeu - Knights Bridge Winery

• Todd Cavallo - Wild Arc Farm

• Melanie Chester - Giant Steps

• Jonny & Kyle - Saltfleet

• Jennifer Reichardt - Raft Wines

• Sam Lambson - Minimalist Wines

• Joey & Logan - JOLO Winery 

• Maryam Ahmed - Maryam + Company

• Jadhe Marley - [ABV] Ferments

• Christopher & Jannea - Two Eighty Project

• Farrah Berrou - Aanab News