The wine industry is in freefall, and it’s not looking good for small businesses. 🍷
In 2021, Americans were drinking 3.16 gallons of wine per capita. By 2023? That number dropped 15%—the equivalent of 3.5 billion fewer bottles consumed. So, what’s going on?
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In this video, we break down:
– Why Baby Boomers carried the wine industry for decades (and why they can’t anymore)
– How Gen Z is shaking up alcohol consumption trends (spoiler: wine isn’t “cool”)
– The competition from THC, mocktails, and even flavored water brands like Liquid Death
– What this means for restaurants, vineyard owners, and entrepreneurs
If you’re in the wine business—or just curious about how shifting generational habits affect entire industries—this video is for you.
👋 Hey, I’m Michael—a 20+ year CEO who’s started multiple companies, hired hundreds of people, and loves breaking down business trends for current and future entrepreneurs.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/233734/average-wine-consuimption-of-the-us-per-resident/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://nypost.com/2024/09/05/lifestyle/is-gen-z-killing-the-wine-industry/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/anti-alcohol-dietary-guidelines-19595032.php
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/02/wine-overcapacity-production-decline-drinking
Global beverage alcohol market set for moderate recovery in 2025, while challenges persist in 2024
https://norcalpublicmedia.org/2024020894564/news-feed/wine-consumption-is-declining-so-what-s-the-wine-industry-doing-about-it
https://www.grocerydive.com/news/wine-category-sales-decline-2024-chardonnay-wswa-alcohol/729991/
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/284711
35 Comments
I was never a wine person, preferring beer (craft usually) and hard liquor (bourbon, tequila, rum usually). Just never understood wine culture. I can tell the difference between a quality wine and a cheap wine but didn't care that much for either. Nothing wrong with wine, just rarely drink any.
Majority of the middle class tapped out. The rich don’t really care about price shifts.
The wine world is full of hogwash. Put a mediocre wine in an oak barrel so it resembles a fine wine and charge accordingly. So over it.
Definitely prefer tequila
Conventional wines are loaded with bad chemicals. Alcohol is not a nutrient.
I've been saying for years, wine is too high in alcohol, when i first started drinking it was about 8 or 9 %.Now it's more like 14 %. It just knocks you out too quickly and you can't enjoy over a few hours socially or chilling in the garden.
I used to spend $80.00 a month on wine, now I spend $0.00. The wine isn’t that good and is overpriced. This change occurred in the last 2 years. The quality/price ratio is garbage. The wine industry sucks and I might spend $50. a year on wine now. Bye Wine!
I don't go out much due to costs. I used to be able to get the cheapest wine for $6-7 for a glass. Now in Chicago, it is $17 with graituity!!!!!
American wines are not natural, processed with too many chemicals, for consistency. (In the 1980s, a company named VanWaters Rogers supplied such a long list to the wine industry). Alcohol % is too high, like cocktails, plus they are sold as pricey as hard liquor. Unjustifiable. The same with ales, beers and hard ciders. Why is one gallon of beer pricier than one gallon of gasoline, when beer is a renewable commodity but gasoline is not?
OG KUSH
I think all alcohol consumption is way down. Gen Z smokes weed.
This is a US thing.
Great time to establish a cellar! Prices that haven't increased in decades, while the quality has vastly improved. Gen X'er here getting in wine for retirement! I avoid California wines, prefering Australian and NZ reds. And quality NZ whites.
In Canada weed is legal and very inexpensive. For very little you can choose exactly the buzz you want, or use it to treat your pain. I use gummies which do both, perfect. Zero hangover, cheap and effective.
Wine is fine ….but Whiskey's Quicker – and a pint of Royal Gate is still $4.00 ….Me? not a drop in almost 😅 13 years ❤
😂That's funny 😂….that's exactly when we started drinking more- when we stopped smoking weed – used to be a pack of talls and some weed …
Younger people don't care about drinking as much anymore and plus they don't have the same wealth that boomers have
I love that the younger generation isn't into it. I'm an old Gen X and drinking went from small glasses people had "after 5" when I was a kid to the glorification of the ability to drink all day and often to excess.
From mimosas to last call, I'm glad some might be "pumping the brakes."
I stopped drinking alcohol all together after I changed my diet to carnivore. Wine is the worst. The times I’ve had a glass on a holiday or social event just gives me a headache. It has too much sugar.
Imagine " $10.00 + for a bottle of "Four Roses" "Mad Dog" or "Wild Irish Rose " ?! Back to Sterno…😅😂
Carbs, sugar, alcohol. That's why Wine is dying.
Wine consumption peaked in 2021. What could have possibly been happening to explain that peak. 🤔
Fred Franzia has been going on and on for decades about the overpriced nature of wines. This is why he developed the Charles Shaw label sold at Trader Joe’s and known for the longest time as ‘two buck Chuck’ because it was only two bucks a bottle (now closer to $4). Now with nearly every state having a wine industry, the market is saturated at a time when fewer people are drinking wine, or alcohol in general. I’m from Oregon originally, a state that once had a volatile ‘timber economy’. Now with it’s new ‘wine economy’ (yes, I realize that it’s been growing for years, but it feels like it’s either peaked or about to), that this is simply ‘timber 2.0’… hopefully not, but who knows.
The wine industry has been ripping consumers off for a long, long time. These days, If we ever go out to eat I no longer drink anything there because they are straight up stealing from people. So good, they are getting what they deserve. If they survive, great, if the industry completely dies, OK. I could care less.
Mostly a cultured way for alcoholics to get drunk. It is not good for you. Alcohol is alcohol. Drunk is drunk.
Maybe Restaurants need to shift from wine and put THC edibles on the appetizer menu.
The science of wine making has advanced to the point that inexpensive wine is just as good as most wine that is triple the price or more. I also think wine is facing stiff competition from beer, distilled spirits, and even mocktails amongst the younger set.
Wine destroyed both my parents brains, peripheral neurology destroyed my dad's legs and his ability to enjoy walking and life. It's just fancy poison for drunks.
To me, wine just doesn't taste good enough to shell out the cash for. Much better tasting stuff out there.
Young people are switching to weed.
For me it is a taste problem.
Wine is just bad grape juice.
I had headaches the few times I had some.
Whiskey is a better buzz and can be amazingly flavorful.
Sorry, thanks
Wine is terrible
Wine has been a tradition in some countries for millennia. The consumption may be less, some wineries will close but the industry will not die. It will return to a rational equilibrium and more reasonable prices.
I mostly buy Old World because New World is overpriced! A $25 Valpolicella Ripasso is much better than a $50 New World red 🤷🏽♂️
Let wine dye. Its so corrupt. Most of tastes like track. Its needs to be opened up. You never see good wine made from other fruits on the market. There is no imagination or fun in that industry.