Understanding What Is Really Causing the Decline in Wine Sales

Hint: It's not the little stuff we keep hearing about

There is now and has been for quite some time an impression that the wine industry isn’t doing enough to attract younger folks to the wine category, and this is a big reason wine sales have declined. This and a variety of other popular explanations for the marketplace retreat aren’t true. In fact, the decline in wine sales can be almost entirely explained by social and cultural developments. While there are certain gusts among the headwinds that the industry can and should address, we mustn’t abandon what works on the assumption it does not.

The claims being made about the wine industry’s marketing and communication infirmities are varied.

-The wine industry is too stuck on “exclusivity” and we have lost a base of consumers who don’t value exclusivity.

-The way we talk about wine isn’t inclusive and needs to change for the sake of social justice.

-Wine is too expensive.

-The wine industry hasn’t adopted e-commerce or DtC technology fast enough.

-Profits are threatened by an industry that doesn’t reflect the diversity of the country.

-The wine industry is ignoring younger drinkers, doesn’t know how to communicate with them, and remains too focused on Boomers.

Almost none of the decline in wine sales is due to these and other explanations that posit the wine industry is ignoring the evolving marketplace and the needed tools to address it. The decline in wine sales is a response to systemic and long-term changes in the culture and society that conspire against wine drinking. And we can name them.