Editorial: Closing the generation gap – wine’s new era starts now
By Christian Eedes, 27 May 2025
-
Share:
7
A convenient narrative has taken root in wine commentary circles: that younger consumers – Millennials and Gen Z – are abandoning wine, too preoccupied with craft cocktails, kombucha, and clean living to bother with Chenin Blanc. Meanwhile, the reliable Boomers and Gen Xers, bank cards at the ready, loyally sip their way through their favourite producers’ latest vintages. The implication is clear: the market is fragmenting along generational lines, and wine is in danger of becoming a drink for yesterday’s people.
I’m reluctant to sound more hip than I am, but I’m increasingly convinced this view is overly simplistic.
What should this 54-year-old make of Millennials and Gen Z? They are often said to have fundamentally different priorities from previous generations – placing greater value on work/life balance than corporate ascent, choosing meaningful work over maximising income, and favouring soft skills like empathy, collaboration, and adaptability over technical expertise. But surely these are wise psychological ambitions at any age…
If they are drinking less wine – and the data strongly supports this – it may have less to do with health fads or premium tastes and more to do with the simple fact that they’re broke. Today’s young adults are taking longer to reach traditional milestones. Burdened by student debt, soaring housing prices, and a broader cost-of-living crisis, many can’t justify spending on wine – especially from specialist retailers or boutique producers. Unlike previous generations who had careers and property by their thirties, many are still finding financial footing. Their alcohol spend is proportionate to their means, not a rejection of drinking. You can’t talk about a generational “preference shift” without acknowledging that many younger consumers are simply priced out.
One way Millennials and Gen Z certainly do differ from their predecessors is in their relationship with technology. Millennials came of age alongside the rise of the internet, while Gen Z grew up fully immersed in a digital world, with constant access to smartphones and social media. This digital immersion – characterised by surveillance, screen time, and fewer in-person social gatherings – has also contributed to a marked decline in underage drinking and excessive partying.
As for the idea that premiumization is to blame for wine’s waning appeal, this oversimplifies a complex landscape. Yes, higher prices have had an impact – but they’re a response, not a cause. Costs of farming, packaging, logistics, and labour rise constantly, making wine, or at least fine wine as championed by this website, significantly more expensive to produce with integrity, leaving little choice but to charge more.
It’s easy to blame wine’s predicament on economics alone, but that oversimplifies a more nuanced truth. Yes, fine wine is rapidly become a luxury rather than a staple for all but the wealthiest. But the greater challenge is relevance. If wine wants to thrive, it needs more than discounted bottles; it needs to speak with a refreshed voice.
This doesn’t mean abandoning the past. Wine’s heritage, its deep sense of place and tradition, still holds real power – perhaps even more so in an era obsessed with authenticity. Legacy, when paired with integrity, can be an asset in a fast-moving world. There is enduring appeal in the idea that wine connects us to something larger and longer than ourselves.
Making sense of wine relative to the wellness-driven re-evaluation of drinking is also vital. We’re led to believe that Gen Z, and to a lesser degree Millennials, are abstainers – raised on wellness apps, mental health podcasts, and a fear of hangovers. In this telling, wine represents an outdated culture of indulgence, something not just unaffordable but morally out of step.
But again, the analysis is too shallow. For one thing, the anti-alcohol movement does not have a generational monopoly – concern for health is a rational impulse across all age groups.
For another, the “less but better” narrative touted in some circles oversimplifies human behavior. Across time and culture, people have always sought mind-altering experiences – ritualistically, socially, or recreationally. While consumption patterns may shift, the fundamental desire remains. Wine’s role isn’t vanishing; it’s evolving within broader, enduring patterns of how humans relate to pleasure, connection, and altered states.
In fact, younger drinkers are often engaging with wine in more thoughtful ways than ever. Look at the rise of natural, organic, and minimal-intervention wines. These are wines championed by producers barely older than their customers, with values rooted in sustainability, transparency, and craft. These aren’t values limited to one sub-sector of the population but rather resonate with all emotionally aware human beings.
If there’s a disconnect, it may not be with the medium, but the messaging – not the wine itself, but the way we talk about it. Too often, wine is dressed in reverence and obscured by jargon. It can feel like a private club with its own language, one that leaves newcomers outside the gate. And yet, we know younger consumers are knocking – they just want the door opened a little wider.
Many are already inside. The iTOO Next Genereation Awards (entries close 28 May – see here) and the Rotolabel Design Awards shows that younger winemakers – and by extension, younger audiences – are not only here, but actively shaping the future. They’re not mimicking the past. They’re experimenting: with different approaches to production, new labels, more transparent messaging. The wine may still be serious. The branding doesn’t have to be.
None of this denies the very real economic and cultural shifts underway. But generational panic misses the point. Wine has always evolved – it is after all a product that started shortly after 6000B.C. It has survived not by standing still, but by responding – to the land, to the moment, and to the people who drink it.
Instead of lamenting the supposed disinterest of the under-35s, we’d do better to recognise the opportunity. Speak plainly. Offer value. Celebrate diversity – not just of grape and terroir, but of perspective and taste. And above all, stop treating wine as the property of any one generation – it’s part of a shared human inheritance, not a trend.
-
Share:
Related articles
News
iTOO Next Generation Awards 2025: Call for entries
28 May 2025
The modern era of South African wine, now three decades in, has delivered remarkable gains in quality – but who will drive the next wave of progress? The Next Generation...
Reviews
Crystallum new releases
28 May 2025
Want access to this content? Reviews and Reports are initially reserved for subscribers. Get immediate access to exclusive insights and data. SUBSCRIBE NOW Already subscribed? Login
Opinion & Analysis
Dariusz Galasiński: Wine ISN’T beyond words – writers need to try harder
28 May 2025
My previous column, on wine writing, attracted critical attention. First on social media, then three experienced wine writers took me to task. Below I offer a response and keep arguing...
Jenna | 28 May 2025
Millennial winemaker here – I only really started earning enough to actually afford (afford wine that I actually like) wine once I hit the age of about 27. When we look at what disposable income is left at the end of the week/month , there is no way I could afford a box of wine (at about R85 a bottle) a month (lets say just over a bottle a week). I also certainly don’t appreciate the drug generalization comments, recreational and medicinal CBD and THC products are in any case way more expensive than what has been eluded to here – well above my guilty wine pleasures so I honestly don’t think that is a factor. Remember, we only really settle in our careers in our late 20s and early 30s – when we finally earn enough to afford the luxuries – and yes wine is a luxury item. At 18-23 years old, you are broke if you’re not on your parents’ payroll. It’s also WAY more expensive to order wine by the glass in a bar in comparison to a beer or a cider for example, if I had to choose between R60 for a glass of wine or R60 for a brandy special at that age, I’d also rather go for the 2 x 2 olof and coke – hell you could even order 4 x bergie bombs (OBS and black label) for R25 at mystic boer in 2015. Point is, casual wine drinking is not as affordable to the younger generation, which is also why it is associated with affluence and older demographics. I read an article today about a “flip” in wine consumption that is currently happening amongst millennials in 2025 because we are older and earning more and can afford it now. Another point to note is that we are more home-bound as we get older because we are more settled, we (millennials) go out (to drink/kuier) much less in the week after work because of our career aspirations and therefore can also actually enjoy wine more regularly at home.
Donald Griffiths | 28 May 2025
The key is food. Everybody has to eat, even Gen Zs and millenials. Some of whom may take more than a passing interest in the sourcing, buying, preparation, cooking, serving and eating of food. Lord knows we are inundated with enough food related digital content for it to be Tik-Tok-able. Wine is still – and will always be – the go to choice of alcoholic beverages to pair with food. This is how I learned about wine and how I am attempting to teach my kids about wine. Have a great family meal, share a great bottle (or 2) of wine that complements it (but don’t over think this). Do this often enough for all the obvious reasons and you’ll also have converts for life.
GillesP | 28 May 2025
It’s a good point Donald. Parental education is also key. Maintaining the tradition of having meals TOGETHER with children is very important to develop taste and interest for a good bottle of wine.
Gareth | 28 May 2025
Well I can assure you that there are plenty of Gen X’ers (and xennials) out there who also partake of recreational drugs. Not only that, but the two are not mutually exclusive either.
I think it’s down to cost in absolute terms, more than just affordability. Those of us who have grown up drinking and enjoying wine are more inclined to open an expensive bottle with dinner. Oftentimes I have realised that the bottle of wine I am drinking is worth more than the meal I am eating it with. I’m sure many readers can relate, especially those who cellar their own wines and bought them for far less than they cost today.
Greg Sherwood | 28 May 2025
Interesting wrap up piece CE. As the parent of an almost 19 year old Gen Z child at Uni, all I hear from him is how his generation are far more open to vaping and recreational drugs but don’t really drink much at all. This kind of debunks the whole health-kick myth somewhat, as even they know that smoking pot or popping pills isn’t a particularly healthy pastime. If they do drink, it tends to be spirits and cocktails. (Easier to stomach with some sugar coating?)
Linkedin and Insta are awash with self professed wine consultants hypothesizing about why Gen Z aren’t drinking. But like you, I think some (most?) of the analysis is based on over-symplification. Scene and setting for drinking wine tends to be in a sit down environment with food. Not sure Gen Zs can afford to eat out at proper restaurants more than occasionally (takeaways aside). Wine does not necessarily fit their socialising narrative as comfortably?
It’s probably time the trade sit back and ask the new generation of 20 somthings and 30 somthings what floats their boat when it comes to wine and wine messaging. Let’s hear it from the horses mouth and act accordingly.
GillesP | 27 May 2025
Although I admit I have no connection nor interest for this generation Z or Millenials, I have observed that their first and foremost interest for feeling good is in taking recreational drugs ( no need to name them) these recreational drugs have become so widespread and I guess cheap that they cost probably less than a decent bottle of wine. Here is part of your problem. Plus they probably think drinking alcohol is something for the dinausores generation. That is extremely sad.
Melvyn Minnaar | 27 May 2025
Insightful comments, Christian. Messaging has played a big role. This includes punting the perception of esteem, value and prestige in terms of ridiculous high pricing by producers. (Mostly, I think, this is pure arrogant hubris.) Combined with silly high-score stickers on the labels, this ‘aspirational message’ is so insipidly last generation (or the one before). Not one for the current one with perhaps other priorities, as you note.