Editorial: Is wine following cigarettes into decline?

What dish to pair with Patatsfontein Steen 2024? We were tasting this new release with winemaker Reenen Borman at Magica Roma in Pinelands, and chef Franco Zezia suggested basil pesto risotto. The Patatsfontein tends to have a fynbos-like aromatic and my instinct was that it just might complement the pesto. It turned out to a perfect match and reminded me why wine appreciation is so very rewarding.

Wine has been at the heart of human civilization for millennia – woven into the social fabric, from religious ritual to a crucial component of gastronomy. Today, however, we are witnessing both a rise in health-conscious attitudes and a more sanctimonious approach to alcohol consumption.

Prohibitionism seems to be taking hold, but this isn’t prohibition in the speakeasy-and-bathtub-gin sense of the 1920s, but rather a subtler, more insidious push against alcohol. The World Health Organization (WHO) leads the charge, calling for higher taxes, advertising bans, and stark health warnings and government health authorities around the world are falling into line.

Once, wine was granted a free pass while beer and spirits bore the brunt of regulation. Not anymore. The old adage that moderate consumption is good for you is under fire, replaced with the absolutist claim that no amount of alcohol is safe. What if this narrative takes hold entirely?

There is an obvious parallel to be drawn with cigarettes – wine risks being swept up in the kind of public health crusade that turned cigarettes from a symbol of sophistication into a social sin. Can it withstand the growing wave of neo-prohibitionism, or is it set for exile to the fringes of society?

There was a time when cigarettes were chic – endorsed by everybody from doctors to movie stars. But as evidence of harm became undeniable, the tobacco industry was hit with relentless restrictions: advertising bans, heavy taxation, smoking prohibitions in public spaces.

How worried should the global wine industry be? Progress in reducing tobacco use has been significant but it’s not like it’s anywhere close to being eradicated. According to WHO, there were 1.25 billion adult tobacco users globally in 2024 – about 1 in 5 adults – compared to 1 in 3 in 2000.

Still, not ideal if you’re a tobacco grower. Could wine suffer a similar fate? The warning signs are there, and wine risks being framed as just another vice, rather than a cultural artefact that adds beauty to life. If the perception shifts from pleasure to peril, the impact on consumption could be profound.

Wine can and must resist and here I return to the experience of Patatsfontein Steen 2024 with pesto risotto. Wine has advantages cigarettes never had. For one, it is deeply entrenched in cuisine and by extension, a life less ordinary. Unlike smoking, which has largely become a solitary act, wine is communal – part of meals, celebrations, and social rituals.

Then there’s premiumization. Wine is able to market itself as an artisanal, cultural product – more in line with haute cuisine than hard liquor. The rise of organic, biodynamic, and low-intervention wines plays into broader wellness trends, allowing the industry to sidestep some of the stigma attached to alcohol. In this regard, the decline of cheap bulk wine as a macro-trend can’t be lamented too much. There is a risk that wine becomes too expensive for everyday drinking but so be it.

Ultimately, wine’s survival depends on whether it remains more than just a drink. If it holds onto its status as a vital part of gastronomy and hence culture in general, it will likely endure. But if it’s reduced to just another intoxicant, it could well face the same slow decline as cigarettes.

For now, at least, wine has history on its side. Eight thousand years and counting. The question is: Can wine adapt to what is quite possibly a fundamental ideological shift or are we living through the end of an era?