“We’re seeing this backlash against high oak, high tannin red wines,” said Liz Thach, president of the Wine Market Council. “We still have some people who love them, but they certainly aren’t as popular as before.”
Red wine has, for more than 30 years, dominated global wine consumption. Now, consumer preference for reds appears to be shrinking, with more wine drinkers choosing to purchase white wines. At a quick glance, it’s easy to ascribe the shift to different generational preferences, but the resurgence of white wine preference in the past year appears to also be driven by the diversification of American cuisine and the rising popularity of wine-based cocktails.
In the 52 weeks ended May 20 of last year, NIQ reported red wine accounted for 45.1% of total table wine volume; white wine accounted for 48.5% and rosé, or pink wines, accounted for 6.4%. In the latest 52 weeks ending May 18, white wine had increased its share to 49.2% and in the four weeks ended May 18, it increased further to 50.5%, leaving red wine and rosé to account for 43.1% and 6.1%, respectively.
According to a recently released mid-year report on the beverage alcohol sector by NIQ, white table wines were the only type of wine to see sales value growth in the last 52 weeks gaining 0.3% over the same period last year. In the most recent four weeks, white wine sales value had the smallest decline of just 1.2% while red table wines fell 6.6%, pink wines dropped 5% and sparkling fell by a little more than 4%.
By volume, white wine enjoyed the smallest decline of the major wine types in the most recent four weeks, and white wine and sparkling also were down by just 3% in the past 52 weeks while total wine sales volume, excluding wine-based RTDs, declined by 5.4%.
“Especially amongst these younger consumers, there is a preference for these light, crisp, refreshing white wines,” Thach said; she listed Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Vermentino as common varietals sought out by younger consumers.
One of the motivators for consumers gravitating to white wines is that they can typically find more consistent quality across regions and price ranges.
In his 15 years making Massican, winemaker and founder Dan Petroski has seen white wines gain momentum. Part of it, he said, is because of the trust these wines have built with the consumer. “White wines are lighter on the wallet and they’re easier to trust,” he said. “You can trust that you are going to have a comparable experience.”
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