Bad news first: wine as we know it is not selling well. Mid- to top-tier terroir-driven wine from well-known regions, made and packaged in the manner to which so many of us are accustomed and attached, is still struggling.
But there is plenty of good news to go around. The much-maligned “younger generations” are suddenly thirsty for the sauce, especially in spirits and RTD form. Smaller, portable formats of wine and spirits are selling well, as are wine RTDs and wine cocktails.
“Consumers are not abandoning alcohol; they are becoming more intentional about when, where and why they drink,” says Mark Chaplin, president, commercial sales at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits.
Southern Glazer’s recently analysed its own proprietary data, including insights from more than 15 million customer transactions and visibility across 46 US markets, alongside third-party data from NielsenIQ (NIQ), Numerator and others, for a report on growth opportunities in the US.
“Health has become an everyday consideration rather than a New Year’s resolution, so the drink now has to earn its place, and drinking less often has replaced giving it up entirely,” Chaplin notes.
And here’s the really interesting part: mid- to top-tier terroir-driven wine from well-known regions, made and packaged in the manner to which so many of us are accustomed and attached, can still sell well if producers follow a few guidelines. Wine brands that clearly communicate flavour, for example, and offer innovative experiences are performing well above their peers.
Communication across generations
With the proliferation of beverage options out there, it’s tougher than ever to sell a product that is incomprehensible to the potential buyer. These days, almost every potential wine lover wants to know what a wine will taste like before they buy it.
Nine out of 10 wine consumers said that flavour scales on wine labels would drive their purchases, according to the 2026 Identifying and Solving Taste Barriers for Wine Hesitant Consumers study from the Wine Market Council and Quini.
“Everyone benefits from clear flavour communication and transparency on the shelf,” says Zach Poelma, senior vice president, commercial intelligence at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits.
“Core drinkers can find what they already like more easily, it gives occasional consumers more reasons to see wine as an everyday fit and helps non-adopters decrease the emotional and financial cost of a ‘wrong selection’.”
Wineries are heeding the call. Matt Bonanno, founder of Napa’s BonAnno Vintners, recently added “Made from Organic Grapes” to BonAnno’s shelf-talkers, and it will be added to wine labels in the near future.
“Wine needs to be easier to understand at a glance,” he says. “Shelf-talkers and sell sheets already use recognisable descriptors such as citrus, herbs or black fruit, but there is no reason some of that information can’t appear on the front label, and it’s something we will consider for the next vintage of Sauvignon Blanc.”
Giacomo Pondini, director of the Consorzio dell’Asti DOCG, is currently working with its 1,000-plus members to explain what’s inside the bottle, right on the label.
“We’ve always been low-alcohol, and because that, and so many of the other characteristics of our wine are trending, we’re working harder to communicate that on the label,” he says. “Asti wines are also often aromatic, sparkling and food friendly, which is also something more and more people are embracing.”
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