The wine trade is in trouble. With a combination of declining consumption, rotting fruit left on the vine, public health warnings, tariffs and the overarching crisis of climate change, most people would agree that wine faces challenges.
The bigger question is how the wine industry should respond. What, if anything, should it do differently? Or should it wait things out, and hope this is a cyclical change?
I’ve been covering wine for more than 20 years, and never before have the challenges seemed so great. For better or worse, this is how I would assess what’s going on in wine, and some steps the industry could take to adapt.
The State of the Industry
A Fractured Consumer Base
It’s impossible to talk about wine consumers as if they all have the same interests and goals. I divide most wine consumers into two very different groups.
On one extreme is the largest body of wine buyers. They are not interested in how it’s produced, where it comes from, vintages or aesthetics. They mostly want an inexpensive alcohol delivery system that tastes good. They enjoy wine but are not wed to it. They might replace it with hard seltzer, premixed cocktails or cannabis if that were cheaper and just as enjoyable.
On the other extreme is a smaller group, people who love wine and care deeply about all the geeky pleasures it offers. Like everybody else, they are sensitive to economic fluctuations. They may adjust their spending, but they continue to buy wine regularly and spend more per bottle than less-committed consumers.
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The post What Can Be Done to Save the Ailing Wine Industry? Our Critic Has Thoughts. appeared first on New York Times.
