Less is more
Joelle Thomson asks: Are we drinking less wine, better wine, or different styles of wine, and how is the industry adapting?...
Is wine consumption in long-term decline or is the drop of 2.6% in global consumption last year simply part of a natural cycle, which will rise again before we know it?
If a 2024 report(1) by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) is anything to go by, wine consumption’s global dip suggests a trend rather than a cycle. This was the lowest level in wine drinking since 1996 and its findings are supported by global drinks data and insight provider IWSR, whose research shows a cross-generational trend towards lower wine consumption.
IWSR’s findings(2) show that the volume of wine consumed has been in decline in Europe for decades. Adults in the United Kingdom consume 14% less wine than they did in 2000, while Australians’ consumption has dropped 11%.
On the flipside, more wine is produced globally, more people in newer wine markets are consuming it (Japan and South Korea, for example) and more people are studying it, which is borne out by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s enormous growth, throughout Asia in particular.
Dry July, Sober October and Dry January are all attributed with some of the downward trend in consumption volume, which shows that it’s the way we drink wine that’s changing first and foremost.
“The canned wine market is one of the biggest areas of growth, in volume and in quality.”
With this in mind, it’s no surprise to find a growing range of new ways to drink wine on offer to us today. These include the ever-expanding canned wine category, which is light years away from its bitter, dilute forerunners of the early 1990s.
Specialist wine retailers also report a rise in demand for half bottles, which may cost more to produce but are selling in greater volumes.
And then there are wine brands encouraging new ways of enjoying their products, such as New Zealand brand LYLO, which encourages its use in wine- based cocktails like the ‘White Wine Mojito’, which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, soda water, mint, lime and sugar.
The use of wine as a core ingredient in cocktails is not new, as sangria and mulled wine show. It can be tailored to lower or higher alcohol mixed drinks and shows the versatility of soft, fruity, light-bodied wines. It’s not exactly what most winemakers have in mind when they make their best wines but that’s a different market.
The canned wine market is one of the biggest areas of growth, in volume and in quality. The raw ingredients were nothing to write home about in the early 1990s when insipid canned “wine of the EU” came along, but things have moved on since then.
Martinborough-based Joiy was the first to produce and export canned wines nearly a decade ago and offers a wide range. More recently, Alpha Domus launched its Beatrix Sparkling Rosé in a can to great acclaim locally and The Uncommon came to market with a selection of wines in strikingly designed cans. In March this year, The Ned announced it was releasing its three top-selling wines in a 250ml can format in New Zealand, and Villa Maria has launched its Marlborough Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc in a can in the UK.
All show a serious desire by experienced winemakers to produce smaller volume options of good to very good wine in an easily portable and sustainable format. Watch this space.
1: 2024 World Wine Production Outlook (November 2024) - International Organisation of Vine and Wine.
2: What’s driving wine’s structural decline? (July 2024) – IWSR Insight
Joelle Thomson is a journalist, wine writer and author.
