Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
French red wine is facing an “existential” decline if it does not adapt, according to people working in the industry, as younger generations increasingly opt for different beverages or shun alcohol altogether.
Consumption of red wine in France has fallen by about 90 per cent since the 1970s, according to Conseil interprofessionnel du vin de Bordeaux (CIVB), an industry association.
Total wine consumption, spanning reds, whites and rosés, is down more than 80 per cent in France since 1945, according to survey data from Nielsen, and the decline is accelerating, with members of Generation Z purchasing half the volume bought by the older millennial cohort.
“The issues with wine — particularly red wine — are becoming existential now, and have been problems for more than a decade,” said Spiros Malandrakis, drinks analyst at Euromonitor International.
The industry was suffering from “a lack of connection with younger generations”, and had previously fallen into “a sense of complacency” because of wine’s popularity with the baby boomer generation, he added.
The change in French consumption exacerbates global trends hurting the sector, such as people drinking less and changes in tastes. Red wines in particular are falling out of fashion among young people in favour of rosé, beer, spirits and alcohol-free options.
“With every generation in France we see the change. If the grandfather drank 300 litres of red wine per year, the father drinks 180 litres and the son, 30 litres,” said CIVB board member Jean-Pierre Durand.
The industry is also grappling with a sharp fall in demand from China, one of its main export markets, and the impact of climate change.
The challenges have not hit all categories of wine equally. “High volume, heavily tannic reds are in strong decline, and it’s accelerating with generational change,” said wine buyer Thomas Castet.
Some industry leaders expect producers to respond by focusing on higher quality wines or expanding their offering from reds to other products, such as white or low alcohol wines — although the latter requires investment in new vines and equipment.
Durand, who also heads wine producer AdVini in south-west Bordeaux, forecast that there would be little demand in future for bottom-of-the-range wines as younger generations prioritise quality over quantity. Some wines are sold for as little as €2.50 a bottle in France.
But Durand said overproduction and the presence of many lower-end wines had hurt Bordeaux’s image, although the region is also known for the Saint-Émilion area, which produces top-quality and expensive wines.
Business is also challenging for some higher-end wineries. The 2024 harvest at Château Mauvinon, a small family-run business in Saint-Émilion, was affected by high heat and mildew — problems encountered across the region as the climate changes.
Brigitte Tribaudeau, who owns and runs the winery, said high-quality grand cru reds were still the core of Château Mauvinon’s production but that she had noticed changes in younger drinkers’ habits years ago and started to adapt.
She began producing a white wine in 2018, as well as a trendy orange wine popular among younger drinkers. She is now experimenting with low-alcohol wine, which will be ready to sell this year.
The winery has also been certified as organic since 2017, which appeals to younger consumers.
“I sensed quite early on that drinking patterns were changing — seeing that women and especially younger women around me were drinking less, and a lot less red,” said Tribaudeau.
Some wineries are reluctant to innovate, either because of the cost or adherence to tradition. Changing from red to white wine production takes heavy investment in both new vines and different equipment, and not all growing areas are suitable for different grapes.
Most winemakers had been resistant to making products such as wine mixers and canned wine, which could be used to recruit new drinkers, said Malandrakis. Many have also been slow to embrace wine tourism and personalised marketing, which can appeal to younger consumers who want an experience and a story when they make purchases.
The pressures have led the Bordeaux region to begin uprooting up to 9,500 hectares of vines to curb overproduction and prevent the spread of disease through under-maintained vineyards. The two-year plan, initiated in 2023, offers €6,000 per hectare to be uprooted, from a total budget of €57mn funded largely by the government and the CIVB.
“We can’t continue to produce wines that don’t get drunk,” said Durand. “When the model is broken, we adapt.”
Read the full article here
