AUSTRALIAN WINE INDUSTRY SERIES
The Generational Reckoning
Winning the Next Wave of Wine Consumers in a Fragmenting Market
A SIXiS Strategy Intelligence Briefing | Updated June 2026
THE INSIGHT
“Australia lost 1.6 million wine drinkers between 2021 and 2024. The number of Australian
consumers under 24 who drink wine monthly halved between 2010 and 2023.”
The Demographic Shift: Sharper Than Expected
Global per capita wine consumption fell from 4.0 litres per person in 1990 to 2.7 litres in 2023. In Australia, domestic wine sales fell 3% to 443 million litres in 2024–25, sitting 7% below the decade average. Australia’s per capita alcohol availability fell to 9.8 litres in 2023–24 — one of the lowest levels recorded in decades. Wine consumption has declined at approximately 4% per annum since 2020, versus just 1% for other alcoholic drinks.
The generational gradient is stark. The percentage of Millennials who drank wine decreased seven to eight percentage points over five years, while spirits gained three to four points and RTDs gained three to five points. Counterintuitively, Gen Z alcohol participation has actually increased — from 61% to 83% reporting alcohol
consumption in the past six months — but they are choosing different beverages. This is a market share problem as much as a volume problem: younger Australians are not leaving alcohol, they are choosing not to choose wine.
JUNE 2026 UPDATE Low- and no-alcohol products now account for approximately 9% of the total Australian
beverage alcohol market — a share that was negligible five years ago. Wine Australia’s Market Bulletin analysis
confirms that Gen Z and Millennials are leading this moderation trend, with 75% of Gen Z and 74% of Millennials
reporting that they have moderated their alcohol intake in the past six months. The growth opportunity in no/low
wine is real: producers who develop credible low-alcohol or de-alcoholised wine offerings are accessing a
segment growing at rates that traditional wine categories are not.
What Younger Consumers Actually Want
Wine Australia’s research consistently shows that younger consumers who do engage with wine are motivated by discovery, story, and authenticity — not by the traditional markers of prestige (regionality claims, critical scores, trophy stickers) that drove Boomer and Gen X wine purchasing. They are more likely to engage with a
winemaker’s social media content, a compelling back-label story, or a wine club that feels like a community than with a shelf talker or a wine show medal.
The DTC channel — wine clubs, cellar door, e-commerce — is simultaneously the channel most exposed to demographic narrowing (Baby Boomers and Gen X currently contribute 77% of DTC volume) and the most suited to building the direct relationships with younger consumers that the category requires. The tension is real: the customers who currently support SME wine businesses through DTC are ageing, and the platforms through which younger consumers discover wine require investment and expertise that many small producers have not yet developed.
The Three-Part Consumer Strategy
1
Invest in Digital Discovery and Authentic Storytelling
Younger consumers discover wine through Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and recommendations from trusted peers — not through retail shelf presence or traditional media. A winemaker with a genuine personal brand and consistent digital presence reaches the next generation of wine consumers in a way that no distributor or retailer can replicate. This is not optional for producers who want to remain relevant beyond their current customer cohort.
2
Develop No/Low Options — or Partner with Those Who Have
Low- and no-alcohol wine is a 9% market share and growing. SME producers who dismiss this segment are ceding it to competitors. Whether through in-house development of genuinely lower-ABV styles (driven by winemaking choices, not de-alcoholisation) or through production partnerships with specialist no/low producers, engagement with this segment is a strategic imperative for producers who want to grow their under-40 customer base.
3
Build Wine Club Models That Welcome Rather Than Intimidate
The most effective DTC models for attracting younger consumers are those that communicate accessibility, community, and discovery rather than connoisseurship and prestige. Tiered memberships with clear entry points, events that are social rather than educational, and packaging that signals craft and personality rather than tradition are the building blocks of a wine club that can acquire the next generation of loyal wine consumers.
The SIXiS Perspective
The generational challenge facing Australian wine is structural and long-term. A category that is losing market share to RTDs and spirits among consumers under 35 — while its most loyal DTC customers age through their seventies — faces an existential question about who its customers will be in 20 years.
The producers best positioned to answer that question are those who treat digital storytelling, authentic provenance, and accessible experience design as core strategic investments, not marketing afterthoughts. The wine category has genuine advantages — complexity, place, craft, occasion — that RTDs and spirits cannot replicate. The task is communicating those advantages in the language and through the channels that the next generation of consumers actually uses.