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Millennials are putting a cork in their wine habit.
U.S. wine sales have fizzled for the first time in 25 years as young adults sip spiked seltzers and spirits, instead.
The volume of U.S. wine purchases slipped 0.9% in 2019, according to alcohol industry tracker IWSR — the first drop since 1994. While Americans have been drinking less alcohol overall, the report largely pins the blame on millennials for killing wine’s buzz.
Tastes are changing.
Americans have been drinking less alcohol overall, with teetotaling trends like Dry January and Sober September encouraging people to periodically give up the sauce. And those who still do imbibe are either opting for lighter, low-calorie alternatives, such as hard seltzers like White Claw or Boston Beer Co.’s SAM, +3.15% Truly, or they are indulging in hard spirits such as mezcal and Japanese whisky.
Related: This new sobriety event series is anything but a buzzkill
Plus, some recent health studies have questioned whether enjoying wine in moderation is really good for the heart or not. An alarming new report suggests that the number of Americans who drank themselves to death has more than doubled over the last decade. A previous study suggested that drinking a bottle of wine a week raises cancer risk as much as smoking 10 cigarettes.
“Millennials are just not embracing wine with open arms compared to previous generations,” Brandy Rand, IWSR’s chief operating officer for the Americas, told the Wall Street Journal. “With the rise in low and no-alcohol products and general consumer trends toward health and wellness, wine is in a tough place,” he added.
While the volume of beer and cider sales slipped 2.3% and 3.8% respectively last year, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails surged almost 50%, per the IWSR data, driven by the “tremendous popularity” of hard seltzers, which represent 43% of the RTD category. Spiked seltzers have bubbled up into an $8 billion industry with sales projected to triple by 2023.
Consider this: Last year, Bud Light was the South by Southwest festival’s major alcohol sponsor. This year, it’s White Claw. No wonder Anheuser Busch BUD, +0.22% launched a line of Bud Light hard seltzers this week.
But the news isn’t all a buzzkill.
Even though the number of Americans drinking alcohol in general has been on the decline, those who are still indulging spent $167 billion on booze last year, per the IWSR data, which was up 2.5% from the year before. And while the volume of wine sales is down, those who still enjoy a glass or two at dinner or happy hour are spending more on it. The dollar amount of wine sales increased 1.1% to hit $38.3 billion last year.
What’s more, the Wine Institute told the Wall Street Journal that it expects millennials to start drinking more wine as they grow older, similar to what baby boomers did.
There were a few other surprises. Tito’s Handmade Vodka was the top-selling distilled spirit in America, knocking out Smirnoff, which has held the top spot for more than a decade. Tito’s sales volume increased more than 20% last year. And the volume of overall spirits sold increased 2.3% last year, largely driven by mezcal (up 40%) and Japanese whisky (up 23.1%).
