Wine Industry Panel Rejects Gen Z Wine Decline

At a wine industry panel in Walla Walla, Wash., professionals pushed back on the idea that Gen Z and millennials are simply abandoning wine, arguing instead that the market is being reshaped by price, hospitality and changing drinking habits across generations.

The discussion took place at Walla Walla Community College’s Institute for Enology & Viticulture during an event called “Designing Next Gen Wine Experiences,” part of a four-session series organized with the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance. Students, alumni and winery workers talked about how producers can attract younger consumers without assuming they will behave like older wine buyers did.

The conversation came as the 2026 State of the U.S. Wine Industry report from Silicon Valley Bank said that “the older, wine-focused cohort is aging out, and younger adults aren’t replacing them at the same rate.” That trend has raised alarms in wine regions across the West, where wineries are trying to understand whether falling demand reflects a temporary shift or a longer-term change in consumer behavior.

Panelists said younger adults are still interested in wine, but often on different terms. Toby Turlay, a winemaker at Ducleaux Cellars and an alumna of the institute, said wineries should not expect people in their 20s and early 30s to spend heavily on bottles right away. She said she sees more young visitors looking for an experience: meeting the winemaker, walking among the vines and learning how wine is made.

That kind of engagement, she said, is not limited to younger guests. But wineries need to make sure younger visitors feel welcome rather than excluded.

Price came up repeatedly as one of the biggest barriers. Rebecca Sievers, a student who works in a tasting room, told the audience that wineries should think carefully before charging high fees for events aimed at younger consumers. Lillian Perry, another student, said many people her age can afford a tasting fee but not always a bottle purchase afterward, which can make a winery feel out of reach.

Patrick McKibben, also a student on the panel, said hospitality matters as much as pricing. If visitors sense a pretentious atmosphere when they walk in, he said, they may decide quickly that the winery is not for them.

The concerns reflect broader pressure on the industry. After roughly 25 years of growth, wine demand began to soften around 2019, leaving many wineries with excess inventory. The pandemic briefly changed that pattern in 2020, when lockdowns increased at-home drinking. Supply chain problems and wildfires on the West Coast also reduced oversupply for a time. But once those disruptions eased, demand resumed its decline.

For some younger consumers on the panel, the criticism directed at their generation felt misplaced. McKibben said Gen Z has become an easy target for an industry looking for answers to its own problems. He said many young adults are still building financial stability and may buy more wine later if wineries remain accessible now.

The panel suggested that wineries hoping to grow with younger drinkers may need to rethink both their pricing and their tone, offering lower barriers to entry and experiences that feel open rather than exclusive.