2026-09-10
The U.S. wine and spirits market remained in decline in July, but new SipSource data released Wednesday by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America showed a clearer split between the two categories, with wine showing some signs of improvement while spirits continued to weaken.
According to the Washington-based trade group, total wine and spirits volume fell 6.8% over the latest 12 months, while revenue declined 6.1%. Over the latest three months, volume was down 6.2% and revenue also fell 6.1%. Those headline figures suggest a market that is still under pressure but relatively steady at the top level. The more notable shift, the report said, is happening below that surface, where wine and spirits are moving in different directions.
Spirits remained the weaker side of the business in the latest three-month period. Volume declined 5.7%, while revenue fell 7.1%, a wider drop than volume and a sign that consumers are pulling back more sharply on higher-priced purchases. WSWA said that gap between volume and revenue points to continued pressure on premiumization, as buyers place more emphasis on value.
The pressure was visible across the spirits price ladder. Every spirits price segment posted a revenue decline of more than 5%, according to SipSource. The $50 to $99.99 segment was among the hardest hit, with revenue down 9.5%. Combined, spirits priced above $50 recorded an 8.9% revenue drop. Those figures suggest that premium and super-premium bottles, which had helped support category growth in earlier years, are now under heavier strain.
Wine was also down, but the trend was less severe in revenue and somewhat better than the previous month’s reading. In the latest three months, wine volume fell 6.8%, which WSWA said was an improvement of 110 basis points from June. Revenue declined 4.2%, a smaller drop than the one reported for spirits. Unlike the spirits business, wine showed more resilience at higher price points. Revenue performance improved meaningfully at $16 and above, and the $50+ wine segment posted 0.9% revenue growth over the latest 12 months.
Several wine segments also stood out with positive growth. Champagne revenue rose 14.7% in the latest three months, Prosecco increased 10.2%, and Sauvignon Blanc was up 3.2%. Those gains indicate that even in a weaker overall market, some consumers are still spending in specific parts of the category, especially sparkling wine and certain recognizable varietals.
The report also pointed to a clear difference by sales channel. Across wine and spirits combined, on-premise volume declined 2.8% over the latest 12 months, compared with a 7.5% drop in off-premise. In industry terms, on-premise refers to bars, restaurants and other venues where drinks are consumed on site, while off-premise includes liquor stores, grocery stores and other retail outlets where bottles are bought to take home. The smaller decline in on-premise sales suggests that consumers are holding up somewhat better in social and hospitality settings than in retail take-home purchases.
That channel split could matter across the beverage business well beyond wine and spirits alone. Producers, wholesalers, retailers and restaurant operators often use this kind of data to adjust inventory levels, pricing and product mix. If on-premise continues to perform better than off-premise, suppliers may shift more attention to restaurant and bar accounts, while retailers may face more pressure to emphasize value-oriented assortments. The uneven performance in premium tiers could also influence how companies position new products and promotions in the months ahead.
The numbers also add detail to a broader consumer spending pattern that has appeared in parts of the food and beverage sector this year. Households have faced tighter budgets and have become more selective about discretionary purchases. In that setting, the spirits market appears to be losing more of its premium pricing support, while wine is finding at least some stability in higher-priced bottles and a few strong-performing subcategories.
WSWA did not say the market had turned a corner. Total volume and revenue remain negative, and wine is still declining overall. But the latest figures suggest that the categories are no longer moving in lockstep. For spirits, the main challenge is the deeper pullback in revenue and the weakness in bottles above $50. For wine, the more immediate question is whether the recent improvement can continue and whether growth in Champagne, Prosecco and higher-priced segments can spread more broadly.
SipSource, which tracks depletion data in the U.S. beverage alcohol market, framed the issue as a developing divergence rather than a full reversal. That distinction matters because many distributors and suppliers had been dealing with a general downturn across beverage alcohol. The new July readings suggest the downturn is becoming more uneven, with different risks and opportunities depending on category, price point and channel.
The result is a market that still looks weak in the aggregate but is becoming more segmented underneath. Spirits are showing broader revenue pressure, especially at premium prices, while wine is showing pockets of resilience that were less visible earlier in the year. As companies plan for the second half of 2026, those differences are likely to shape how they allocate inventory, manage pricing and decide where to focus sales efforts.