Humans are a renewable resource. In 2025, an estimated 132.7 million children will be born worldwide, which equates to approximately four new earthlings every second. By 2041—in 16 years—that will be 132.7 million potential wine snobs.
Despite this overproduction, the industry is struggling to attract new fans for our culture. Wineries are dying, plots are lying fallow, and the per capita consumption is falling sadly. I don't want to sound dystopian, but we are running out of time. No joke: the industry is facing hard times. The WHO warns weekly against every drop of alcohol, Gen Z has no interest in boomer cringe and red wine that tastes like “back in the day”, and then there's the image of the scene, which is about as inviting as a garden gate with a three-headed German Sheppard behind it.
This raises the question: How should, we as a community, act in the future to become an interesting industry again? How do we attract newbies from all corners of the country, and how the hell do we get the next generation excited?
This raises the question: How should, we as a community, act in the future to become an interesting industry again? How do we attract newbies from all corners of the country, and how the hell do we get the next generation excited?
How do we ge the new generation excited?
Which brings us to the million-dollar question: How do you reach young people with an old culture? A generation that had a large part of its freedom taken away during the pandemic. A generation that was never really introduced to what going out means after Covid ended. A generation that Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, is now threatening with military service. A generation that is supposed to work until the age of 72. So how on earth do we show this often unfairly portrayed generation that wine is a damn good drink?
Of course, peachy Riesling and snobby terroir chatter won’t help. The election of the new wine princess may be as exciting for the people in the middle of nowhere, but kids in the big city couldn't care less. Who the fuck cares anymore which wine goes with currywurst? Tasting notes in old-school German? Tastings with a geography vibe? That's not going to turn the tide. Not even in a hundred years.
A key question I am currently asking myself is: Does wine even have the power to make this quantum leap, or do we need art, sports, gaming, music, and fashion as multipliers, since our beloved cultural heritage lacks the pop-cultural power to penetrate spheres that seem unattainable these days? Shouldn't we be connecting more here? One thing is certain: we need to break new ground.
How do we design labels? How do we write texts? How do we organize tastings and trade fairs? How do we make wine a real experience? And, very importantly, how do we create nonchalance and accessibility?
Of course, peachy Riesling and snobby terroir chatter won’t help. The election of the new wine princess may be as exciting for the people in the middle of nowhere, but kids in the big city couldn't care less. Who the fuck cares anymore which wine goes with currywurst? Tasting notes in old-school German? Tastings with a geography vibe? That's not going to turn the tide. Not even in a hundred years.
A key question I am currently asking myself is: Does wine even have the power to make this quantum leap, or do we need art, sports, gaming, music, and fashion as multipliers, since our beloved cultural heritage lacks the pop-cultural power to penetrate spheres that seem unattainable these days? Shouldn't we be connecting more here? One thing is certain: we need to break new ground.
How do we design labels? How do we write texts? How do we organize tastings and trade fairs? How do we make wine a real experience? And, very importantly, how do we create nonchalance and accessibility?
The wine scene is as distant from young people as Catholic priests should be.
A key problem here is that we concern ourselves with everything, absolutely everything, except the needs of this generation. We don't listen. We hardly ask any questions. Instead, we fight for interpretive authority. The scene goes round in circles. It is self-sufficient. And in doing so, it destroys itself.
That may sound exaggerated, but the wine scene is as distant from young people as Catholic priests should be. And that's where the problem lies. On top of that, there is no desire to empathize with the new generation. The media landscape speaks volumes here. Sooner or later, this will be our downfall.
Because if the rules and patterns that have governed the industry for the last 20 years have brought us to this point, then we urgently need to ask ourselves what these rules and patterns are worth. And whether we urgently need to rethink these rules and patterns.
I say yes. Burn the rules and patterns of the past at the stake. What we urgently need is a breath of fresh air, a wink, and rock ‘n’ roll. Let the games begin.
Cheers.
That may sound exaggerated, but the wine scene is as distant from young people as Catholic priests should be. And that's where the problem lies. On top of that, there is no desire to empathize with the new generation. The media landscape speaks volumes here. Sooner or later, this will be our downfall.
Because if the rules and patterns that have governed the industry for the last 20 years have brought us to this point, then we urgently need to ask ourselves what these rules and patterns are worth. And whether we urgently need to rethink these rules and patterns.
I say yes. Burn the rules and patterns of the past at the stake. What we urgently need is a breath of fresh air, a wink, and rock ‘n’ roll. Let the games begin.
Cheers.
Milton Sidney Curtis, wine influencer and freelance writer, brings wit, edge, and charm to the world of wine with his writing. Whether it’s fine drops from small wineries or branded wines from global players: Sidney tastes, reviews, and stirs up debate. A self-proclaimed “silly ass” for everyone who loves wine!
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