What’s winning in a losing wine market
The decline in wine demand is well documented, but even in a down market there are gains to be made. Kathleen Willcox looks as the winners in wine right now, and what’s driving their success in the US market.
Pointing out that wine sales are on the skids feels as rhetorical as observing that the sky is blue. In California, growers are opting to rip out tens of thousands of acres of vines, and in France, the government is actually paying growers to uproot vineyards. Wine consumption is at its lowest level, worldwide, since 1961, according to the OIV. The latest Gallup poll from 2025 shows that 54% of U.S. adults drink alcohol, down four points year-over-year.
But certain wineries are thriving, with (at least some) wines showing modest gains, and some even flying off the shelves. What the reason for this?
A look at the numbers shows a few things: firstly, people with money are spending it, and they have very particular wine tastes, and secondly, the changing approaches to the frequency and types of wines consumed appear officially entrenched.
“Buyers continue to prioritise prestige, provenance and scarcity,” says Jen Saxby, senior sales and marketing manager at Napa’s Benchmark Wine Group, a leading reseller of rare and back vintages. “And there’s been a clear move away from high-alcohol styles toward nuance and freshness.”
Premiumization leads the market
NielsenIQ’s (NIQ) latest report asserts that consumers are willing to spend more on wine, as Saxby observes, while also drinking less. About 67% prefer one to two high quality drinks over five value drinks.
At Benchmark, which just closed out its seventh consecutive record-breaking quarter, despite the headwinds most other retailers appear to be contending with, owner and CEO David Parker says that their rarest and priciest bottles are selling better than any others.
“First Growth Bordeaux is stronger than lesser Bordeaux, and Grand Cru red Burgundy is stronger than lesser designations,” Parker notes. “This indicates that top-end consumers and collectors are especially active right now, perhaps regarding some of their purchases as investments.”
The high-end of the market – primarily blue chip Bordeaux, Burgundy and Napa – consisting of rare, collectable and back-vintage wines, Parker notes, “has demonstrated remarkable strength this year, with brisk sales that have accelerated recently.”
And while Benchmark may present as a an outlier, other purveyors of luxury, like LVMH, which has been battered by losses, has been able to report good news to shareholders, with recorded revenue of €58.1 billion in the first nine months of 2025. The Wines & Spirits group posted 1% growth in the third quarter year-over-year, beating forecasts of a loss of -3%.
Gordon Little, co-founder of New York’s Little Peacock Imports, concurs, adding that even for his comparatively small book, it’s evident to him that people with money are spending.
“Our best-selling wines are $40+, and they’re actually selling well,” Little says. “Especially when you compare it to our wines in the mid-level, from $27-$39, which are just getting squeezed. The people who may have picked up a $30 wine on a Tuesday night just aren’t doing that right now.”
In addition to higher-end wines, there are certain styles that are having a moment.
Whites are where it’s at
“For us, numbers show we are up in the lighter styles, especially rosé and whites,” Little says. “Lower ABV, fresher and unoaked wines. Overall year-to-date case-wise we’re flat, with rosé sales up 22%, sparkling sales up 78%, and Pinot Gris sales up 145%.”
Last year, reds comprised 49% of Little Peacock’s sales. This year, whites have taken over – reds now just account for 42% of their sales.
White wines have been punching above their weight class for some time, now with global white wine sales volume officially surpassing red wine. NIQ’s latest research found that one of the few growing categories in wine is Sauvignon Blanc, which is up 1.2% year over year in dollar sales.
New Zealand, one of the countries most associated with high-quality, but affordable iterations of Sauvignon Blanc, continues to lead sales in the U.S., ranking No. 1 market share, and “helping to drive a category that now consistently outperforms Chardonnay, historically the USA’s leading variety, says Charlotte Read, general manager of brand at New Zealand Winegrowers.
“Lighter, more refreshing wine sales are outpacing overall wine category performance,” Read adds, noting that the “shift is driven by varietals with more refreshing palate profiles.”
Individual producers are finding that their whites are resonating.
“Across the country our white wines, which includes Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay, have seen a combined 14% increase and are driving the majority of the growth for Shannon Family of Wines over the last year,” says Joy Merrilees, vice president of operations and business development at Shannon Family of Wines.
Christian Wylie, managing director at Bodega Garzón in Uruguay, says that their Albariño has become their winery’s No. 1 selling wine in the U.S., up 33% year-over-year.
“The white wine trend helps,” Wylie observes. “Worldwide, white wines are growing in marketshare. Becoming the first-ever Albariño in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list helped too. For somms and gate keepers it’s an awesome alternative to listing yet another Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Being closer to the Equator than Rias Baixas, Garzón Albariño’s texture and style is a little rounder, balancing the acidity and minerality.”
Even in Napa, where Cabernet Sauvignon has reigned supreme for decades, wineries are finding that whites are driving their best sales.
“We have continued to see a decline in sales close to 8.5% on average since 2020 of individual varietals,” says Sandra DeMaria, director of sales and marketing at Ehlers Estate in St. Helena. “Our Estate Blanc, however, increased by 10% year-over-year.”
The sales team at Winebow, the importer and distributor that sells the entire Yalumba portfolio, notes that sales of Yalumba’s The Virgilius, a Viognier, increased by 28% in volume. Both on and off premise account sales are growing, but a spokesperson for the sales team at Winebow notes that the “majority of growth is in off-premise.”
A rosé return?
Rosé sales have been on a rollercoaster ride of late, but there are signs of modest gains afoot once again.
In LVMH’s Q3 report, the company notes “good performance in Provence rosé wines.”
Paul Chevalier, vice president of Chateau d’Esclans at Moët Hennessy USA, notes that while “the rosé category is sluggish, down around -8% overall once you extract the most premium brands, premium rosé is selling well.”
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Sales of Whispering Angel, for example, are up 2% year-over-year, Chevalier notes.
Provence mainstay Maison Mirabeau is also finding traction in the market.
“Maison Mirabeau is one of our fastest growing brands right now, thanks to its great quality, the fact that it’s family run, and employs cutting-edge sustainability including regenerative farming,” says Brad Mayer, senior vice president, marketing and global brands, Winebow Imports. “While the rosé category is down as a whole, Provence rosé is still very popular in the US, and consumer behaviour is shifting away from the idea that rosé is a summer-only drink, with more people drinking it year-round.”
Champagne emerging from the doldrums?
Like rosé, Champagne has suffered some big wins, and equally dramatic losses. Sales of Champagne last year, for example, were down 9.2%.
Émilien Boutillat, chef de cave at Rare Champagne and Piper Heidsieck, says that 2025 has been, if not phenomenal, “OK. Sales of Rare Champagne and Piper Heidsieck are up year over year. We are also seeing great engagement with our Essential Blanc de Noirs, which was first released in 2023. This category is still much more niche than Blanc de Blancs, but younger consumers are embracing it, which is very important to us.”
Boutillat’s experience is not unique.
In LVMH’s Q3 report, the company noted “sequential improvement” in Champagne sales.
At Benchmark, Saxby notes that “Champagne is performing well, with buyers chasing top growers and prestige cuvées with aging potential.”
Parker speculates that part of Champagne’s current popularity may be partially due to “eating habit changes” among the broad population (Ozempic, cough), “as well as the approaching holidays.”
Plus, there’s the inevitable show-off factor.
“All international wine at the high end of the market may actually be benefitting from the tariff as the higher prices actually enhance the prestige of these wines,” Parker says.
Indeed, people want to spend, and visibly demonstrate the power of their purse via high-end cuvées.
“There is a resurgence within the luxury space,” Chevalier says.
“Champagne is ticking back,” he says. “It feels at this point early to say we’re back, because it’s October. We have to get into the holiday season, which is the most important season for Champagne traditionally. Overall, I think people are drinking less, but in the restaurants and travel space, Champagne is doing very well.”
A mixed bag for reds
Red wines are up here, down there.
Single-varietal reds, as DeMaria at Ehlers mentions, are generally not doing well, save super high-end collectibles, as Parker notes.
But DeMaria says sales of their Portrait red blend, which includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, have enjoyed a “very encouraging 78% increase in sales year-over-year, and an almost 11% increase since 2020. This is very encouraging and tells me people are looking for variety and approachability.”
At Yalumba, Winebow notes that The Signature, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, has been snapped up by 27% more customers this year, primarily from on-premise accounts.”
Myisha Moore launched Saint Enzo L’Originale Lambrusco in August of this year, with the goal of meeting consumer desires, she says.
“Food culture has evolved dramatically in recent years, but the lower-alcohol celebratory beverage space has remained a bit stagnant,” she says. “My husband Armon and I brought Saint Enzo here with the goal of filling the gap we saw in the market.”
The sales, Moore says, have been brisk.
“They’ve been good enough that we believe we’ll meet our goal of growing 20% every year for the next few years,” Moore says. “We are currently in talks with several niche sports and fashion spaces, and multiple hotels. It’s luxury within reach for younger people.”
That is, Chevalier says, the missing piece of the wine sales puzzle.
“Money is out there,” Chevalier says. “People have been conservative with spending in the last six to nine months because there have been so many uncertainties recently, but people with money are ready to spend again. It’s in other areas where there are real problems.
Younger people aren’t finding affordable, fresh, lower alcohol alternatives that they enjoy.”
Clearly, the premium wine space is well-covered, and sales are booming. The fun, affordable, high-quality space needs more viable options.
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