Why the French have fallen out of love with wine

Wine, or at least the appreciation of good wine, seems to me to be suffering from a lack of love. 

Wine consumption is down and falling, both in France and all around the world. Young people are not interested in it, middle-aged people are buying fewer bottles and old people already have too much in their cellars. 

The only sector of the wine industry that is doing well is aspirational rosé and super-premium sparkling wine. Every other sector is suffering reduced sales. Producers from relatively cheap cooperatives to respected estates are going bankrupt. Wine shops, wine bars, fine-dining restaurants and wine clubs are all disappearing. 

The wine industry is scratching its head trying to figure out why wine has lost its appeal. Some journalists argue, quite convincingly, that the rise of natural wine has broken the market. Consumers were drawn to natural wines because of claims that they were free from the toxic additives and pesticide residues in conventional wines. However, many have found that they dislike the flavour of natural wines and have therefore turned away from wine in all its forms. 

Lifestyle choices a major factor

Others say that anti-alcohol campaigning is to blame. Governments throughout the western world have increased their public health warnings about alcohol consumption, reduced their recommended weekly intake levels and tightened up on drink-driving regulations. 

Most people today are trying to make lifestyle choices which will improve their long-term health and their longevity. Alcohol is now seen in the same category as tobacco and fatty foods. Many twenty-somethings choose to socialise without alcohol. Some say this is down to not wanting photos and videos showing them drunk or out of control being shared over the internet. Social media posts picturing or talking about wine often draw comments about being an alcoholic. People are now categorised as drinkers and non-drinkers, when once it was assumed that almost everyone enjoyed an alcoholic drink. 

Even self-confessed wine buffs are reducing their weekly consumption, partaking in Dry January or Sober October and avoiding wine at lunchtimes. 

Price is also a factor. The rise in the cost of essentials like energy, food and housing have forced many average households to skip the niceties and tighten their belts. Wine is, after all, a luxury, rather than a staple. Even though good quality wine is relatively cheaper than it was in the past, the most exclusive and desirable wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy are now bought, collected and drunk only by a tiny number of people who have the financial means to access them. 

The last three decades have seen some wine prices stretch into the stratosphere. Wines which gain cult status or celebrity endorsement can quickly increase their prices beyond the reach of the average connoisseur. That acts as a deterrent to wine appreciation. Why bother refining our tastes or deepening our understanding and knowledge if we can’t afford the wines deemed to be the pinnacle?

Wine is suffering from other lifestyle changes. Many more young adults live on their own. They don’t have space or time for dinner parties. Wine appreciation is not seen as cool or sophisticated. It doesn’t appeal to millennials or Generation Y in the way that it did to the baby-boomers or even Generation X. I think it’s because wine appreciation requires a lot of reading and experimentation. Two things that don't fit very well with a generation drawn to instant gratification and quick answers on YouTube, social media or ChatGPT. 

Also, they tend to spend their spare money on experiences, sports, and travel. In the past I would go to wine fairs and there would be a big range of age-groups tasting and buying wine. Recently, it’s rare to see anyone under 50. 

Wine tourism is also struggling. People seem more drawn to designer tasting rooms with entertainment, perhaps because it is more shareable on Instagram or TikTok, than an authentic visit to a dim cellar with a thoughtful winemaker. Tour companies and specialised websites have inserted themselves between the visitor and the winery, creating a disconnect between producer and consumer. 

All these things have coincided to cause wine producers to question their futures. The French government has just funded a second successive vine-pull scheme to reduce production and the region digging up the most vines is Bordeaux, closely followed by the Languedoc-Roussillon and Southern Rhône. All these regions were very popular and experienced growth from the 1980s until just a few years ago. In my region, two major cooperatives are in financial administration and 35 independent wineries closed down last year, about 10% of the total.

While we can pontificate on the reasons for the fall in consumption, ways to increase it are not obvious. The lifestyle, economic and cultural causes are beyond the control of the wine producers. Is increasing consumption a good thing, even for the wine industry? Maybe it just needs to resign itself to the reality that the market is shrinking and changing. While the loss of thousands of hectares of vines will change the landscape, cause unemployment and weaken the economy of France’s wine regions, perhaps a reduction in volume will not be a bad thing in the long run. Wine has been around for thousands of years and its popularity has waxed and waned many times over. For those producers who survive the downturn because their wines offer genuine interest and value, the future may be brighter than it looks today.

Jonathan Hesford is a member of the Association of Wine Educators, holds a WSET Level 3 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology from Lincoln University, New Zealand. He is the owner and winemaker of Domaine Treloar in Roussillon.

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