Marketing a Winery to Younger Wine Drinkers
Winemaking depth belongs somewhere in your brand (just not in the social caption)
Nothing about the argument for reaching younger wine drinkers means you have to abandon your craft. In fact, quality is always critical. Soil, your barrel program, clonal selection etc., all of the technical aspects of what makes a wine distinctive still matter, and it's still worth talking about.
The mistake to avoid for wineries that are targeting the 20-something consumers is putting that story in the marketing headline, instead of where a truly curious buyer can find it. Terroir belongs in the cellar and on your "Our Story" page. It doesn't belong in your social caption competing for attention with a hundred other things fighting for the same three seconds of scroll.
Two Audiences, Two Jobs
Winery marketing has to do two different jobs for two different audiences (at least two audience segments in this example, though you may have more), and trying to make one message that works for multiple audiences isn’t a good approach:
The wine enthusiast wants depth. They like to learn about clone selection, vineyard block, barrel toast level, vintage variation and so on. This reader is actively looking for technical credibility and will search for it (if it's easy to find).
The casual, younger wine buyer wants to know what a bottle is for: what moment it fits, who they'll be with, how it'll make the afternoon feel. This reader isn't looking for a technical education; they're looking for a decision made easy by the winery.
The two-track message, in practice
Front-facing (social, packaging, tasting room signage): mood, moment, and people — a golden-hour patio shot, a caption about the weekend it belongs to, a wine bottle that’s made to photograph well.
Back-facing (website story page, back label, tasting notes sheet): the technical substance about vineyard details, winemaking choices, and the craft decisions that justify the price to the reader who wants that justification.
An important point to remember is that none of this means dumbing anything down. It’s all about marketing segmentation. It's about getting the appropriate information to engage each audience, instead of forcing every reader through the same door before they're allowed find what engages them.
Why a Targeted Approach Protects your Credibility, not Just Your Reach
A winery that only ever talks about vibes risks looking shallow to a wine-literate audience. This core audience is important (even if it’s shrinking) and it will always need top-tier and cellar-worthy releases.
A winery that only ever talks terroir will basically be invisible to the buyer building the next 20 years of loyalty. Running both tracks deliberately with thoughtful intent is how a brand keeps its wine craft credibility, while still winning the room it needs to grow into.
See more posts about winery marketing.
By Mike Belobradic — Winery, tourism, and hospitality marketing consultant with 30 years of executive brand and marketing leadership across major Canadian financial institutions, now focused on wineries, regional tourism boards, and hospitality brands. WSET-credentialed, culinary-trained, and a KCBS-certified barbecue judge, Mike is the founder of Smoke Fire Grill™ and creator of the Northern Barbecue™ method.
FAQ
Won't younger buyers feel talked down to if the technical story is hidden from them?
No. The technical story isn't hidden, it's just not the opening line. A buyer who wants to go deeper can always find the vineyard and winemaking detail on the story page or back label; the front-facing message just isn't forcing everyone through that door first.
How much of a winery's marketing budget should go to each track?
That depends on your customer base today versus who you're building for. A brand actively trying to grow its younger audience should weight new content and social spend toward the front-facing, moment-driven track, while keeping the technical depth fully intact elsewhere on the site. However, keeping profitability and other business analytics in mind is also a key part of the marketing planning process.
Does this approach work for every price tier of wine?
It scales differently by tier. A $20 bottle can lead almost entirely with mood and moment, while a $150 library release still needs some technical credibility (even in front-facing messaging), since that price point leans into a more informed buyer.