Not Every Winery Should Chase the Younger Buyer (but how do you know if you should?)
A strategic choice like this only works if it matches the brand making it
With so many stories saying that every winery needs to refocus to reach younger wine consumers, you may be wondering if your winery needs a marketing pivot.
Every argument for reaching younger wine drinkers on their own terms comes with an unstated assumption: that doing so is the right move for your winery specifically.
It’s important to consider that it’s not a blanket statement for the industry to change its marketing. A winery built around a $150.00 Cabernet and a collector customer base has a fundamentally different economics and brand promise than one selling a $25 rosé on a patio bar list. Chasing a younger, vibe-first audience (without asking whether it fits your brand) risks diluting the very thing that makes your current customer base loyal, without actually winning the new one.
So how do you decide what to do with your wine brand and marketing?
The Question to Ask Before You Leap
Before shifting any marketing towards a younger demographic, a winery needs to answer one question: is this a genuine growth opportunity for our specific brand, or is it a FOMO reaction to a trend everyone is writing about?
Those are two very different starting points, and only one of them justifies a strategy shift.
Signs a Younger Demographic Consumer will Fit your Winery
There are a few indicators that a younger demographic may be a potential market for your winery’s focus:
Your current price point and packaging are already approachable, not built around collector prestige.
You have (or can build) inventory and events/occasions/moments suited to lower-stakes, higher-frequency social moments, as opposed to a focus on cellar-worthy releases.
Winery leadership is genuinely willing to shift brand voice and content style, not just the superficial addition of younger faces to your marketing.
The final point is probably the most important, because unless leadership is truly on board, I would recommend against any shift of this kind.
Signs a younger demographic focus doesn't fit your winery brand
Your brand equity is built on scarcity, prestige, and a collector relationship that a younger, casual marketing positioning would actively undermine.
Your production and pricing are structured around a smaller volume of higher-margin bottles where a broader, younger audience isn't the profitable path.
You'd be adopting the aesthetic of youth marketing without the substance — same wine, same price, same experience, just younger models in the photography. This is the worst thing you can do, and this audience will notice.
The Luxury Brand Answer
There is another potential approach to vibe marketing to a younger demographic. Not every luxury brand outside wine chases volume or competitive pricing, and the ones that don't aren't failing. Brands like this are deliberately smaller, higher-margin, and fiercely protective of scarcity as the core elements of their appeal.
That’s intentional marketing with a focus on the perception of value, and it’s a legitimate brand strategy. A winery with genuine prestige positioning may be better served doubling down on that scarcity or prestige, rather than diluting it to chase a demographic whose spending power, while real, doesn't match its current customer base. However, there may be be younger demographic that does value the prestige and “luxury” wine model.
So market research and the current offering of your winery are two things to explore for any potential opportunities on this path.
The Real Decision Your Wine Brand Needs to Consider
This isn't really just a question about whether younger buyers matter to the wine category overall: they clearly do. It's more a question of whether your specific brand, price point, and customer promise are suited to winning them, or whether your growth would be better built by sticking with and deepening the relationship with the customer base you already have.
Both of these are legitimate strategies. The mistake is picking one by accident (or fear) instead of on purpose with thoughtful intent, market research and commitment.
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
Does ignoring younger buyers mean a winery is giving up future growth?
Not necessarily. A winery with strong prestige positioning can grow by deepening loyalty and spending within its existing collector base rather than expanding into a younger, more casual segment that doesn't match its brand promise.
How can a winery tell if a younger-audience strategy would feel inauthentic for its brand?
A useful test: if the plan is simply the same product, same price, and same experience with younger faces in the marketing photography, that's cosmetic, not strategic, and this audience tends to notice the difference quickly.
Can a winery pursue both a prestige, collector-focused line and a younger, casual-focused line at the same time?
Yes, and larger wineries often do this through distinct sub-brands or tiers rather than asking one label to serve both audiences and price points at once, which usually confuses both.