Ep 32: The Great Wine Reckoning (And Why We're Drinking It Anyway)

Global wine consumption fell another 2.7% in 2025 —part of a cumulative 14% drop since 2018. Across the top 20 markets, wine volumes are down more than 20% since 2019. That’s one in five bottles, gone.

But Lulie presents the case for why wine remains relevant, from Gen Z participation rates to the cyclical nature of drinks categories, and why she’s genuinely optimistic about the case for wine.

And she brings receipts. Gin had a moral panic, a long exile, and a renaissance. RTDs went from wine coolers to alcopops to canned cocktails. Categories don't die — they find new occasions, new formats, and new generations who need something their parents didn't drink. The question for wine isn't whether it has a future. It's whether enough of the industry will ask the right questions before the consolidation wave hits. Lulie and Felicity have got wine in the fridge, and they’re ready to debate.

Meet Your Hosts:

Lulie Halstead founded and led international consumer research and strategy consultancy Wine Intelligence, and led it to a successful PE exit. Today she is a renowned global beverage alcohol and wine sector specialist, focused on consumer behaviour, strategy, retail and hospitality. An accomplished keynote speaker, she has spoken at more than 70 international events over the past 20 years.

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly. Her Drinks Insider podcast won the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award for Audio.

Chapters

• (00:00:04) - A Question of Drinks
• (00:00:30) - A Question of Drinks
• (00:01:17) - Has Wine Become Irrelevant?
• (00:02:23) - A Question of Drinks
• (00:02:52) - Mid-range wine
• (00:03:36) - Has the Winemaker Market become irrelevant?
• (00:04:07) - A Taste of Wine's History
• (00:05:51) - The decline in wine sales
• (00:07:35) - Wine volumes are down 18%
• (00:09:20) - Wine volumes decline 18% in 2019
• (00:12:55) - Wine and the traditional place
• (00:15:13) - Wine and eating at home
• (00:16:22) - Wine and the social occasions
• (00:17:14) - Cheap Wine: The Complexity of Wine
• (00:19:27) - Wine prices and knowledge of wine
• (00:22:34) - Heuristics in wine
• (00:24:36) - Is Wine Being Undermined?
• (00:27:31) - Wine Question Time: Too Much Wine in the World
• (00:32:19) - Wine price stability and the future
• (00:34:38) - Gin's'revival'
• (00:40:34) - Are Gen Z Drinking More?
• (00:43:00) - Wine trends 2020: Younger drinkers
• (00:47:43) - Gen Z and the category
• (00:48:01) - Will Wine Continue to Decline?
• (00:51:16) - The future of wine
• (00:54:04) - Wine: Has it Become Stupid?
• (00:58:09) - The New Wine of the Future
• (01:03:01) - A Question of Drinks