The Baby Boomer generation, which has been one of the biggest wine-drinking groups, is also getting older and drinking less, he said. When they do drink, it’s generally at a higher price point than the majority of the bottles that go through large distributors, including Republic.
It’s not that people — or young people — who Republic’s brands appeal to aren’t drinking at all, though.
In recent years, seltzers, ciders and other canned “ready-to-drink” alcoholic beverages have gained popularity with drinkers of all ages.
“There’s more options,” McMillan, who has studied the wine industry for forty years, said. “I’ll have a [ready-to-drink] once in a while. I’m not just a wine drinker, and that’s a change from the past.
He said that a young person looking to purchase a drink they know they will like, without breaking the bank, might opt for a canned Moscow Mule or another classic cocktail with a familiar taste, rather than a bottle of wine whose notes may be new.
“That’s where you’re going to make that entry,” into alcohol, he said. “We [the wine industry] just haven’t done, I don’t think, as good a job as the spirits category.”
While spirit sales are up compared to wine, the whole category of alcohol sales is down. Aside from people choosing to be sober in higher numbers, McMillan said, alcohol is also now rivaled by drinks infused with other psychoactive properties, like cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms.
In the near future, he said, the wine industry needs to recalibrate with what consumers now want.
“What happened to RNDC isn’t an isolated thing,” according to McMillan. “Fewer consumers, fewer distributors, fewer gallons made — the whole thing has to adjust essentially. It doesn’t mean the whole thing is falling apart, but we’re going through an adjustment.”
