When a Winery Pulls Its Vines, Can We Really Just Blame the Consumer?
I recently read a New York Times article about a winery in Santa Barbara that decided to pull out all of its Pinot Noir vines and discontinue production. The owner pointed to a simple reason: people aren’t drinking wine anymore.
There is some truth to that. Wine consumption is declining, particularly among younger consumers in the United States. But can we really put all the blame on the consumer?
Santa Barbara Pinot Noir has an interesting history with consumer trends. Its popularity exploded partly because of one movie: Sideways. The 2004 film helped introduce a much wider audience to Santa Barbara wine country and Pinot Noir. But ironically, the same movie that helped Pinot Noir also damaged the reputation of another grape with one famous line: “I am not drinking any fucking Merlot!”
More than two decades later, I still hear people say they don’t drink Merlot, sometimes without really knowing why.
The irony, of course, is that some of the greatest and most expensive wines in the world are based on Merlot. Pétrus, one of Bordeaux’s most legendary wines, is the obvious example. A grape didn’t suddenly become bad because a fictional character didn’t want to drink it. Consumer perception simply changed.
So, back to the Santa Barbara winery: can we really blame consumers for what is happening to Pinot Noir?
For decades, California was one of the major American sources of Pinot Noir, particularly places like Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and other cooler regions along the coast. But the market today is very different. Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become internationally recognized for Pinot Noir, while countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, and others are producing their own expressions of the grape.
Climate change is complicating the picture even further. Some regions that historically struggled to ripen Pinot Noir consistently are becoming more viable, while established regions are dealing with warmer growing seasons. The global map of where Pinot Noir can successfully grow is changing.
That means Santa Barbara isn't simply competing with other California wineries anymore. It is competing with Pinot Noir from around the world.
And Santa Barbara itself has changed. The region is no longer defined only by Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Rhône varieties such as Syrah and Grenache have developed serious reputations there, alongside many producers experimenting with different grapes, farming philosophies, and winemaking styles.
This is where I question the business strategy of relying too heavily on one grape variety. If your entire identity and business depend on Pinot Noir, you are making a significant gamble on consumers continuing to want that particular product. Diversifying your vineyard or portfolio could give you other ways to respond when the market changes.
Then there is the question of where we are selling wine.
History has repeatedly shown that when one market disappears, businesses look for another. European wine merchants and producers have spent centuries developing export markets as wars, politics, taxation, trade restrictions, and economic changes disrupted existing ones. If your domestic market is shrinking, perhaps the answer isn't simply to produce less. Maybe the answer is to look somewhere else.
Why are American wineries so focused on American consumers?
Asia deserves much more attention. Countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and others have growing economies, expanding middle classes, sophisticated restaurant scenes, and younger consumers increasingly exposed to global food and beverage culture. These markets are not identical, and selling wine there certainly isn't simple—taxes, distribution, logistics, and local drinking cultures all matter. But they represent potential consumers who shouldn't be ignored.
And yes, younger generations are changing their relationship with alcohol. Some are drinking less because of health concerns. Others because of cost. Some simply prefer cocktails, beer, sake, natural wine, or non-alcoholic beverages.
But drinking less doesn't necessarily mean nobody is drinking.
It may mean people are drinking differently.
That distinction matters.
If you're not a historic estate whose identity has been tied to one wine for generations, you may actually have something incredibly valuable: flexibility. You can experiment. Maybe that means skin-contact wines, pét-nat, lighter reds, alternative varieties, different packaging, smaller formats, or simply making wines that speak to how today's consumers actually drink.
The wine industry sometimes talks about declining consumption as though consumers suddenly betrayed wine. But businesses have always had to adapt when customers change.
Perhaps part of the problem is that some wineries begin as passion projects. Someone has money, loves wine, buys a vineyard, plants Pinot Noir, and dreams of making something beautiful. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But passion and business are two different things.
When the market becomes difficult, passion alone may not provide the tools needed to adapt.
So when a winery pulls out its vines and says, “People just aren't drinking wine anymore,” maybe we should ask a different question:
Did people stop drinking wine or did they stop drinking the wine we were trying to sell them?
Because those are two very different problems.