The challenges of winemaking: How do we reach young people?

Being a winemaker in Hungary today means you have to understand viticulture, winemaking, finance, marketing, and various economic indicators all at once. And somehow, you also have to find a way to connect with a generation that thinks about wine and buying it in a completely different way than the previous one, or the one before that.

When people ask me what the biggest challenge is for a small Tokaj winery today, many expect a romantic answer: drought, spring frosts, a difficult vintage, or the struggle in the vineyard. And of course, these are real problems. Weather extremes are becoming increasingly unpredictable, production costs keep rising, while wine consumption is declining in many European markets.

But honestly, in recent years I’ve been preoccupied with a different question: how does my wine reach the consumer, and who do I actually want to speak to?

I’ve talked to many winemakers about this, and I often ask them: who is your main target audience? Who is your wine made for? Surprisingly often, I get a blank stare in return. “Target audience? We want to sell to everyone.” Regardless of age, where they’re from, how much they spend on wine, or what occasion they’re buying for.

And that’s exactly where the problem begins. In today’s wine market, making good wine is no longer enough. You have to compete for the consumer’s attention not just with other wineries, but with craft beers, cocktail culture, non-alcoholic drinks, and a completely transformed set of consumer habits. Younger generations choose wine in an entirely different way than they did twenty years ago: they’re looking for stories, experiences, authenticity, and connection not just a label on a shelf.

So the question today is no longer simply how we make wine, but also how we communicate about it. This is partly a marketing question, but it’s much more than that: it’s also an economic and generational question — one of the most talked-about, yet least resolved, problems in the entire wine industry.

The market is changing. Fast. Unstoppably.

Global wine consumption is declining. This isn’t pessimism it’s data: according to IWSR analysis, the total number of regular wine drinkers across the world’s most important wine markets fell by 5 million between 2021 and 2024. In the United States, where wine drinking had become almost a cultural status symbol over the past decade, wine sales fell by nearly 6% in 2024 — the largest decline in decades.

The older, loyal generation is slowly “ageing out” of the market. People over 55 currently make up nearly half of European wine consumers in key markets such as the UK, France, and Belgium. Younger consumers should be taking their place — but they think differently.

The millennial generation — also known as Generation Y — is now the largest wine-consuming age group in the US, surpassing baby boomers. But they don’t consume wine the way their parents did. They consume less, but prioritise quality. They search through different channels and want to hear different stories. According to IWSR data, 73% of millennial wine enthusiasts regularly enjoy trying new, unfamiliar wines compared to 58% of all wine consumers.

This is both bad news and good news. Bad, because anyone who built their business on the sales logic of the past 20 years needs to rethink everything. Good, because this generation is curious — and if you find the right way to connect with them, they become loyal.

What’s the situation at home?

In Hungary, the picture is more complex. There is a Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency, there is a national strategy covering 2023–2026, and there are genuinely encouraging export figures: the value of Hungarian wine exports grew from €113.5 million to €133.8 million in 2024, even as global wine consumption fell. That’s no small thing.

That said, it’s worth considering who this system actually serves. The vast majority of Hungarian grape growers are small and medium-sized operations. State-funded, export-focused wine marketing primarily benefits wineries that are large enough to compete in international markets — while smaller producers also contribute to its financing.

This isn’t ill intent. It’s simply the logic of the structure. But for me, with four hectares and a small winery, it means I have to find my own marketing path. I don’t have a big budget or an export channel — but I have a story, a place, and an audience that doesn’t know about me yet. That’s why I keep going, every day. And not only for myself — I also speak up for others, – because I want to believe that Hungarian winemakers and people are capable of change, and that they care about more than just their own interests; that they want to contribute as part of a community, and that they can.

Is this wishful thinking? Maybe — but if we don’t push ourselves now, we’ll run out of time. And unfortunately, that would hurt more than just this one industry.

What I’ve learned from Western wineries

If anyone ever asked me which wine-producing country has offered the best marketing lesson of the past half-century, I’d say: Austria. And the lesson came from a moment that, at the time, looked like a catastrophe.

In 1985, it emerged that several Austrian winemakers had adulterated their wines with diethylene glycol — a component of antifreeze — to make them taste sweeter. The scandal hit the entire industry like a thunderbolt: Austrian wine exports collapsed to a fraction of their previous level, dozens of countries banned Austrian wine, and the confiscated fraudulent stock was ultimately incinerated at power plants.

The response could have been denial, finger-pointing, and a quietly fading apology. Instead, the Austrians made a collective decision: not to make excuses, but to rebuild the entire system. In 1986, Österreich Wein Marketing GmbH was established with a clear mandate — not to advertise, but to rehabilitate. They introduced one of Europe’s strictest wine laws. They abandoned cheap, mass-produced sweet wine and staked everything on dry, characterful whites — primarily Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.

Today, Austrian wine is a name found on the wine lists of the world’s finest restaurants. The Wachau and Burgenland command premium prices. Not by accident, not by luck — but as the fruit of deliberate, collective effort, rooted in the restoration of trust.

That’s what good wine marketing is about, at its deepest level: not how much you spend on advertising, but what you promise — and whether you can keep it.

Generational change — which is about more than succession

In winemaking, the phrase “generational change” usually refers to a craft passing from parent to child — the young winemaker taking over the estate and trying to shape it in their own image. I’d like to use the term differently here: how do we shift generations among our consumers?

At domestic wine conferences, the call to “win over young people” and “bring back their enthusiasm for wine” has been a recurring theme for years — because if we don’t, who will actually be drinking wine in 20 or 30 years? Fair enough. But there’s a hidden flaw in this framing: it assumes that young people need to adapt to wine — when in fact, the opposite is true. Wine needs to reach them where they are, in a language that makes sense to them.

What does that mean in practice? Not necessarily that every winemaker becomes a TikTok star. But rather:

Story matters more than scores. Younger wine enthusiasts aren’t primarily looking for a 93-point rating — they want to know who made it, why, in what place, and guided by what values. This is my advantage: Tokaj, Tállya, four hectares, by hand. That’s not marketing copy — it’s reality, and it’s exactly what they want to hear.

Direct connection is worth as much as a distribution network. In the US, smaller wineries selling through well-developed DTC (direct-to-consumer) channels are now outperforming those that rely on wholesale. Tasting rooms and wine club memberships work better at smaller wineries because the human connection is more authentic. A small Tokaj winery can’t compete with a multinational brand’s advertising budget — but it can make things personal, and that makes it more appealing and more accessible.

Sustainability isn’t optional — it’s expected. 60% of millennials and Gen Z are willing to pay a premium for environmentally produced goods. But that same age group has an instant instinct for greenwashing. It’s not enough to say it — you have to do it, and show how.

The more uncomfortable truth

If I’m being fully honest: wine marketing is so difficult in Hungary partly because, for many small winemakers, marketing is synonymous with advertising. But marketing actually starts earlier — with the product, the pricing, with who you’re making it for and why.

One lesson I wish we’d finally internalise and act on: either we work together and survive, or we remain isolated islands and sink. Solidarity is easier said than done, of course but the Austrian example shows it’s possible. Even when it takes hitting rock bottom first.

At my own level, what I can do is make visible what’s happening here in Tállya. Show the work, the vintage, the decisions I make — or write an article, record a podcast — because eventually it reaches someone.

It’s slow work. But I believe it’s the only thing that works in the long run.

If I had to sum it up in one sentence: Wine marketing isn’t about how you sell your wine — it’s about why people should trust you. That’s true for a four-hectare winery in Tokaj, and for an entire wine industry alike.

If you have an opinion, want to push back, or simply want to taste what I’m writing about, you’re welcome to reach out.

— Dóra