Alcohol consumption is tanking among youths, so wine brands are chasing Gen Z with NASCAR and WWE partnerships

Which wine pairs well with Shark Week? Does a pinot noir have enough acidity to cut through the grime of a Tough Mudder race? Is a big, brassy cabernet bold enough of a quaff for a night of naming dead rodents after an ex? And is a wine named SEX too provocative or not provocative enough? Absurd as they may sound, these are the questions haunting wine marketers grappling with slumping sales and increasingly elusive drinkers. How consumers — especially younger drinkers — answer them will determine whether an industry long defined by fuddy-duddy pretense can find its footing in 2026 and beyond. “That self-important way that wine can refer to itself — we’re really trying to tip that on its head,” said Helen Kurtz, chief of marketing for The Wine Group, which hopes that offerings such as its easy-drinking Cupcake Vineyards wines can attract a generation that came of age on Frappuccinos and gas station BuzzBallz. “It’s about being less serious about ourselves, because that’s what this consumer is demanding,” she said. By which she means partnering the company’s MD 20/20 (yes, it’s a wine) with World Wrestling Entertainment matches (“Mad Dog Enters the Ring”), and launching the aptly named Fuel by Franzia line of boxed wine beverages for NASCAR (“Full Throttle Flavor”). Alcohol consumption has dropped It’s a fresh lesson on the importance of finding your customer rather than hoping they find you. Because almost across the board, alcohol consumption is down, a trend that accelerated post-pandemic. A host of factors is at play, including aging Boomers seeking healthier lifestyles, Gen Z’s gravitation to low- and no-alcohol beverages, and widening availability of alternatives such as marijuana. Each segment of the alcohol industry — valued at around $560 billion in the U.S. — is responding differently. Hard liquor, for example, has found a rare growth category in ready-to-drink canned cocktails. But the wine industry faces its own constellation of cha