Alternative wine offers opportunities, but barriers persist

The global market for sustainable, organic, and alternative wines continues to mature, driven primarily by younger wine drinkers – but growth is being hampered by a number of challenges around availability, awareness and perceptions of value.

According to IWSR’s Opportunities in sustainable, organic and alternative wine 2025 report, younger generations – Gen Z and Millennials – are emerging as the primary growth engine of the alternative wine category among regular wine drinkers across five core markets and 10 secondary destinations , but there is low awareness and limited purchase interest among older age cohorts.

Consumer connection to alternative wines has increased across key markets, driven by sustainability and health motivations. According to IWSR data, the purchase of alternative wines has increased significantly since 2023 across most sub-categories in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. China continues to show the highest proportion of wine drinkers with a strong connection to sustainability, although sustainability attitudes have levelled off compared with 2023.

Organic wine has performed well, with volumes expanding across most markets over the past five years, although growth has slowed recently. Mature markets including France and Germany remain the largest in volume terms, but are growing more slowly in comparison to the likes of Australia (2019-24 volume CAGR +14%). Growth is also reported in Canada (2019-24 volume CAGR +2%) and in the UK (+1%).

According to IWSR’s Opportunity Index – a measure of which alternative wine types have the strongest market opportunities, weighted according to the size of the wine-drinking population in each country – natural wine remains the leading opportunity, thanks to robust performances in China, Australia and the UK.

Organic wine retains its second place in the index, thanks to stable awareness levels and rising engagement in key markets. China demonstrates the highest conversion from awareness to purchase, while Australia, the UK and the US show improving perceptions.

Sustainably produced wine is also gaining traction, especially in markets where sustainability attitudes have strengthened, such as the UK, with similar trends evident in China, the US, Australia, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan and Denmark.

“The global market for sustainable, organic and alternative wines continues to mature, driven primarily by younger wine drinkers, whose strong alignment with sustainability, healthy lifestyles and ethical consumption is reshaping demand,” says Dan Mettyear, Head of Research – EMEA.

“However, growth is constrained by several barriers. Across markets, consumers report limited choice and availability in both the off- and on-trade as the biggest obstacles to buying alternative wines. Price, perceived value and a preference for familiar, more traditional options also remain significant challenges.”

Generation gap: younger consumers key, older cohorts disengaged

Across the five key markets, younger consumers continue to play an important role in the growth of alternative wines, as sustainability concerns particularly resonate with Millennials and Gen Z in Australia, the US, China, Canada and the UK.

According to IWSR consumer research, at least half of younger regular wine drinkers (Gen Z and Millennials) in these five countries report a high connection to sustainability.; and at least 64% say they have a high connection to alternative wines.