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.

However, the connection rates for Boomers are appreciably lower in Australia, US, Canada and UK compared to the average drinker in these markets, particularly when it comes to alternative wines.. “Engaging older consumers remains critical for sustaining long-term growth, as they represent the largest age group in many mature markets,” points out Mettyear.

“Boomers tend to show a lower connection to sustainability and limited interest in alternative wines, remaining unconvinced of their value. Increasing awareness and improving penetration among these older age groups remains an important focus for the future of the category.”

Barriers to purchase

Although alternative wine types are increasingly entering the mainstream in key markets around the world, limited choice and availability have emerged as key barriers to purchase, alongside traditional challenges related to value perceptions and a tendency to default to familiar options.

Across the five key markets and the three main alternative wine segments of organic, natural and sustainably produced, between 17% and 23% of regular wine drinkers said there was not enough choice in retail or the on-premise, according to IWSR consumer research. Between 18% and 23% said these wines were too expensive, while 31% – the same for all three alternative wine types – said they preferred to stick to the wines they know and trust.

“Consumers report that organic, natural and sustainable wines are difficult to find, both in retail and in bars and restaurants, due to limited availability and lack of choice,” says Mettyear. “Sustainably produced wine in particular is consistently noted as having limited options and availability across all five core markets.”

Future opportunities

Consumers – especially younger age cohorts – are broadening their repertoires in line with rising concerns about sustainability and the perceived health benefits associated with alternative wines, with regular wine drinkers increasingly reporting that they view these products as ‘better for health’ or ‘a healthy lifestyle choice’, according to IWSR consumer research.

While the opportunity index remains largely stable, with natural and organic wine continuing to lead the way, other alternative wine types are growing in popularity and awareness: orange wine has moved up two places in the index since 2024, overtaking pét nat, while biodynamic wine has improved versus 2021. However, despite these gains, both categories still rank relatively low overall, with orange wine and biodynamic wine placing 9th and 10th respectively in the index.

“Despite the constraints impacting alternative wine’s performance, the category’s long-term outlook remains positive as health associations strengthen, and younger consumers continue expanding their alternative wine repertoires,” says Mettyear. “Markets showing the strongest potential include China, the UK and the US, where an increasing number of alternative wine types are improving their index scores.”