There's One Category of Alcohol Taking the Biggest Hit of All. It Should Be the Last.

"In 2025, legacy Oregon craft brewery Rogue Ales & Spirits filed for bankruptcy and shuttered operations, California uprooted 38,134 acres of wine grapes (in order to cope with overproduction and stymie future excess crops), and Jim Beam announced it would cease production of bourbon at its main distillery for the duration of 2026. An increasing push toward sobriety has flooded the market with nonalcoholic alternatives to traditional tipples."

"Wine, which has always accounted for a smaller percent of alcohol sales than beer and spirits in the U.S., is struggling most of all. In the first half of 2025, wine sales shrank 6.7 percent year over year, compared to a reduction of 4.7 percent for beer and 3.2 percent for spirits. Over the last decade or so, wine has also ceded market share to beer and spirits, accounting for 17 percent of sales in 2011, now down to around 15.8 percent."

Alcohol consumption in the U.S. has declined, producing stagnant sales across brewers, vintners, and distillers and prompting bankruptcies, acreage removal, and halted production at major facilities. The market has seen a surge in nonalcoholic alternatives as a response to rising sobriety. Wine has experienced the largest decline, with sales down 6.7 percent in early 2025 and market share slipping from 17 percent in 2011 to about 15.8 percent. Beer and spirits have leaned into nonalcoholic diversification, while many in the wine industry are vocally resisting temperance trends and asserting wine’s relevance amid wellness-focused cultural shifts.

Read at Slate Magazine