Do Smaller Formats Actually Create New Wine Drinkers?

Yes. We think so.

Potential wine drinkers often get discouraged within the first mile of their wine journey. In 2026, the wine industry's biggest dilemma is: address consumer trial problem or stop growing new customers.

Consumer trial has been bad for 10 years and look where the wine industry is at...

Plastic bottles and low- quality, stale, and no-name wine by the glass is a bad first experience.

Yet, so many restaurants still opt for this because they don't know about better options or are too unsure to try a new format.

Why is it so much to get a good beer or RTD? Because wine wasn't willing to adapt... until recently...

Interesting article from Louis Calli provides extra data and reasoning:

“According to the Wine Market Council and IWSR, consumers under 40 are two to three times more likely to purchase wine in cans, 250 ml servings, or 375 ml bottles. But the real insight is why. Smaller formats match the way younger adults already consume everything else: one portion at a time, on their schedule, without a leftover problem. They don’t create a sense of obligation (“should I finish this?”), they don’t trigger guilt (“I’m wasting half this bottle”), and they don’t require planning (“I need a meal or another person to justify opening this”).”

And that's why we love canned wine. No obligation, no guilt, no planing.

What do you think of the move to smaller format in wine?

Read the full article on his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-smaller-formats-actually-create-new-wine-drinkers-louis-calli-a3vyc/?trackingId=BK2e8%2FOsykhgvBY1fcoibQ%3D%3D