How Wine Can Get Its Swagger Back: Terroir > Wine Brands

Dear Wine Industry,

I read Mark Brown. I listen to Vinepair. The same story plays on repeat: wine has a big problem. Sales are down, interest is waning, and younger generations aren’t engaging. Craft beer drinkers, who should have expanded or migrated to wine, didn’t. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

The American approach to wine is broken. Instead of leaning into what makes wine unique — its deep connection to place — we leaned into celebrity endorsements, flashy labels, and overly manipulated wines. We handed over the narrative to marketing teams, and now consumers, especially the younger ones, are turning to alternatives like craft cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages that feel more genuine and accessible.

But the solution isn’t out of reach. We can reverse this trend by embracing what makes wine truly special: terroir.

(Yes, pricing is a current issue as well, I’ll get to that in coming posts)

The Solution: Terroir Over People

The best wines in the world aren’t defined by their branding or even their winemakers. They’re defined by their terroir. Great wine begins with great terroir — the unique interplay of soil, climate, and geography that gives a wine its soul. From the cobblestones of the Rocks District in Washington State to the limestone slopes of Burgundy, terroir is what makes wine unlike any other beverage.

Yet, as an industry, we’ve moved away from this truth. We’ve become obsessed with creating wine “brands” instead of celebrating wine’s inherent connection to the land. The result? Consumers are left uninspired, and the industry is paying the price.

Training: The Missing Link

Here’s the thing: focusing on terroir is only the first step. If we want to reclaim wine’s relevance, we need to do more than talk about terroir. We need to train people to communicate it effectively. And I don’t mean training celebrity spokespeople or creating consumer-facing campaigns — that ship has sailed, and it was a mistake.

The focus needs to be on the front line: on-premise and off-premise staff. Restaurants, retailers, and distributors are the gatekeepers of the wine experience. They are the ones who interact directly with consumers, and they are our best chance to tell wine’s story. By equipping them with the knowledge and tools to speak about terroir in a meaningful, accessible way, we can rebuild trust and excitement.

Restaurants, in particular, have an enormous opportunity to change this narrative. A well-trained server or sommelier can connect a diner to a bottle’s story in ways that feel personal and compelling. Instead of pushing the latest brand or chasing points and awards, they can share why a wine’s terroir matters, why it tastes the way it does, and why it’s worth experiencing.

A Local Example: The Rocks District

Recently, I gifted clients a bottle from the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, one of the most terroir-driven regions in the world. This AVA, with its cobblestone soils formed by the Missoula Floods, produces wines with stunningly unique character. The bottle was “Some Days Are Stones” by Two Vintners. While the winemaker, Morgan from Two Vintners, is exceptional, it’s the terroir — and his respect for it — that elevates his wines to greatness.

The Shift We Need

The best wine brands aren’t brands at all; they’re custodians. As an industry, we need to prioritize education and storytelling around terroir, not individuals or trends. Consumers are more likely to develop loyalty to a wine that connects them to a place than to a fleeting brand persona.

A Call to Action: Change the Narrative

The U.S. wine industry has a choice to make. We can continue to prioritize wine brands, celebrities, and labels, or we can double down on what makes wine unique. But doubling down requires effort. It requires meaningful, consistent training for the people who sell and serve wine. It requires restaurants to see their wine program as more than a line item and retailers to see beyond margins.

Here’s the takeaway: People are secondary to place. Wine’s future depends on its connection to place. If we shift our focus to terroir and train those on the front lines to share its story, we can rebuild the trust and curiosity that have been lost. Let’s help wine get its swagger back — by getting back to what matters.

Sincerely,

Seth