Premiumisation Stalls, Gen Z Picks Carefully, Bubbles Rise : What the Global Market Signals for Russia

A Pause, Not a Break

Major houses and international distributors all registered the same signal in 2025 : the upward momentum that had carried the global alcohol market for a decade slowed markedly. According to Wine Intelligence, total beverage alcohol volumes fell 2 % globally, while value dropped 4 %, an unusual gap indicating that premiumisation, the movement by which consumers accepted paying more to drink less, is no longer the automatic engine it once was. Wine lost 4 % in volume. Spirits fell 1 %, and up to 4 % when national spirits are included. Super-premium spirits took a particularly sharp correction, around 15 % in value.

This slowdown is not a collapse. It is a rebalancing after a decade of growth sustained by a combination of forces : the post-covid acceleration, a shift in consumption toward the home, a reduction in collective occasions. Today, persistent inflation, geopolitical tensions, and eroding household confidence in major Western economies are recalibrating consumer trade-offs. People have not stopped drinking premium ; they have become more demanding about which premium they choose.

Generation Z Redefines Selectivity

The most structurally significant shift does not come from prices but from behaviours. Wine Intelligence documents, across several key markets, a meaningful reduction in the number of categories consumed per occasion. In the United States, that figure fell from 2.1 to 1.7 categories per consumption moment between 2024 and 2025. In Brazil, the share of Millennials consuming spirits declined by six percentage points in a single year.

The translation is straightforward : younger adults, Generation Z in particular, drink less frequently, across fewer categories, but they make more deliberate choices. They are not abandoning premium ; they are concentrating it. One good wine occasionally rather than three ordinary ones every week. This logic of concentrated quality is exactly what sustains high-end segments in mature markets, provided the product justifies the trade-off.

For the producers we represent, this is a foundational data point : volume no longer rules. What rules is consumer conviction about the specific choice being made.

Whites and Sparkling : The New Premium Territory

As reds lose ground, a deep rotation is underway in the secondary wine market, the world of auctions and collector trading. According to Liv-ex data cited by Wine Intelligence, traded value in white wines has grown by nearly 650 % since 2010. Sparkling wines have surged by more than 1,100 % over the same period. Reds, by contrast, show a value decline of approximately 15 % over fifteen years. Bordeaux whites have lost 17.6 % since 2011. Burgundy white has now overtaken Bordeaux in traded value within the white wine category.

This movement reflects two things. First, a shift in cellar horizons : whites and sparkling wines fit shorter consumption timelines, which aligns better with contemporary urban lifestyles. Second, an aesthetic repositioning : freshness, tension, and minerality have become desirable attributes on a par with tannic depth and complexity.

Cremant de Bourgogne : A Model of Efficiency

One concrete case illustrates the accessible-premium sparkling trend particularly well : Cremant de Bourgogne. In 2025, according to the interprofession body, sales grew 9 % and exports rose 14 %, now accounting for 51 % of total volumes. Production reached 231,000 hectolitres across nearly 4,000 hectares, making it Burgundy's third-largest AOC by volume. Average retail price runs around 8 euros, roughly one euro above comparable alternatives.

What is remarkable here is not the raw number but the model : a sparkling wine that draws on Burgundy's geographic credibility, offers an accessible entry point, and wins over demanding markets. The United Kingdom posted 27 % volume growth and 29 % value growth over the period. This is exactly the type of product that answers the new logic of selectivity : identity-driven, justifiable, coherent with the occasion.

AknoTrade Reading : What This Means for Russia

The Russian premium wine market presents a specific configuration that these global trends illuminate with particular clarity.

First, the rotation toward whites and sparkling wines has not yet arrived in Russia with the same intensity as in Western markets. Structured red wines remain dominant in Russian representations of prestige. But urban Russian consumers, particularly in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, are gradually adopting aesthetic codes closer to those observed in Western Europe. This convergence creates an entry window for character-driven whites and premium sparkling wines, before those segments become saturated.

Second, the Gen Z logic of concentrated quality fits the commission model we practise precisely. Consumers who make fewer but better choices need a trusted third party to guide them. This is exactly the role of an outsourced commercial directorate : bringing product knowledge, origin credibility, and reliable supply consistency.

Third, the quality-price positioning of the Cremant type (accessible premium, strong identity) meets a real demand in Russia for gift wines and festive table wines that do not require a Champagne budget. Traditional-method sparkling wines, whether from Burgundy, Jura, Limoux, Spain, or Argentina, remain underrepresented in Russian premium distribution networks.

The global premiumisation pause is not an alarm signal for quality producers. It is a signal for requalification. The consumer is becoming a better judge. For those who have a differentiating product and serious market access, this is precisely the moment when generic competition collapses and authentic positioning prevails.