I'm on the patio of the newest winery in the province and Canada’s first sparkling house. The view is stunning at Evolve; the vibe: fun (pink will do that). Under the far cabana, a foursome of Gen Zers from Kelowna is starting their flight of bubbles. “We love wine,” they tell me.
Like McKenna Schroter, an under-30 wine marketer and owner of Gleam Connections, I, too, have heard one too many times the line “Gen Z doesn’t drink wine.” Schroter believes it is more complicated than that.
“Yes, many of us drink less often,” she told Harpers Wine & Spirit magazine. “But when we do drink, we’re choosing quality, intention and connection. We want story. We want experiences. We want to belong to something.”
For brand director Anahita Pouget, a millennial at the helm of Evolve and Time wines, early numbers suggest a bubbling interest in the new wines. In the first four weeks, her “Spirit of Canada” video garnered 116,000 views on YouTube, with 42 percent of viewers watching to the last second. Traditional news outlets also covered the opening.
“Small winery, humble budget—I’ll take that as a win,” says Pouget.
Canada’s sparkling wine segment is emerging as the fastest-growing category, outpacing table and fortified wines in projected revenue growth through 2030.
Earlier in the summer, my phone lit up with texts from another Gen Zer, excited about a return to the Okanagan and the chance to taste again. She and her millennial fiancé are new fans, thanks in part to Therapy Vineyards’ stunning wines (and equally stunning white marble tasting bar), sweeping views and an insider tour with winemaker Bradley Cooper that ends deep in the mountain cellar, where dusty bottles of sparkling were aging on the lees.
The 2025 BMO Wine Market Report is blunt: the progression of young adults into wine drinkers is no longer assured. Gen Z accounts for only five to ten percent of tasting room visitors or wine club members.
Still, the opportunity is there. What Gen Z is seeking—authentic experiences, tactile rituals, a sense of belonging—is exactly what wine at its best provides. As digital fatigue grows, Gen Z is seeking time away from their phones. Wineries that position tastings as unplugged, experiential escapes will resonate with this shift. The challenge is reframing wine not as another product on the shelf, but as part of a lifestyle of balance and connection.
As reported in Drinks Insider, Felicity Carter notes that the U.S. White House may be retreating from its “no safe level” messaging on alcohol, leaving the public discourse muddled. Against that backdrop, clarity and storytelling matter more than ever. Consumers, especially Gen Z, want transparency, authenticity and a reason to care.
The message for our industry is clear: to engage a generation that values story and experience, wineries must double down on what makes wine unique—its connection to place, to people, and to the power to bring us together.
Gen Z is watching, listening and tasting. Now is the time to make sure they see themselves in the story.
— Yvonne Turgeon, publisher
