How can young consumers be inspired by wine? The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has taken on this question with a dedicated campaign aimed at the new generations on the domestic market.
The notable rise in Austrian wine exports in recent years has not changed the fact that the domestic market still dominates sales for the nation’s industry. Three out of four bottles of Austrian wine are sold within the country. And yet, wine consumption in Austria has been declining for some time, from per capita consumption of nearly 35 litres in 1980 to just under 26 litres today.
Part of the explanation of this downward consumption trend is believed to be that younger Austrians, Millennials and Generation Z, are drinking significantly less wine.
With little reliable data on this perception, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB), the umbrella marketing and service organisation of the Austrian wine industry, launched a large-scale survey in autumn 2024 among Austrians aged 20 to 35. The initiative was inspired in part by an exchange with the California Wine Institute, which had conducted its own market research on younger consumer segments. The aim of the AWMB survey was to gain a clearer understanding of young Austrians’ attitudes towards wine, and to develop marketing strategies tailored for this target group.
Popularity and pitfalls
The survey results show that wine still holds great potential among young Austrian consumers, with 84% of respondents saying they drink alcoholic beverages in general, and two-thirds (67%) consume wine at least occasionally. Although the drinking frequency is somewhat lower than among previous generations, wine clearly emerged as the most popular alcoholic beverage – ahead of beer (occasional consumption: 56%) and cocktails (53%).
And yet several factors are standing between potential young consumers and wine. The most frequently mentioned reasons were a lack of suitable occasions to drink wine, and insufficient knowledge about it. Health concerns were mentioned in passing.
To bring young consumers closer to wine, it is therefore important to create informal, low-threshold tasting opportunities. Wine also needs to be presented in an accessible and uncomplicated way to remove barriers and make it easier to approach.
Flagship campaign: rot weiss rosé
Based on these insights, the AWMB developed a major new campaign, launched in autumn 2025: rot weiss rosé (red white rosé, or “RWR”). The name is a play on words combining the Austrian flag colors — red, white, red — and the three primary wine colors. Targeting Austrian wine drinkers aged 20 to 35, the campaign presents wine in a fresh, easy-going and relatable way. rot weiss rosé is designed as a comprehensive, long-term initiative that will involve not only the Austrian wine industry, but also partner sectors such as retail, gastronomy and tourism.
Attractive and approachable
The AWMB’s survey showed that young people want to be addressed differently when it comes to wine: with experiences rather than lectures, with ease rather than formality, with authenticity rather than elitism. Wine needs to be presented in a relaxed, down-to-earth way to become a natural part of their everyday lives.
The look and feel of rot weiss rosé therefore differs significantly from that of the AWMB’s umbrella brand Austrian Wine, which primarily targets wine professionals as a B2B brand. In terms of content too, RWR takes a different path. To identify the right stories and experiences for young consumers, the AWMB conducted focus group testing to explore their interests in wine-related topics.
The resulting content focuses on three main areas:
How to Wine: Basic wine knowledge
- Compact wine A–Z
- How wine is made
- How to choose the right wine in the supermarket
Try That: Enjoying wine in combination with food, pop culture and lifestyle
- Wine x Food
- Wine x Music
- Wine x Fashion
Winelife: Authentic insights into the world of winemaking, such as
- Meet the winemakers
- Behind the scenes of the harvest
- Wine festivals across Austria
When creating content, the campaign pays particular attention to simple and straightforward presentation: no complicated jargon, but rather clear, contemporary everyday language; no glossy magazine aesthetics, but images with an authentic, DIY feel. To make wine approachable, the brand itself must feel approachable.
Letting young winemakers shine
A central element of the campaign is to put the spotlight on young Austrian winemakers. They are important opinion leaders within their peer groups, and can inspire genuine, unfiltered enthusiasm for wine. This is being implemented through short video portraits, as well as through themed weeks (from 2026 onwards), during which the winemakers’ own social media stories will be shared via rot weiss rosé.
In addition to producing target group-oriented content, the AWMB is also developing its own promotional materials – such as wearables, picnic blankets, cooler bags and branded wine glasses – to attract attention at events or directly at wineries, keeping wine top of mind among young consumers.
Platforms, partners, media
The success of any campaign depends heavily on the right choice of communication channels. rot weiss rosé therefore focuses primarily on platforms, partners and media that effectively reach young consumers, such as:
- Instagram: @rotweissrose.wine
- a dedicated website: rotweissrose.wine
- collaborations with influencers and content creators from gastronomy, music, fashion and art
- partnerships with youth-relevant media, gastronomy and retail
Experience is everything
To bring young people to wine, you need to bring wine to young people. The AWMB’s survey showed that young consumers often lack informal opportunities to taste and explore wine in a relaxed environment.
For this reason, one of rot weiss rosé’s strategic priorities is to integrate Austrian wine into events that attract Millennials and Generation Z. Wherever it is possible and makes sense, Austrian wine should have a presence. A particular focus will be placed on the campaign’s launch phase in autumn 2025, when numerous RWR events will take place to position the brand strongly in the market.
The event calendar on the official rot weiss rosé website serves as the central hub for all RWR events. It lists all wine-related events that may be of interest to the young target group, collected, verified and published by the AWMB.
Empowering the industry
Inspiring two generations about wine is a challenge too great for just one organisation. Thus from the outset, a key strategic pillar of rot weiss rosé has been to inform and involve the entire Austrian wine industry as well as sector partners.
First, the AWMB shared the results of its market research, helping the industry understand how to engage Millennials and Generation Z with wine. It then provided detailed information on the rot weiss rosé campaign and the various ways to participate – through webinars, a dedicated email newsletter and industry meetings.
In an increasingly competitive beverage market, coordinated, joint efforts across all sectors are the only way to make it possible to convince potential young consumers of the true pleasure and quality of choosing wine. With rot weiss rosé, the AWMB has laid the foundation for this, committed to continuing to play a central role in safeguarding the future of wine sales in Austria.
About Austrian Wine
The Austrian Wine Marketing Board (Österreich Wein Marketing GmbH) is based in Vienna, and is a national service body for the Austrian wine industry. The organisation was founded in 1986 with the aim to strategically support, coordinate and maintain quality and sales.
