Vermont Wine Grows Into Its Future
Collaboration, strong narratives, and a hospitality mindset are propelling this young region forward
American wine has lost its mojo. So say the headlines. Older wine customers are aging out, younger customers are looking elsewhere, and discretionary spending is stretched to the limit. The industry struggles with oversupply, economic downturn, and lackluster engagement. Those still buying wine want assurances of pleasure and fewer but better experiences, emphasis on experiences.
There are glimmers of hope. Rob McMillan, author of the 2026 Silicon Valley Bank State of the U.S. Wine Industry report, thinks American wine has endured the steepest declines and is entering a period of correction. He predicts better times in 2027 and 2028.
But while the industry itself will survive, individual producers might not. “The recovery that follows will favor those already executing outward-facing, consumer-driven strategies,” he writes. Wineries that reorient their efforts toward keeping top customers, streamlining their SKUs, and avoiding risky experiments are the most likely to make it through. Those with a strong tasting room game are in the best position, because “hospitality and experience remain the bedrock.”
That’s good advice for existing brands with strong engagement, attractive venues, and enough fat to trim. But what about a new winery or region that has yet to find its footing? At the recent annual meeting of the Vermont Grape and Wine Council, these questions floated like ghosts in the room.
Vermont’s wine culture is so young it hasn’t had time to develop immunity to the economic maladies plaguing the American wine industry. Vermont’s wineries are principally family operations, many first-generation. Volumes are small, costs of production are high, and principals wear many hats, from pruning to production to sales. Many work organically or naturally, requiring significant labor that further drives cost. The industry enjoys less regulatory clout than more established Vermont ag sectors like maple and dairy. And the hybrid grapes planted here are, to consumers, at best unfamiliar and at worst mistrusted.
Nonetheless, Vermont wine producers make a significant contribution to the state’s economy. According to the 2025 Vermont Wine Impact Study, the two-dozen wine producers, farming just 200 acres—the area of a single dairy farm—generate $687 million of economic activity. Wine tourism and hospitality play an outsized role in that total, especially in the ski towns of central Vermont and in the scenic Champlain Valley, where much of the state’s wine is grown and made.
That figure is at risk as Vermont’s $4 billion tourist economy fell off the cliff in 2025 after protectionist policies precipitated a 30 percent drop in Canadian border crossings and 50 percent drop in Canadian credit card spending. According to Vermont Business Magazine, “This dip is felt most significantly at restaurants, campgrounds, inns, marinas, retail stores, and festivals.” Put “wineries” onto the list.
