Priscilla Hennekam & Tobin Trevarthen
Released 13 May, 2025
What if the future of wine has nothing to do with grapes, barrels, or certifications?
What if the most important shift isn’t in the bottle, but in the networks, values, and meaning systems surrounding it?
In a world being rewritten by algorithms, decentralised voices and emotional connection, wine is a signal.
This is a reflection on what happens when tradition meets transformation and how we might start rethinking wine in the age of machines.
Thank you, Tobin Trevarthen, for generously reading the draft and offering thoughtful insights that helped sharpen this piece.
This is for everyone trying to make sense of what’s next. Not just in wine, but in culture, in connection, in meaning itself.
Our Rethinking Wine platform already exists - and it’s alive in beta testing mode. Right now, we’re building it together with the pioneers who are daring to #rethink with us, shaping a platform that belongs to our future. Our next stage will be the pre-launch, and we’d love you to be part of it.
If you want to join us, add your email to the waitlist at: https://www.rethinkingwine.app/
This is just the beginning. Let’s rethink it, together.
Something Is Shifting. Not Just In Wine, But Everywhere.
Power is moving. Trust is moving. Meaning is moving. And the stories that once shaped our industry no longer resonate the way they used to. We’re living in an age where everything is being redefined: identity, influence, value, even truth itself.
Decentralised networks are replacing traditional hierarchies. Culture is being shaped not by institutions, but by creators, conversations, and communities. And younger generations, Millennials and Gen Z, are not just changing what they drink - they’re changing why they drink, how they discover, and what they expect from the brands they support.
The wine industry, built on history, ritual, and control, needs to stop and reflect. We can keep defending old models, or we can start designing new ones. We can try to educate people back into the past, or we can invite them into the future.
The question is no longer whether the world is changing. The question is: Are we brave enough to rethink wine in a way that truly reflects these changes?
Why Trust Has Moved
We’re living through a quiet revolution. A fundamental shift in how we make choices, who we listen to, and what we trust. It’s called decentralisation, but don’t let the word scare you off. At its core, it just means this: power is shifting. From institutions to individuals. From the top down, to the community out.
In the past, we looked to titles, awards, and institutions to tell us what mattered. Today, we turn to our group chats, our feeds, our friends. We don’t listen to critics, we listen to people. Not websites, but WhatsApp threads. Not shelf talkers, but stories that feel like ours.
Why? Because trust in big systems is wearing thin.
Too much spin. Too much distance. Not enough realness. So, we’ve built our own networks. Not the tech kind, the human kind. And in those networks, influence moves fast.
It’s emotional. It’s personal. It’s earned - not granted.
A 30-second video now matters more than a decade-old reputation. A heartfelt story beats a full-page ad. A TikTok recommendation hits harder than a sommelier’s script.
Just look at China. Wang Shenghan, better known as Lady Penguin, turned wine into a lifestyle brand by speaking in everyday language and showing up as herself. No scores. No gatekeeping. Just trust, storytelling, and a sense of belonging.
One viral video and the wine sells out overnight. Not because someone said it was “important.” But because it made people feel something.
And that shift? It’s happening everywhere. People don’t want to be told what to drink. They want to discover it. Remix it. Share it.
They want brands that speak with them, not at them. They want to see themselves - not be told who to be. The most powerful wine brands now aren’t the loudest. They’re the ones that create a feeling. That invite people into a story, not to be taught, but to belong.
That’s why the old model - produce, package, educate - no longer fits. It’s a one-way conversation (a monologue) in a world that now runs on dialogue, emotion, and participation.
This isn’t just a marketing shift. It’s a power shift.
If your strategy still depends on being “the expert,” you’re already falling behind. Because people don’t just want information —they want to feel something. And that means the future of wine won’t be shaped in boardrooms. Not even in vineyards. It will be shaped in conversations —fluid, decentralised, and deeply human. Because in the end, what people really want isn’t a perfect bottle. They want a reason to open one, and someone to share it with.
The New Power of Millennials and Gen Z and the ‘Values’ Revolution
The rules of influence have changed, and so have the people rewriting them.
Millennials and Gen Z are no longer just the “next” generation. They are the cultural engine of the present. They are shaping the trends, the tone, and increasingly, the economy. Gen Z, while younger, are redefining identity, influence, and what brands need to mean. Millennials, they’re driving the rise of new entrepreneurs, and inheriting the biggest generational wealth transfer in history.
But more importantly: they’re reshaping what we value.
These generations don’t just want products, they want alignment, purpose, and experiences that feel personalized and authentic. They’re not buying into tradition for tradition’s sake.
They ask:
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Does this brand reflect who I am?
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Does it understand my values?
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Does it make me feel like I belong?
And this is where the wine industry faces its most urgent challenge.
As Peter Drucker warned:
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence — it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
And right now, the wine world is still holding on tightly to yesterday’s logic.
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We’re trying to sell prestige when people want participation.
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We’re trying to lead with authority when trust now flows through peers.
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We’re using maps for a city that no longer exists, and wondering why fewer people are arriving.
“Closing the door,” as Drucker might say, isn’t about abandoning what works. It’s about understanding that some doors only open when we stop clinging to the ones behind us.
And here’s the truth:
If we keep insisting that people adapt to the old language of wine, we’ll become irrelevant. But if wine adapts to how people live, connect, and express who they are, it can become meaningful again. That means moving beyond the status game of premiumisation. It means not fighting the moderation trend, but leading it, with pride and creativity. They still want to feel something. They just don’t want it wrapped in elitism, exclusion, or outdated expectations.
They want:
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Products that help them express who they are.
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Experiences that connect them to others.
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Brands that feel responsible, inclusive, and real.
So let’s stop asking how we sell more. And start asking how we matter more.
Wine doesn’t have to lose its soul to stay relevant. But it does have to find a new one, one rooted in curiosity, humanness, and a deep understanding of the culture we now live in. Because the future of wine won’t be defined by what we keep. It will be defined by what we’re brave enough to let go of - so that something more honest, inclusive, and resonant can take its place.
Meet the Authors:
Tobin Trevarthen - Narratologist and Architect of Narrative Worth.
Tobin’s work spans executive narrative development, brand strategy, positioning, and the anthropology of companies. He’s partnered with Fortune 500 execs, founders, CHROs, and visionaries in edtech, HR tech, higher education, and wine—to name a few. He brings a “human-first” approach and has a superpower for pattern recognition—connecting the dots between culture, commerce, and identity. For the past several years, he has also helped over 50 aspiring executives uncover their personal strategic narrative. Tobin lives at the intersection of insight and intuition, often exploring what he calls “narrative worth”—the third leg of the stool alongside net worth and self-worth.
Priscilla Hennekam - Founder & Network Catalyst of Rethinking the Wine Industry.
Priscilla is the force behind Rethinking the Wine Industry—a global movement reimagining how the wine world thinks, learns, and connects. With a unique blend of industry expertise and bold creativity, she brings together professionals, thinkers, and disruptors to challenge tradition and spark change. From AI-powered conversations to global collaboration, Priscilla is shaping a new future for wine—one that’s curious, inclusive, and unafraid to rewrite the rules.