Del Boy’s beloved Châteauneuf-du-Pape under threat as Gen Z not fans of red wine

Gen Z are turning away from the once-beloved Châteauneuf-du-Pape red wine, a favourite of legendary TV character Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses

Del Boy’s fave wind is not going down well with some(Image: (Image: BBC))

Del Boy’s beloved Châteauneuf-du-Pape is under threat - as kids fall out of love with French red wine.

In the ‘80s Britain’s favourite Peckham market trader helped drive sales of the luxury variety of vino produced in the village of the same name in south-east France. In TV’s Only Fools and Horses Del - played by actor Sir David Jason - used the moniker as an exclamation of disbelief.

But it faces an uncertain future after shock figures showed red wine consumption in France has dropped 90% since Only Fools, according to the Conseil Interprofessionnel du vin de Bordeaux - aka CIVB.

Total wine consumption of reds, whites and rosés is down 80% since 1945

Total wine consumption of reds, whites and rosés is down 80% since 1945 - and the decline is accelerating.

Generation Zeds are purchasing half the volume bought by older millennials.

Spiros Malandrakis, drinks analyst at Euromonitor International, said: "The issues with wine - particularly red wine - are becoming existential.’’

Gen Zeds prefer Guinness, beer, spirits and alcohol-free drinks(Image: Getty Images/Photononstop RF)

He said the industry was suffering from a lack of connection with younger generations’ and had fallen into a sense of complacency' because of wine’s popularity with baby boomers.

Gen Zeds prefer Guinness, beer, spirits and alcohol-free drinks - with only rosé wine showing any lasting appeal.

CIVB board member Jean-Pierre Durand said: "With every generation we see the change.

"If the grandfather drank 300 litres of red wine per year, the father drinks 180 litres and the son, 30 litres.’’

The industry has suffered a fall in demand from China, one of its main export markets, and from the impact of climate change.

Not all categories of wine have been hit equally.

'Women and especially younger women around me were drinking less, and a lot less red'(Image: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Buyer Thomas Castet said: "High volume, heavily tannic reds are in strong decline and it’s accelerating with generational change.’’

The Bordeaux region is uprooting 9,500 hectares of red wine vines to curb over-production and prevent the spread of disease through under-maintained vineyards.

Growers can expect £5,000-a-hectare compensation funded by the CIVB and French government.

"We can’t continue to produce wines that don’t get drunk,” said Durand. "When the model is broken we adapt.’’

Brigitte Tribaudeau, who owns and runs Château Mauvinon in Saint-Émilion, started producing white and even orange wine to lure in young drinkers when she spotted they were turning away from red.

She is now experimenting with low-alcohol wine which she plans to sell this year.

"I sensed quite early on that drinking patterns were changing - seeing that women and especially younger women around me were drinking less, and a lot less red,’’ she said.

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