Treasury Wine Estates Slashes US Asset Value by $450M as Market Slows and Gen Z Shifts Tastes
Australia’s largest winemaker, Treasury Wine Estates, has written down roughly $450 million from its US portfolio, citing a cooling American wine market and weaker demand for mass-market brands. Premium labels such as DAOU continue to perform well, but the company said it is adopting more conservative long-term growth assumptions.
The writedown follows TWE’s strategic pivot to the US after China imposed steep tariffs on Australian wine in 2020. Although China reopened to imports this year, global consumer behaviour has shifted, with younger drinkers—especially Gen Z—moving away from big commercial brands and gravitating toward smaller, natural and low-intervention producers. That shift has further pressured mainstream wine sales.
TWE shares have fallen nearly 50% this year, dropping to their lowest level in more than a decade. New CEO Sam Fischer is reviewing the company’s US operations after a recent trip to China.
Analysts say the writedown underscores a more pessimistic outlook for the US wine sector. RBC’s Michael Toner noted it reinforces concerns that TWE “materially overpaid” for earlier acquisitions in the region.
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Export Value (AUD Millions) - 2024 Estimates
*China figures reflect the surge following the removal of tariffs in early 2024.
