The quality from the grape is gloomy these days. From a pandemic-era highest successful 2020 fueled by location drinking, vino depletion has fallen for 5 consecutive years successful the United States with income nationally astatine their lowest successful 20 years, according to manufacture research.
Wine prices are rising (in portion due to the fact that of rising accumulation costs), radical are drinking little intoxicant due to the fact that of wellness concerns, and among younger radical successful particular, vino depletion has decreased due to the fact that vino is often seen arsenic excessively expensive, excessively stuffy and little breathtaking than cocktail culture. Wild reports person adjacent emerged of California vino growers burning their vineyards due to the fact that it didn’t wage to enactment successful business.
All that said, the communicative is much nuanced successful Las Vegas. To get the connection from the section grapevine, we spoke with folks from crossed the business: the proprietors of a caller downtown vino bar, the caput sommelier for a big-time Strip steakhouse and an importer of wines that situation mainstream stylistic conventions but person nevertheless recovered section success.
Is vino dormant successful Vegas? Far from it. But the reasons wherefore radical are drinking, and the kinds of wines they want, are evolving. And continuing alteration is truthful precise Vegas, isn’t it? 
Hung Up connected Wine is simply a caller vino barroom opened by Hung Nguyen, right, longtime erstwhile sommelier of the Rio, and his concern partner, Anthony Defalco, arsenic seen connected Thursday, May 7, 2026, successful Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Hung Nguyen and Anthony Defalco
For astir 20 years, Nguyen, successful his precocious 40s, was the sommelier and manager of the Cellar astatine the Rio and the vino manager of the spot astatine large. Defalco, 38, who had erstwhile stints astatine the M Resort and arsenic wide manager of Libertine Social successful Mandalay Bay, met Nguyen portion moving arsenic the good eating wide manager of the Rio.
The concern partners opened Hung Up connected Wine successful May successful a sleek, loftish abstraction connected the crushed level of the Juhl condominium gathering successful downtown. They’re navigating the challenges successful the vino manufacture — and the competitory Las Vegas beverage country — 1 formation of vino astatine a time.
People person a batch of places they tin portion downtown. What’s your attack to marque Hung Up connected Wine distinctive?
Nguyen: The vino concern is not intimidating here. It’s much fun, much social. A younger crowd, successful their 20s and 30s, they emotion the thought of drinking vino and socializing and learning thing caller astir wine. The extremity is to person a tasting country that is unfastened and accepting for everyone. You get 3 oregon 4 glasses of vino successful a formation and acquisition and learn. The flights are 5 antithetic reds and 5 antithetic whites. Each 1 has a theme, similar Chasing Chardonnay oregon Around the World reds. The vino rotation changes each 2 months.
You besides service spirits. Why service spirits astatine a vino bar?
Defalco: Vegas is simply a cocktail-focused municipality successful galore ways. Someone wants to bash a vino formation here, but idiosyncratic other mightiness privation to bash bourbon. We person tequila flights, vodka flights, bourbon flights to larn astir antithetic spirits, too. We person a Hung Margarita — a margarita with a interval of pinot. That’s the quality of doing a cocktail successful a vino bar. You tin incorporated vino into immoderate of the spirits.
The Cellar astatine the Rio was known for including nutrient — from charcuterie boards to sit-down dinners — successful its vino program. Have you continued that signifier here?
Defalco: Food has ever been important to us. Most vino bars are going to person a charcuterie board. We person more: charcuterie boards to starters, salads to flatbreads to steaks. There’s adjacent a dessert paper with after-dinner vino pairings. We bash tasting dinners, with Hung and winemakers, each azygous period connected Saturday. We precocious had a five-course Taittinger Champagne dinner.
Nguyen: You don’t person to spell determination other to get a cocktail, to get a bottle, to get nutrient — it’s a full bundle deal.
What other is worthy noting astir what you’re doing?
Defalco: There is simply a concealed peculiar paper of hard-to-find wines. It’s called Hung’s Cellar — Boutique Selections. It’s uncommon selections that Hung is capable to get due to the fact that of his longtime connections. We besides privation to grow the vino club, grow the vino locker programme and grow to outdoor space, to beryllium that peculiar acquisition for the guests.
353 E. Bonneville Ave., Suite 115, successful Juhl, hunguponwine.com 
Ocean Prime caput sommelier Josh Brunson pours a solid of vino astatine the steakhouse astatine 63 CityCenter connected the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Josh Brunson
Brunson deepened his involvement successful vino portion studying astatine the Culinary Institute of America, 1 of the world’s starring culinary schools, successful Napa Valley. After graduating, helium joined Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, genitor of Ocean Prime, arsenic a bartender and server. He roseate done the ranks arsenic a vino trainer and pedagogue with the company, arsenic beverage operations manager astatine the location bureau and, since 2023, arsenic caput sommelier astatine Ocean Prime successful 63 CityCenter.
As Brunson, present 31, relates, starring the vino programme astatine a Strip steakhouse requires balancing wines that entreaty to mainstream steakhouse tastes with less-familiar releases that adhd interest, each portion managing inventory needs created by the flows of visitant traffic.
How bash you picture the vino programme astatine Ocean Prime?
We bash the wide strokes of the satellite that brace with seafood and steaks. We are strongest successful our cab and pinot selections.
What makes the vino programme astatine a Strip steakhouse antithetic than 1 determination else?
The Strip is simply a beast successful and of itself. We bash a batch of measurement astatine unusual times. Certain wines aren’t disposable from producers successful ample quantities. It’s a amusive interplay trying retired caller grape varietals connected the premium broadside portion besides catering to the Napa cabernet lovers of the world. I effort to format the database successful a mode to dispersed our selections retired to person what we request astatine each times. There’s buying powerfulness successful the measurement that we’re capable to determination through. Because we tin determination much product, much merchandise tends to get allocated to us, and we effort to usage that to the champion of our advantage.
Who are the vino drinkers astatine Ocean Prime?
That depends connected the clip of year. The tech conventions, determination is simply a larger scope of drinkers arsenic acold arsenic property goes. Some radical person a batch of money, and they are successful their 20s and are capable to entree costly wines. In the summer, determination are much entry-level drinkers. Sancerre (a crisp achromatic varietal from France’s Loire Valley) is simply a buzzword now.
Wine drinking is down importantly among those 40 and younger. What are your thoughts astir that?
I judge vino is presently a unfortunate of hyperinflation. Some costs and prices of vino person risen dramatically; that makes it excessively costly for astir younger people. In summation to that, determination is simply a beardown tendency for perceived value. And younger drinkers are surrounded by cocktail trends, surrounded by theatrics successful beverages. It’s hard to bash that with a solid of wine; it’s not going to person the enactment of a cocktail. Celebrity engagement is simply a large portion of it, too. With tequila, for instance, there’s a batch of selling vigor down that. Wine forces radical to dilatory down. Wine tin besides beryllium fun, but it’s not needfully arsenic high-energy situation arsenic the cocktail sphere.
So, what bash you bash astir the cognition that vino is excessively expensive? About the allure of cocktail enactment culture? Do you bring successful wines specifically for younger drinkers?
You’ve got to instrumentality a measurement backmost and marque them consciousness inspired again. We person an entrée of miso achromatic cod. You mightiness beryllium considering having a cocktail, but you’re teetering connected the fence. We’ll bring successful immoderate vino to taste, amusement them what the pairing tin do. It doesn’t person to interruption the bank. We’re besides bringing successful tastings, bringing successful vino dinners, keeping customers engaged. I should note, arsenic well, that a batch of drinking trends are cyclical. I deliberation the tide volition yet displacement backmost successful a much balanced way.
3716 Las Vegas Blvd. South, successful 63 CityCenter, ocean-prime.com 
Emily Baddock owns ALT Imports, which specializes successful low-intervention wines. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Emily Baddock
Baddock began her nonrecreational vino vocation astir a decennary agone erstwhile she took a occupation arsenic a server portion attending postgraduate schoolhouse successful Washington, D.C. Serving turned into vino education, vino classes and a gig astatine a pioneering earthy vino bar.
In Vegas, Baddock became a beverage manager with the Momofuku group, purchasing vino from, among others, ALT Imports, a supplier of small-production, low-intervention earthy wines. She aboriginal joined ALT, moving successful income for 3 years. In summertime 2024, she bought the company.
Baddock, 36, lies squarely wrong the procreation that galore vino producers bemoan due to the fact that of generationally falling vino consumption. For her, that treatment seems somewhat beside the point. Instead, she selects wines whose prime she believes in, and she finds places wherever drinkers (younger oregon otherwise) mightiness beryllium unfastened to sipping them. Find your benignant and instrumentality with it.
Describe the wines you look to showcase successful the ALT portfolio.
Our portfolio is mostly vino but besides trade beers and geeky spirits. The main diagnostic for america is vino production. We enactment with tiny producers that absorption connected farming, that are certified integrated oregon biodynamic. Low-intervention tiny producers who attraction a batch astir the effect that they are using, and the extremity is to amusement disconnected the vino and the accomplishment of the winemaker. They’re not adding sweetener oregon tannins oregon intoxicant to screen up anything. They’re utilizing neutral barrels truthful you’re not imparting other spirit magnitude that’s not portion of the effect itself.
What are radical gravitating to successful your portfolio?
People are looking for new, absorbing things. Orange vino (made by fermenting achromatic grapes with their skins, imparting an amber hue) is immense for us. It utilized to person this estimation of being the unusual thing, of trying thing conscionable for the involvement of being different, but determination are beauteous ones, airy ones, past chaotic and funky ones — you person to beryllium circumstantial who you merchantability that to. There person been Strip buyers wanting an orangish solid — I did not expect to spot that. Pet-nats (rustic sparkling wines that acquisition a azygous fermentation, without added sweetener oregon yeast), we bash good with that. Glou-glou benignant chilled reds (light, fruity, easy-drinking wines) are besides breadstuff and food for us.
Have you noticed younger radical drinking little wine?
We are benignant of a niche wrong that conversation. I deliberation that what we do, it’s small, it’s artisanal, it’s astir the story. I deliberation the vino inclination you’re seeing is bigger producers utilized to seeing large placements. We’re moving successful places that are not needfully dialing into large producers. We spot a batch of younger radical travel retired to our tastings. There is thing circumstantial for everyone present if you’re consenting to beryllium unfastened and adventurous. Is vino dead? There are parts of the manufacture that are dying, definite things that were erstwhile ripping and ace profitable, those sections are drying up, and that’s tough. People are looking for thing much absorbing with a story, adjacent if it costs a mates dollars more.
What relation bash you deliberation societal media plays successful the vino trade?
Wine is simply a sensory thing, and you can’t prime that up done the phone. I deliberation things similar orangish wines person much of a ocular impact. Wine societal media tends to beryllium much astir the somms and the radical gathering programs oregon expressing a peculiar constituent of presumption than expressing the acquisition of wine. But societal media has been truly bully for vino education, putting unneurotic antithetic vino events. In presumption of truly articulating a tasting note, that’s truly tough.
altimports.com ◆
Contact Johnathan L. Wright astatine jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste connected Instagram.
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