A Gen Z Perspective on Fine Wine, Value and the Digital Age of Finance
My generation grew up online.
We learned almost everything from YouTube, TikTok, or ChatGPT, including how money works. Many of us were trading on apps before we had full-time jobs. We watched memes move markets and algorithms shape entire industries.
But somewhere between curated feeds and generative-AI everything, something else is emerging - a quiet exhaustion. Major studies from Deloitte and McKinsey point to rising digital fatigue among Gen Z. The digital world that once promised connection and opportunity increasingly feels overwhelming. And that is reshaping how we think about value.
From Digital Curiosity to Tangible Value
According to the CFA Institute’s 2023 global survey, more than half of Gen Z already invest, and most began before turning 21. Our entry point wasn’t traditional - 44 percent of U.S. Gen Z investors started with crypto - but it gave us fluency in technology, risk, and the speed of markets.
Yet that fluency also bred fatigue. After years of digital noise, we are asking what’s real. In relationships, in experiences, and in the assets we choose to hold. We’re looking for value that doesn’t vanish with the next trend cycle.
The Rise of Passion Assets
This shift is already visible in where our money goes. A 2024 DeFoes report shows that Millennials and Gen Z are rapidly increasing allocations to alternative investments, with some younger portfolios holding up to a third in non-traditional assets. This aligns with the 2024 Bank of America Private Bank study, which found that younger investors allocate around 17% of their portfolios to alternatives, compared with just 5% for older generations, and are twice as likely to be collectors of wine or spirits.
Part of this shift is economic: we’ve grown up through recessions, volatility, and uncertainty, so diversification feels like self-protection. But it’s also emotional: Individualisim is another defining Gen Z trait. Studies on Gen Z behavioural patterns show we prize self-expression and independence more than conformity. Our portfolios are beginning to reflect that. Alternative investments can become a form of identity.
This is were fine wine comes in.
It’s a cultural object, not an abstraction - it ages, changes, and carries a story. Owning a piece of a rare vintage is aesthetic, even philosophical. It says something about who you are and what you value.
And for a generation raised on pixels and notifications, there is something deeply reassuring about an asset you could, at least in theory, touch, taste, or share. But because we still expect the frictionless experience of the digital world, tokenization bridges the gap: letting us hold something real without giving up convenience.
Tokenisation and Access
Until recently, a lot of alternative assets, whether art, wine, collectibles, or luxury goods, were accessible only to a small circle of insiders. Tokenization is changing that. By converting ownership of physical assets into secure digital tokens, it allows anyone to hold fractional stakes in things that once required significant capital, connections, or infrastructure.
For Gen Z, this shift feels natural. We’re used to seamless digital experiences, transparent systems, and the ability to customise almost everything. Tokenization extends those expectations into the world of investing: it lets us build portfolios that are personal, expressive, and anchored in the real world, without giving up the convenience of the digital one.
As the World Economic Forum (2025) notes, tokenization is “transforming financial access and redefining the concept of ownership.” It takes assets with history, craft, or cultural meaning - the very things our generation is rediscovering - and makes them investable at the speed of a swipe.
Fine wine is a powerful example of that transformation. Platforms like Savea use blockchain infrastructure to open up access to an asset class that has traditionally been exclusive. But the larger story is bigger than any single category: tokenization is giving all of us a way to own what resonates with us, combining authenticity with accessibility in a way previous investment models never could.
From Ownership to Connection
What’s emerging isn’t just a new asset class, it’s a cultural shift. We’re blending finance with personal narrative, turning portfolios into reflections of who we are. Wine, art, collectibles: these aren’t distractions from “serious” investing, they’re extensions of it.
In an age defined by the intangible, owning a share of something physical feels radical. It’s trust rebuilt through tangibility. For a generation that’s seen both the best and worst of digital finance, that might be the most valuable asset of all.
