(Wine-Searcher) - The Silicon Valley Bank's Wine Division's founder says demographic shifts are transforming the industry.

The wine industry has often been among the slowest to react to economic change.

As the United States pulls into a decade of recession and recovery, wine executives are still reluctant to innovate on many fronts, shares Rob McMillan, the Napa-based founder and executive vice president of the Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division. His annual State of Industry Report, published earlier this year, touches on a number of factors including demographic change, a spending slowdown and continued flat wine pricing.

Some of the other key findings included the fact that the under-$9 price point for wines is suffering, boomers are drinking less and Millennials are consuming more, and the fact that the wine market is shaping up for a downsized 2-4 percent growth increase this year. That level of growth represents a major slowdown in sales, he says. "We are close to having zero growth in volume. It is scary," he shared in a recent interview.