Millennials and Wine

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FrankPy · #1 Post by **FrankPy** » April 1st, 2015, 2:27 pm

What do you think are some of the top ways Millennials find out about new wines? Same ways as Boomers and everybody else?

I'm thinking they learn about new wines they may want to try maybe in this order:

1. Friends
2. Retail pros
3. Online or Social Media

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank

Benjamin Hand · #2 Post by **Benjamin Hand** » April 1st, 2015, 2:31 pm

I'm guilty of being in the aforementioned demographic. My personal ranking would be:

1. Online (wine news, blogs, and message boards)
2. Books/Decanter Magazine
3. Occasionally friends

Paul Luckin · #3 Post by **Paul Luckin** » April 1st, 2015, 2:42 pm

the most recent report i read noted how Millennials wanted to make a "connection" with the wine/winery. to me that would equate to meeting and interacting with the owner/winemaker at various events (think moderately to low priced festivals, organized tastings, etc.). second would be social media (Twitter and Instagram probably ahead of FB at this point).

mseeber · #4 Post by **mseeber** » April 2nd, 2015, 9:46 am

Dining out is likely a big source of new wine knowledge, especially when it is a restaurant that has a Millennial friendly vibe (organic, local, trendy, etc). These restaurants seem to feature less mainstream wines and opt for eclectic or unique.

Adam Z A K K A · #5 Post by **Adam Z A K K A** » December 5th, 2017, 9:12 am

In the same vein, but sorta not really, I think Millennials are increasingly going with spirits. Wine is in decline with young people. At least, in my experience running restaurants.

#6 Post by **Michael O'Brien** » December 6th, 2017, 9:16 pm

My Millennial finds out about new wines when I supply them to her. She just got several Oregon PNs from me. All new to her. I am still her wine supplier and probably will remain so for some time to come.

#7 Post by **Betty C** » December 13th, 2017, 12:28 pm

-Some inherited their parents' love of wine and take advantage of tasting with their club memberships, so nothing new per se
-Many discovered wines via a day of tasting in wine country (we're in the Bay Area)
-Some join wine clubs that send mixed cases

#8 Post by **Doug Schulman** » December 22nd, 2017, 5:10 pm

Adam Z A K K A wrote:In the same vein, but sorta not really, I think Millennials are increasingly going with spirits. Wine is in decline with young people. At least, in my experience running restaurants.

I've seen market research showing the highest percentage of Millennials, by a considerable margin, stating that wine is their alcoholic beverage of choice.

#9 Post by **Doug Schulman** » December 22nd, 2017, 5:19 pm

Some interesting statistics from a quick Google search:

Millennials of legal age, though only representing one-fourth of adults over 21, account for 35 percent of U.S. beer consumption and 32 percent of spirit consumption according to Nielson. The Wine Market Council reports that they consume 42 percent of all wine in the U.S.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2 ... /96790132/

Otto Forsberg · #10 Post by **Otto Forsberg** » January 2nd, 2018, 4:28 am

Benjamin Hand wrote:I'm guilty of being in the aforementioned demographic. My personal ranking would be:

1. Online (wine news, blogs, and message boards)
2. Books/Decanter Magazine
3. Occasionally friends

As a fellow millenial, I second this.

Although I buy a lot of wines just out of curiosity - unknown regions, unknown varieties, a producer that seems interesting (based on short googling / website) etc. I also have a lot of friends who arrange tastings all the time (as do I); this way I get to taste a lot of interesting stuff and find new, interesting wines and producers.

Yao C · #11 Post by **Yao C** » January 20th, 2018, 9:26 pm

I'm a millennial and neither friends nor retail pros had anything to do with my wine discovery. It so happened that I was (still am) hugely into nice restaurants, and visited a couple of places that had some magical wines by the glass (e.g. 2006 Yquem at one place). These wines created some amazing experiences (millennials love experiences!) and ever since then it has been a tireless effort on my part to have further experiences at that level. Having said that, I've introduced many millennials to magic of aged Bordeaux (+Sauternes) over the past few years, so there is definitely something to friendships being a pathway

Nick G A J E W S K I · #12 Post by **Nick G A J E W S K I** » February 2nd, 2018, 1:11 pm

I have an Instagram(http://www.instagram.com/chicago.wine.dude)wine blog and most of the people who follow me are millennials.

My order is below:
1. Social Media
2. Wine Experience(Going to Napa or their local wineries)
3. Dining

#13 Post by **AD Northup** » February 3rd, 2018, 4:48 am

Millennial here. For me:

1. Online
2. Family
3. Friends in the business from previous trips

#14 Post by **mmarcellus** » February 3rd, 2018, 7:40 am

Adam Z A K K A wrote:In the same vein, but sorta not really, I think Millennials are increasingly going with spirits. Wine is in decline with young people. At least, in my experience running restaurants.

I wonder if that's more a function of the choices they have in a restaurant. In many restaurants one can get a cocktail/spirits drink that you wouldn't make at home vs a BTG wine one could have at home (while paying the retail bottle price for that glass) . So they might skew towards spirits in a restaurant whereas they drink more wine at home.

Drew Goin · #15 Post by **Drew Goin** » February 3rd, 2018, 8:45 am

Michael O'Brien wrote:My Millennial finds out about new wines when I supply them to her. She just got several Oregon PNs from me. All new to her. I am still her wine supplier and probably will remain so for some time to come.

DominicRiccitello · #16 Post by **DominicRiccitello** » February 5th, 2018, 1:05 pm

Social media is the biggest one and then friends. Possibly wine subscription boxes, but doubt most subscribe due to costs?

Chris P0niatow$ki · #17 Post by **Chris P0niatow$ki** » March 8th, 2018, 9:02 pm

Wine educated millennial here. To find new wines I usually do research on Google and Youtube to discover new "terroir" that I haven't tried. As for making a decision on what specific producer/bottle to try, I use a combination of Vivino, Wine Searcher, and Cellartracker for more education/information before I make a purchase.

I still haven't tried buying wine online and tend to refrain from trying suggestions unless they are from my trusty wine pimp.

1. Online
2. Wine Pimp
3. Friends

kris_lelis · #18 Post by **kris_lelis** » October 31st, 2018, 1:03 pm

Being a millennial myself I could just add that visiting/living in a wine region can do a lot to your decision making when it comes to discovering new wines to try. Once you have spent a couple of months in Burgundy, Piedmont , Toscany you find our
T very quickly what kind of wines you tend to like and you just go from there

#19 Post by **Christian Obermanns** » November 8th, 2018, 1:01 pm

Another millennial checking in, I recently got into collecting as a hobby after befriending a local winemaker and learning about the process. Since then, I've joined a few maker lists and deal sites (Lastbottle, etc.) and i'm trying wines from as many different regions as possible, picking up a bottle or 2 to put away when I find something I like. For me, the thought of putting something away for 20+ years to enjoy later is a lot of fun. Needless to say, I now have a rapidly expanding off-site storage locker.

Steve Crawford · #20 Post by **Steve Crawford** » November 19th, 2018, 1:30 pm

i am a millennial, but not a proud one. i have a cellar with around 200 bottles. i've been into wine long enough to really be done exploring regions or going into stores to shop. i like instagram to follow people whose taste is similar to that of mine. trying out wines these people have opened and enjoyed have which i am not yet aware of is enjoyable to me.

#21 Post by **RichardFlack** » November 19th, 2018, 4:50 pm

Adam Z A K K A wrote: ↑
December 5th, 2017, 9:12 am
In the same vein, but sorta not really, I think Millennials are increasingly going with spirits. Wine is in decline with young people. At least, in my experience running restaurants.

Spirits or Cocktails?

...

The general issue is one that our wine club Board has been chewing on. I’ll post more when I’ve read the rest of the thread.

#22 Post by **RichardFlack** » November 19th, 2018, 4:55 pm

While I digest this ...
Millenials posting here are a biased sample of millennial wine enthusiasts.
(Ok I know, everyone here is a biased sample of wine enthusiasts generally).

#23 Post by **RichardFlack** » November 19th, 2018, 4:58 pm

FrankPy wrote: ↑
April 1st, 2015, 2:27 pm
What do you think are some of the top ways Millennials find out about new wines? Same ways as Boomers and everybody else?

I'm thinking they learn about new wines they may want to try maybe in this order:

1. Friends
2. Retail pros
3. Online or Social Media

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank

Are you enquiring about
- millenials in general
- millenial wine enthusiasts
- millenial Wineberserkers

I’m assuming it’s the 2nd category?

#24 Post by **Siun o'Connell** » November 19th, 2018, 9:57 pm

I work in a coworking space with almost all millennials and there's a weekly happy hour every Thursday. The space puts out a ton of craft beer and a measly selection of wines - sometimes just a bland white and red, other times they may toss in a rose. I keep a stash at the office and open bottles for coworkers who are into or at least interested in wine relatively often but thats 3-4 out of ... a lot. But! about every other month the happy hour is hosted by yet another millennial targeting wine club with young earnest staff and bottles ... of drek. I try not to be obnoxious by pouring it out where they can see but good lord, I've rarely tasted so much bad wine ... these are not folks considering aging or even decanting and the stuff that gets poured is sooooo young it's crazy. The club model clearly has a lot of appeal and those hosts seem to get a lot of signups but it would be so lovely if someone launched a club with some quality options.

James.P.OSullivan · #25 Post by **James.P.OSullivan** » January 6th, 2019, 7:00 pm

I fall into this cohort, for me Instagram is a big one. I have Instagram page;

https://www.instagram.com/winestablished/

where I share wines and tasting notes as well as follow some great wine enthusiast. It's quite practical as there as you see the wine label/bottle, wine in the glass and tasting notes helps me identify new wines to try.

The other is decanter magazine for example (I have a subscription).

The best for last, going to the wine stores and wine bars and talking with the staff!

Phil J. · #26 Post by **Phil J.** » January 6th, 2019, 9:08 pm

I’m in the group:

1. Online
2. In store, and only because I have a top notch wine store nearby

J. Rock · #27 Post by **J. Rock** » March 12th, 2019, 5:22 pm

I am one and:

0. Friends got me into wine and show wines I haven't had, but now that I've been bitten by the wine bug the place where I most commonly find out about new wine is:
1. Internet (Reddit, this forum, Vivino, CellarTracker, online mags and general internet research)
2. Wine shops (asking for recommendations)

#28 Post by **Michael O'Brien** » March 17th, 2019, 10:14 am

My Millennial sent me a text yesterday to ask me if I have had biodynamic/natural wine. She said it is all the rage with Millennials. She lives in Millennial heaven -- Austin, TX. It is clear that neither she nor most of her friends know what either biodynamic or natural wines are. She mentioned Anders Frederik Steen and his "Let's Eat the World We Want to Live In" wine. I will admit that his wines have some catchy names especially to attract Millennials. What I am not certain of is how the news spreads. Word of mouth I suppose. Millennials also seem to think that this biodynamic and natural wine thing (they don't know the difference) is something new.

Clearly someone is finding a way to market to Millennials. This suggests to me that Millennials as a group are far more concerned about what they eat, drink, buy than previous generations. My take from that is that producers of all kinds of goods will be dragged kicking and screaming into producing more eco-conscious products. It also suggests that messaging will have to change if producers want to capture the Millennial market.

#29 Post by **Jay Miller** » March 17th, 2019, 3:01 pm

Michael O'Brien wrote: ↑
March 17th, 2019, 10:14 am
My Millennial sent me a text yesterday to ask me if I have had biodynamic/natural wine. She said it is all the rage with Millennials. She lives in Millennial heaven -- Austin, TX. It is clear that neither she nor most of her friends know what either biodynamic or natural wines are. She mentioned Anders Frederik Steen and his "Let's Eat the World We Want to Live In" wine. I will admit that his wines have some catchy names especially to attract Millennials. What I am not certain of is how the news spreads. Word of mouth I suppose. Millennials also seem to think that this biodynamic and natural wine thing (they don't know the difference) is something new.

Clearly someone is finding a way to market to Millennials. This suggests to me that Millennials as a group are far more concerned about what they eat, drink, buy than previous generations. My take from that is that producers of all kinds of goods will be dragged kicking and screaming into producing more eco-conscious products. It also suggests that messaging will have to change if producers want to capture the Millennial market.

Oh, the marketing is already happening in all sorts of areas. Just as in the late 90s everyone was adding . or i to their names now everything has an endearing story of being founded by immigrants or being based on an old family recipe or being "organic" (based on the incredibly loose and virtually meaningless federal standards), gluten free (I roll my eyes every time I see a bag of rice labeled gluten free) or non-GMO (a virtually meaningless pronouncement). I almost lost it when I saw a Ragu TV commercial for their spaghetti sauce (one of the most revolting, large scale commercial products out there) focusing on how their product was all about authenticity and the Italian immigrant grandmother who rounded it. Natural wine has gone from a niche market to a huge thing where the quality of the wine (something that attracted to me many of the early natural or naturalish producers) is irrelevant so long as it's labeled "natural".

But the sad thing is, it works.

#30 Post by **Michael O'Brien** » March 17th, 2019, 4:08 pm

I agree Jay. The marketing is heading that way. There are a lot of articles published about marketing wine to millennials. In the long haul, marketing won't be enough. Millennials will figure out when the message is not borne out by the product.

Josh Espinosa · #31 Post by **Josh Espinosa** » April 23rd, 2019, 5:33 pm

I am within that the demographic and I’d nail it down to three areas:

1) Word of Mouth (Instagram, friends)
2) Wine Searcher App
3) Critics

Millennials are a tough crowd to please giving their need and speed for things to fulfill what they want there and now vs waiting for something to mature and evolve over time. My thought and concern is that whether the older collectors and baby boomers notice or not is that they are purchasing more and consuming much less per week. This begs the question, what age group will shore up the sales in that area once the older demo is phased out? Just a thought