I didn’t have any money when I was younger, and surely did not drink refined wine, but that didn’t stop me from exploring wine or exploring other beverages in what I felt was more responsible and sophisticated than just getting fk up with a cheap bottle of Vodka. I’m all for the younger generation having career options etc…will just leave it at that.
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I have a sister that lives with me. She used to buy 2-3 bottles of relatively cheap white wine, $10-13 a bottle, every time she went to the grocery store. Hit and miss on liking them. I finally got her into the boxed Pinot Grigio from Kirkland, about $14 here in WA, probably a couple bucks cheaper elsewhere. $3.50 a bottle equivalent, stays fresh, decent tasting.
If producers started putting more of this surplus wine we hear about in more innovative consumer friendly packaging and charging $15-25 a box, they would have a competitive product to go against White Claw, etc.
I can write the ad copy now - “Tastes better and has as much alcohol as the $10 bottle of 40% rot gut you’ve been drinking.”
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Keyword: when you were younger. It’s different now. People can’t afford healthcare premiums now let alone affording wine. Young people don’t explore wine when they are drown in economic uncertainty and bills.
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It’s 4 bucks chuck now, my point still stand.
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Maybe it was implied but obviously only a percentage may convert to an “enthusiast” and even then there is a spectrum of enthusiasts (only a very small percentage of those become berserkers).
I’m just going based on my experiences and enjoy the reading the different perspectives. My wife and I are in our early 40s but both the oldest in our immediate and extended families. None of our siblings/cousins (mid 20s-late 30s) even think of ordering wine or have any bottles at home. Why? The cost and the experience/knowledge needed (whether real or perceived) to understand preferences relative to other options. If the wine industry wants to grow (stay flat?), they need to find a way to make it more accessible to younger people.
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Damn inflation. But generally wine has been the cheapest way to get drunk. At least in Europe most of the real drunkards used to drink wine, often fortified, because it has the best bang for the buck.
Chuck, they invented chasers to make that $10 alcohol taste good.
This is a great analogy. We’re all thinking, “if we play them the right Ornette Coleman track they’ll finally get it.”
I wish it was different as well, but I think we’re in a hobby that is waning in popularity for many reasons. Most of us want to focus on the supply side (ie, we need better inexpensive wine choices to attract people) instead of demand side (an increasing amount of people just aren’t interested in wine regardless of the choices).
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In America 2 shots of $8.99 Smirnoff will get you drunk faster and cheaper than 4 bucks chuck.
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And those who have money to buy wine can’t singlehandedly save the dwindling wine business.
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A wine list is a minefield for the average consumer. Why would a casual or even novice want to roll the dice at your average wine list at not so tempting prices?
When you order a beer or cocktail we all know the flavor profile to expect anywhere but taking a crack at a wine list is a crapshoot, some times even for people like us. We might be willing to take that risk for the “experience” but most people I know have zero interest in rolling the dice or getting into the conversation.
Understandably There are just too many variables in wine at restaurant and even retail pricing for folks to try something new. Vintages, regions, sweetness, tannin, density, oak ect ect ect. It’s really no wonder at many places why we see the same corporate stuff. Some people will pay the price if they know what they are getting.
Maybe offering a super simplified list with an offer to taste 1/2 oz of a couple of wines might help. Just streamline and super curate it for the average person and bring out the bottle list for those that inquire. We look at the variety as a feature, but I think many see it as a bug.
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It’s actually pretty close. Standard bottle of wine has around 10 units of alcohol, bottle of vodka is 30. So 3 $3 bottles of wine has the same amount of alcohol as a $9 bottle of vodka. Real professionals know that wine (and especially fortified wine) has a more “ideal” absorption rate than vodka does. That’s why in Europe they tend to drink $3-4 bottles of fortified wine. Best bang per buck.
But I don’t think these people are the ones driving wine consumption to either way 
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Until economic situation improves and for some magical reasons that trillions of dollars held by boomer generation start trickling down to the younger generations, wine industry will not see better economic outcomes.
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Btw Smirnoff is a nicer vodka. You can buy 1.75L of Siberian ice for $12. Popov is another cheaper one.
Everclear 190 is like $17 for a 1.75L, it’s what the college kids use in BORGs (probably diluted to 20% abv or so, and mixed with mio energy). I see a lot of them in our ER 
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I believe it’s $4 now
Yes, it is.
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I’m giving examples of marketing lines, not of facts. The idea here is to change the perception of wine in younger people, that can go a long way as that generation grows up.
nobody in financial destitute has hobbies of any kind. Your life is about survival, period. I sadly know this first hand.
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There is one major elephant in the room that is scaring most people off wine.
Restaurant markups.
It’s downright silly to purchase an $80 bottle of a Sancerre (for example) that you know retails for $25.00 and costs the restaurants $15.00.
Restaurants need to make their money by the glass. And use an escalating markup program to lure in customers. Essentially the higher priced wines should be the LEAST marked up. A red Bordeaux or Napa Cabernet that costs $80 a bottle should be on the list for $160.00, not $320.00. The way it is now, 75% of the wine on nice wine lists become museum pieces. They just sit there collecting dust. Make it affordable to purchase wine in a restaurant and this will revitalize the wine and restaurant industry.
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I agree with you 100% this is a huge barrier as many people are introduced to new wines while dining out. Ive purchased wines traveling abroad for $35 -$45 that are listing on wine lists in the US for $300+. I understand the restraunt needs more than standard margin but we need to find a middle ground and get more bottles on the table.
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Smart restaurants have been doing this forever.
In the late 70s I worked at what was the top French restaurant in DC, Le Lion d’Or. The chef-owner wanted to sell wine. Markups started at 4x cost (2.67x retail). I don’t remember where he set the price breaks, but the mid level was 3x cost (2x retail) and the top level was 2x cost (1.33x retail). If a Grand Cru Burgundy was $100 retail, nobody interested was balking at paying $135 in the restaurant.
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