Spirits or Cocktails?
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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.
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).
Are you enquiring about
- millenials in general
- millenial wine enthusiasts
- millenial Wineberserkers
I’m assuming it’s the 2nd category?
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.
I fall into this cohort, for me Instagram is a big one. I have Instagram page;
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!
I’m in the group:
- Online
- In store, and only because I have a top notch wine store nearby
I am one and:
- 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:
- Internet (Reddit, this forum, Vivino, CellarTracker, online mags and general internet research)
- Wine shops (asking for recommendations)
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.
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.
I am within that the demographic and I’d nail it down to three areas:
- Word of Mouth (Instagram, friends)
- Wine Searcher App
- 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
I am 29 and I’ve been collecting for 5 years. I’ve received my knowledge from my family who drinks wine. Then I follow wine enthusiast on Instagram. I’ve always had a strong knowledge on 1st growth Bordeaux, but I seek out other vineyards through social media. I also have an Instagram where i post the wines a purchase.
Did Boomers buy wine at the same ages as Millennials are now? The oldest Millennial is 38 using the 1982-1996 generation boundaries, which I think is the normal way to do it. Were the older folks in this forum collecting wine at 32? I often wonder if it’s not a problem, but many Millennials aren’t maybe quite there from a money and life stage yet? Then Gen X is a bit smaller so it creates a dip in wine buying that may come back in future years.
Let’s not blame it all on White Claw
Disclaimer: I qualify as a Millennial.
I’m on the older side of the Millennial generation boundaries and I would say my primary method is through 1) older friends/clients word of mouth and 2) social media (primarily deals with volume discounting and free shipping).
I don’t pay much as much attention to critic scores but trusting some of my older friends that have had more experience with wine. I will agree with Matthew above in that my friends that are more my contemporaries in age are only beginning to more heavily get into wine and is primarily a function of money and where they are at now with their careers. I still find it difficult to do wine tastings with my contemporaries as craft beers get more of their attention with beer tasting gatherings occurring quite frequently.
Only five years ago, we were primarily drinking beers and taking shots of tequila, but now we are gravitating towards higher-priced whiskies and wines.
According to current & prior Silicon Valley Bank ‘State of the Wine Union Address’ (almost their name): in 2012, 24-34 year olds were 14% of wine purchasing…the current report has millennials (23-38 yo) as 17%. So, if you believe those numbers, millennials are buying more than the prior blended group of gen-x+millennials.
“OK Boomer” here. I’ve been fairly serious about wine since I was 18.
You and my youngest daughter but that only makes two. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Many of my friends are still very into gin/tonic - craft beer and when they are starting getting more into wine most of them are looking for natural wines. However many average restaurant / winebar / sommelier are promoting natural wines.
I am getting my information most of the time from magazines, (pro)reviews, online, wine-searcher, forums and Instagram.
Similar to Bas_vm, most of my millennial friends prefer hard alcohol or beer. The few that have gotten into wine tend to engage through social media (Instagram) or recommendations from celebrities they align with (going to places that Eric Wareheim and Amy Schumer recommend, for example). I would say 90% of my friends who have proactively taken an interest in wine just opt for places like Scribe, Sophie James, and Ashes & Diamonds. IMO focusing more on the “social experience” and shareable aspects of a winery (Instagram friendly) with the wines themselves taking a secondary priority in their decision making process.
Most of my knowledge to date has come through trial/error and then proactively seeking resources (I’ll Drink to That, Jon Bonne’s New California Wine, Wine Bible, Burghound, Prince of Pinot, etc.) to understand more about why I liked a particular wine. Looking forward to reading a few more books on specific regions and of course scouring this forum for a wealth of knowledge.
My youngest and her husband moved from beer, to mezcal and tequila because that was what many of their friends were drinking. Living in Texas helps that along. But she is also interested in wine largely because I started to train her when she was young to smell and taste. I even used a Le Nez du Vin to help her understand aromas. She also traveled to Europe with us when she was much younger, went to a French school from age 3 to 14, and she and her husband travel to Europe frequently now as well. In other words, wine has been a part of her cultural experience for a long time. It doesn’t hurt that I supply the wine 
I have been a little dismayed recently because she and her friends have been caught up by the “Natty” wine movement without understanding what is is. Natty or Natural have become marketing terms that are used to convey meaning and quality when the terms have no agreed meaning. The promise is enough to entice young wine lovers with little experience to drink wine that isn’t well made. We all know there are excellent wines made with minimal intervention that have been around for decades now. But once marketing gets hold of an idea, you just have to let it burn out. As young wine drinkers continue to taste, their tastes like ours will evolve. I have hope.