Should Wineberserkers Try to Attract Younger Members?

By younger members do you mean under 55?

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I know this isn’t the book, but a subscription to Somm TV has taught me a lot. Tons of great content that you can stream from tv/computer/phone.

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Vint just posted a podcast episode where they interviewed a Gen Z woman who started a brand to help introduce the younger generation to wine. She had a past life working for Red Bull in their marketing department. Interesting discussion.

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I just listened to this coming back home from NYC.

I enjoyed it a lot. ā€œBlends are easier to understandā€ I was like :thinking: THAT’S NOT… wait, I’m being a boomer. I definitely had a knee jerk reaction, but all my years in wine retail I do feel like that is true.

I’ve had that interaction so many times of:

What do you want?
ā€œRed Blendā€
Any regions or style?
ā€œNoā€
What do you normally drink? Are you looking for something smooth or sweet? Perhaps, you’re looking for something robust and richer?

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A couple of threads younger wine drinkers on a budget should read.

And, the best advice anyone has posted here is find others in your area and create a wine tasting group.

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This was a really great thread to start the year off! As a result of this thread I resolved to do more events this year to help foster a sense of community and to encourage more new / younger participants. I started off with a quick post Rieslingfeier event at Roberta’s that was absolutely perfect. We had approximately 50 people, it was super affordable and there was great, really great wine and I learned that 71 TBA and Roberta’s Bee Sting Pizza is one of the greatest food and wine pairings in the world!

In this vain I have just announced my next Rieslingstudy at PdV Wine Bar on Sunday, April 6th from (2-6, doors open at 1). PdV is the wine bar of NYC Food and Wine couple Max McKinnon who was formerly Head Chef / Partner of acclaimed french restaurant Libertine. Chef Max also knows wine as he did a stint as a sommelier. His partner Carenn worked at Frenchette and Le Rock amongst other top restaurants.

Max and Carenn agreed to host a Rieslingstudy in the PdV Garden and for the first time ever serve Schnitzel sandwiches!

I will be bringing a bunch of old, rare and large format bottles from my cellar and you get four glasses of wine selected by Carenn for ~$100 all in. I think it is a great deal. It is a delicate balance to make these as affordable as possible whilst making sure the restaurant does ok financially.

To be clear - I don’t make any money on these, subsidize the costs and bring lots of wine!

If any one has questions please send me a DM.

We announced this yesterday afternoon and it is almost sold out so I did want to make sure everyone here saw it because I was so inspired by the outpouring of responses to this thread - I think we all need human interaction, community and riesling and schnitzel in this insane world!

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We had a lot of fun at our noreetuh event; I’ll probably try to do these a couple times a year. The food and service are phenomenal and it’s always a good time if a little cramped with 20 ppl.

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I was so bummed to miss that. I will do everything I can to make your next event. Thank you for taking the time to organize them.

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That sounds fantastic, looking foreard to a Denver event some day…

It’s the very issue of mass market versus ā€˜fine’ that should be put into question. Corporate ownership of many fine wine holdings speak to how the relationship between the two is complicated. From my personal experience with them, people in their twenties seem quite clued into this.

WBs celebrate smaller winemaking ventures, which is great. Occasionally, they make ā€˜fine’ wine relatable and question hierarchies of fineness, for example, with this thread:

https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/2021-chateau-pegau-cotes-du-rhone-cuvee-maclura-20-bucks-of-wow/326022?u=tkazi

I’m a Gen-Xer with a preexisting wine interest. Others will no doubt know more about how to attract young people. But I think wine’s innate sociability is its greatest draw. Keep sharing your bottles of 30+ year old wine!

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