Why do young people tend to shy away from wine?

[D_o_u_g_P_a_b_s_t]

I’m on the younger end of the spectrum myself (28) and see two main factors at play here.

1. Lack of a true wine culture in the US. Most people in this country grow up without experiencing wine as a normal, standard part of the dining experience or everyday life. There isn’t a strong kinship with the locally-produced wines of whatever region they’re in. Nobody walks down the block to fill up their bottles at the local co-op. Wine isn’t a typical topic of conversation. American drinking culture is really more about beer, cocktails, and liquor (usually but not always whiskey). In other words, because wine is out of the ordinary, there are barriers to experiencing it and learning about it. You have to expend the effort to find information on interesting wines (beyond the generic stuff in the grocery store) and go to additional effort to buy them. I think there are plenty of younger people who might potentially be interested in wine, but what are the chances that they’re going to run across a triggering experience in their everyday lives?

2. Cost. There’s no way around it, wine is expensive. So buying a decent bottle is a relatively significant purchasing decision. Plenty of younger people have money that they could potentially spend on wine, but I think they mainly choose to spend on other things for the reasons in 1) above. I actually got interested in wine at 23 and tried to learn everything I could through low-priced bottles, because of the cost issue, and only started buying better stuff over the last few years. And cost is still a factor.

[Phillip_Cobb]

For most young folks “good” is good enough to still be considered worthwhile, even if it’s that $9 from a glass from a $7 retail bottle. I know plenty of 20/early 30somethings that keep a $10 grocery store bottle in the fridge to unwind with a glass or two after work and will order from a restaurant list, but drink anything geeky/different/“better” in a passive, uninterested manner. Many of these folks have even made jaunts to Napa & hopped around tasting rooms, but those splurges & deeper interest are isolated to vacation trips. I think it’s difficult to garner enough exposure to “great” wine to notice & thus justify the cost. The high end of craft beer & dining tend to be more noticeably different than the norm, more accessible, and get dollars prioritized to them. I would say most are interested, but unengaged.

On the whole I would not agree that young people “tend to shy away” from wine, but I would place wine in the backseat of trendiness while craft beer is driving & food culture is riding shotgun–it’s there, taking a ride, but not the focus.

@J. Singleton

@Joe B

Because nobody plays quarters while drinking wine.

Or Beer Pong, or Flip cup.

False.

@Matt Latuchie

hey charlie - we should see if todd can open a “wine drinkers in their 30s” subgroup!

How about under 30?

[CFu]

sorry if you’re under 30 you’re not old enough for your own subgroup.

[Roberto_Rogness]

Fourteen or Fight from Wild in the Streets (1968}

And, yes, that’s Richard Pryor on drums…

[Mark_B]

@C Fu

sorry if you’re under 30 you’re not old enough for your own subgroup.

[dougwilder]

If possible, make it accessible and non judgmental. Not everyone is the same. Start off by giving them choices. I have lavished the girl’s 30-ish cousins with a variety of things that are open when we get together and they ask good questions and enjoy it.

[Scott_Tallman]

@Tran Bronstein

• Maturity – and this is mutually exclusive of age. I find that more mature people tend to be into wine and immature people into beer.

I agree with most of your post, but this is nonsense. I assume you are speaking anecdotally, but still.

As you noted, who cares why young people (or any people for that matter) like wine, beer, etc.? Enjoy what you like. Non-wine geeks likely aren’t wondering why anyone is so interested in wine.

[CFu]

@Scott Tallman

@Tran Bronstein

• Maturity – and this is mutually exclusive of age. I find that more mature people tend to be into wine and immature people into beer.

I agree with most of your post, but this is nonsense. I assume you are speaking anecdotally, but still.

As you noted, who cares why young people (or any people for that matter) like wine, beer, etc.? Enjoy what you like. Non-wine geeks likely aren’t wondering why anyone is so interested in wine.

tons of immature old people on this forum

[A_Free]

It sounds like I’m one of those oddities. I’m about to turn 30 and all through college I was the weird guy dragging my friends to the weekly wine tasting at one nearby shop. Some continued going with me, others had “something to do” on those future Wednesday nights. I grew up in a house where we always had wine and my dad is a big fan of the classic “business dinner Cabs.” That got me started and I had a meager cellar (30+ bottles) going as a student before a Iron Bowl party gone wrong had me watching the cops poor out every bottle of wine and liquor I had collected.

As others have mentioned I think cost really is the biggest barrier to the younger but interested crowd. I know it’s been a shock to my wife just how expensive some of the really good wines are, but its even wilder when we’re out to dinner and she sees the restaurant price of bottles we have. She still sometimes struggles with the case of wine showing up that cost as much as that pair of Louboutin heels she wants, but she’s getting better and our first trip to Napa in April really changed her world.

When we put it in perspective, we are really living in a culture of materialism and unfortunately wine is just not that easy to show off to the uniformed. (Unless its Cristal) Craft beer isn’t expensive enough to need to show off and aged Scotch and small batch bourbon are far more mainstream. I say this after living and experiencing my generation’s excessive need to “keep up” in Uptown Dallas’ see and be seen lifestyle. Spending $1k+ on a case of wine really doesn’t fit in to a lifestyle of “needing” the latest clothes, jewelry, car, etc.

[Eric_Ifune]

I was lucky and started very young, in my late teens, because my father was into wine. The great advantage was fine wine was relatively cheap back then. I celebrated my 21st birthday by buying my first full case of wine, 1978 Leoville Barton. It was less than $100 for the case. I spent most of my disposable income on wine. I still have the price tags on many of the wines I bought back then. High end Barolo for $12. Hermitage for $15. JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese was $9/bottle. I distinctly remember half bottles of 1975 d’Yquem for $25. You can’t build up such a collection these days because of the prices.

[Albert_R]

I started in my 20’s but it was cheap wine. A treat for my wife and I was a $5-6 bottle of Columbia Crest. LOL!!!

[RyanC]

Very interesting thread. This is an issue that’s really interesting and important to me, largely for selfish reasons. The best part of wine is sharing it with people you care about. I’m blessed to have a wife who loves good wine as much as I do. But we throw a lot of dinner parties for friends, and it would make me really happy if any of them had more than a passing interest in wine. I open nice bottles regardless, but it would be great to have peers with whom I could share good wine, and I’d love it if people brought interesting and good bottles when they came to dinner. I’ve met nice people on this board, for sure, but in terms of friends from work, the neighborhood, college, law school, etc., no one is bringing over interesting wines when they come to dinner, and no one has any interest in paying the sort of money it takes to drink great bottles (even though many of my friends make more money than I do). It’s also better for all of us if more and more young folks become interested in and support the small, artisan winemakers we love. I’ve tried to get my friends started – opening good bottles, telling them to have Chambers Street make them a case of wine, etc. – and no one has really caught the bug. Perhaps as I get a bit older, more of them will. Maybe my cellar just has a head start.

[Tran_Bronstein]

@Scott Tallman

@Tran Bronstein

• Maturity – and this is mutually exclusive of age. I find that more mature people tend to be into wine and immature people into beer.

I agree with most of your post, but this is nonsense. I assume you are speaking anecdotally, but still.

As you noted, who cares why young people (or any people for that matter) like wine, beer, etc.? Enjoy what you like. Non-wine geeks likely aren’t wondering why anyone is so interested in wine.

Yes, I was speaking anecdotally. Sorry, I thought that was clear. In no way was I insulting or at least not intending to insult all those who like beer as immature. Many people on this board love beer and from their posts in the Beer & Spirits forum I would definitely qualify them as mature.

[Nolan_E]

@Ryan Caughey

Cost, impenetrability, and snob image. I’m 31 years old and I have one friend who is a wine enthusiast, and maybe a couple more who have a passing interest. Many of my friends think of themselves as restaurant/cooking/food aficionados. The harsh truth is that it takes time and money to become serious about wine, and both of those are in short supply among all people, but especially young people.

In the 3 years my location said ‘Houston’ you never thought to reach out to me…hope you’re not complaining

[RyanC]

@Nolan E

@Ryan Caughey

Cost, impenetrability, and snob image. I’m 31 years old and I have one friend who is a wine enthusiast, and maybe a couple more who have a passing interest. Many of my friends think of themselves as restaurant/cooking/food aficionados. The harsh truth is that it takes time and money to become serious about wine, and both of those are in short supply among all people, but especially young people.

In the 3 years my location said ‘Houston’ you never thought to reach out to me…hope you’re not complaining

That’s fair enough! My biggest issue now is lack of time, with a 60-70 hr/wk job and a 16-month old daughter.

[JYoung]

Just speaking anecdotally, I am 28 and most of my friends are into wine. They aren’t necessarily on a ton of wine lists or aging a cellar full of wines, as many do on this board. But, we have a weekly dinner together and usually open 5 or 6 bottles each time; two friends just honeymooned in Napa; and another couple just got married at a winery. And those are just a few examples that come quickly to mind. I suspect there is a lot of demographic/geographic variability at play here, even within the age bracket.

Of course, none of this is to say that we don’t drink our share of beer or spirits. Hurray for young livers

[Brian_Heslop]

I was raised mormon so I didn’t really associate with anyone that drank wine until I was 26 so I can’t really speak as a normal young person. But, as a person who was a complete alcohol virgin, I found wine far harder to crack than beer. If I were not as bloody minded as I was to understand it as a chef then I doubt I would be enjoying it the way I do now. My wife still can’t drink red wine for the most part, for white she enjoys Riesling and the odd Chardonnay.

I think tannin and acid are two tricky tastes to acquire.

[Frank_Drew]

@Brian Heslop

I think tannin and acid are two tricky tastes to acquire.

Brian,

I think that’s probably right, but getting to like (and, in fact, want) acidity is a key to enjoying many of the best wines.

[Nolan_E]

Tannin and acid? What about hops and sour/funk/brett/whatever…

[Mark_B]

@Nolan E

Tannin and acid? What about hops and sour/funk/brett/whatever…

true dat