They use hops in Bud Light?
It’s cause of beer & cocktails folks…
It has been interesting to read through the comments here, so I thought I’d offer some comments from afar (Australia).
I started drinking wine pretty early - maybe as soon as I turned 18. In my early 20s I had a hospitality job where I got to taste a fair bit and learnt a lot doing it. Right now, I probably drink as much beer as I do wine, but 5 years ago I would have been consuming more wine.
So here are some of the things I think that make a difference…
culture - If your parents had a culture drinking wine, that probably rubs off whether you realize it or not
The drinking age is a factor. Most of the rest of the wine drinking world , for better or for worse, has 3+ year head start. Many in places like France, Italy or Spain are probably introducing wine as part of an overall eating culture at an early age. While I’m sure many start drinking earlier, wine isn’t that user friendly for covert drinking.
Exposure - I’m not sure how it works out in the US, but in Australia I’d say 95% of the population live within a couple of hours drive of at least 1 wine region so it is pretty easy to go explore if you are remotely interested. I live in Melbourne and there are 8 different regions within a 2 hr drive from the middle of the city. It is pretty much impossible to drive anywhere without going through a wine region.
Beer - I think this a huge factor. The US craft beer movement is the most evolved in the world, with quality breweries producing a huge spectrum of flavors at pretty reasonable cost. The rest of the world is only just getting on this band wagon now and are probably at least 10 to 15 years behind in development. Even in Melbourne, I can go buy brands like Deschutes, Founders or Sierra Nevada for about the same price as local craft beer, so it has to be cheap in the US. 20 years ago when I first started drinking wine, we hadn’t dreamed of those beer options.
To a certain extent, that same thing is happening with artisanal spirits, which is in turn driving the cocktail movement.
you’re mean. ![[cry.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
cost. beer is cheap. even good beer is cheap relative to wine.
formality. wine is generally perceived as a more ‘formal’ drink. If the wine is good then why not have stems…and food…and cloth napkins…etc.
Young folks just want to have fun. Grab bottle, twist or pull, drink from same. So maybe ‘portability’ and ‘individually bottled portions’ have something to do with it.
I’m seeing a common thread here…young people either have a mentor or group of friends who are noodling around in wine. Even if you’re poured a glass of great wine, if you’re not used to higher tannins/acidity, it still may not be “good” to you right away. I know it took my wife awhile to get used to those things and it was the constant “try this one” from me that did it. Without my (for lack of better word) badgering, she probably still wouldn’t drink wine besides the random grocery store Riesling.
I don’t know, I’ve seen and heard about this going on even in the world’s great wine regions. I remember having lunch with the proprietors of a well-regarded château in Margaux a year or two ago where they lamented that their kids were more interested in going to clubs and drinking flavored vodkas than they were in raiding the château’s cellars. This is anecdotal, of course, but I’ve heard similar stories elsewhere.
For what its worth, I’m 32 and got my start in wine, like many others, in restaurants during my teenage years. I started relatively low-end, in what was basically a fancy diner with a 25-bottle list - 25 all for $25! - which at that time meant things like Fat Bastard Chardonnay, Louis Bernard Côtes du Rhône, KJ Riesling, and what I remember to be the best seller of all, Wishing Tree Shiraz. Those aren’t wines I sell now - and I don’t think I have tasted any of them in at least a decade - but as so many others have said in this thread: you have to start somewhere.
Are we saying to be into wine you need to a) be drinking expensive bottles and b) be collecting bottles?
If the answer is yes I get the impression most “young” people are not into wine.
If we are saying to be into wine you need to be enjoying wine with friends and family either at a bar, at home, or in a restaurant - young people are into wine more than ever before…
Agreed
+2.
Buying and collecting cellarable wine takes money, something that is in short supply with a lot of young people.
But a glass or cheap bottle here and there is no big deal. You can still enjoy wine and not be super geeky about it.
Word. My daughter just turned 21, and is interested in wine. She and her house mates drink wine at college, but mostly white. Acquiring a tolerance and appreciation for tannin and acid is definitely something that has to be worked on for many novices.
I’m curious to know what others’ experiences have been with offering their wines to young people who have limited experience with wine. I personally try to make the experience as casual and relaxed as possible. When I open something for friends, I’ll briefly explain where the wine comes from, what grape(s) it consists of, and what style of wine it is – e.g. dry, semi-sweet, dessert, etc. More often than not, they never proceed to ask further questions. I’ll get the occasional “this is good”, but never an “ooh, where can I find this?”. Unsurprisingly, when I happen to reconvene with said friends, they are back to their beers and hard ciders.
it’s cause you made it boring. If they like it, they’ll ask for more info.
I’m 44, so I’m not young, but I feel young, so I’ll post a response. I moved back to beer as my beverage hobby of choice due to cost. I have two small children, 6 & 5, that in order to continue living in the city, we opted for private school. Also, we are saving for their higher education. It wasn’t sustainable to stay on mailing lists, buy Burgundy etc.
As craft beer has really taken off, here in Seattle we have places like the Fremont urban beer garden have opened. You can bring your kids( they have toys) dogs, food trucks are outside, or you can bring your own. The atmosphere is great & I’m probably in the oldest 2% of the crowd most days.
Wineries don’t do stuff like this. They want you to buy bottles. The atmosphere isn’t as accessible for younger people on a budget. If a brewery makes a special release, it is often promoted via social media rather than e-mail & will mostly be in the $15-$20 range which makes it easier for a younger person to take advantage of.
Not to say that younger people aren’t into wine, but I think breweries do a much better job reaching out to that demographic.
You’re right. I should’ve attached a sparkler to the bottle neck and paraded it around before opening.
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
no seriously. If you start talking about style, grape, where it’s from , there’s a reason they don’t ask further questions. They weren’t paying attention. I’ve learned already to not bother explaining it and just let them enjoy the wine. If they enjoy it they’ll ask more about the wine.
Otherwise they probably really aren’t enjoying the wine.
If someone cracked a beer for you & gave you a high level description that it was a West Coast style IPA w/ Citra & Amarillo hops in the boil & then an additional dry hopping with more citra & mosaic. Only 2 row pale malts & it differs from typical East coast & English IPA due to that dry hopping. Would you ask a bunch of questions or be drinking beer next time you saw them?
Are they coming to your house for a dinner party and to hang out or are they coming for you to teach them about wine?
I think a number of key points have been made and what I observe are… For young people I think their drinking preferences and determined generally when they are out in bars and restaurants and then it carries over quite a bit at home or at the home of friends and so I will focus on restaurants …
(1). Wine is not “fun” in the way beer and cocktails are - because the new and hip cocktail lists are “fun” and restaurants are focusing on great craft beer in a way they never have (or perhaps could not) focus on wine and so beer is also “fun” - wine is a more serious beverage at a higher price that you have to be “into” far more to find it “fun” and given most restaurant selections and pricing it would be hard to find wine fun, even for those of us who are the most predisposed to it.
(2). Wine is more expensive and horrible QPR compared to beer and cocktails. Notwithstanding the higher “markup” on beer and cocktails, in a restaurant it isn’t a problem to find terrific beer at $6-8 a bottle for a top beer and it isn’t a problem to find a fun and delicious cocktail for $8-12. But, at the very same places that are offering customers great beer and cocktails for $6-12, the wine list is filled with mediocre glass pours starting at $10-12 and often now around $15 and the list is filled with wines that could be decent QPR at their retail price but at 3x are no more than satisfying. If someone likes beer and is faced with an incredible list of beers that are well known for being among the best for $6-12 and then faced with a wine list of unknowns and mediocre bottlings for a lot more, it seems like the choice is a no brainer for the average customer.
(3). Greater divergence of preferences for drinks among a table of 4 or 6 people in their 20s or even 30s than older - to order a bottle of wine there needs to be some sort of consensus. Even when I go out with a bunch of non-wine folks who are older and order wine for the table there are still those that order beer or a diet soda or cocktail and drink that instead. I think it is even more prevalent among younger people, particularly because of (1) and (2) above. I was talking wiith my sister a few weeks ago about a dinner she was throwing (over 40yr old attendees) and giving her advice on wines - she ended up not opening half the slated bottles because so many people were interested in mixed drinks before and during dinner and after dinner drinks after dinner - the champagne was finished but almost nothing else that got opened.
I am not sure how much of it is really cost. I am on the other side of this age discussion (59) but I remember when I was young and buying 1982 Bordeaux futures - wines like Gloria for $70 a case, Leoville las Cases for $150 per case. Wines were really cheap.
And, it was not as if everyone was going out and buying these wines. Most people still drank beer and mixed drinks. And today, certainly many of the classics are expensive, but there are a lot of really good wines for $20 or less (a number of threads on this point).
I think that there is a certain learning curve to wine. And, for most people it just is not worth it.
And, I think that the idea of a bottle of wine does not fit with most people’s life style. Someone can have one beer or one or two mixed drinks, but once you open a bottle of many wines (esp. red) you have to drink the whole thing.
And, so much wine is lousy, face it. We are drinking the really good stuff, even when it is cheap. But most people are not going to seek out some wine from Lauer or Baudry or whoever. If I had to drink most of the wine I see at standard cocktail parties, I wouldn’t like wine either. Much easier to go upscale with Heinekin or something.