I held a tasting for my daughter and her twenty-something friends to see if I could convert the next generation to wine. Plus: what I've been drinking this week
Loved reading this and my main take away is that in order to get young people into wine you must talk and share wine with them! (Duh? I say this as a young person in wine lol). Also, I wish my Dad would do a tasting for my friends and I 😂.
Interesting, thanks Andy and wishing Clara and her friends a long and enjoyable wine drinking career. I do think a lot of wine's future does depends on marketing and its probably time for a new think.
The example of real ale is interesting, it almost died out but was having a revival when we were at university, at least in part due to better presentation, but now is back to being an old man's drink. In its place there has been a 'craft' beer growth. Not exactly the same but similar with different presentation and packaging.
It needs to be sustained and interesting and needs to match taste to palates. The supermarkets did this a few years ago - I proudly remember that Sainsbury's did 56 wines under £2 in 1984! I think if they want to appeal to younger buyers it is time for producers and retailers to freshen up some of the presentation and maybe put more focus on sustainability.
"even in 1980, just a quarter of French 20-24 year-olds drank wine regularly"
Thank you for mentioning this. I've grown very weary of "the Youths aren't drinking wine, we're screwed!" discourse.
I didn't drink it at all until I was 25 and then not at the level I do now until I was in my early 30s. It's something you just need to ease in to. Of course, we're both Gen X, so what does our opinion matter, right?
Not the trade itself. It’s more the marketing teams… a ton of wineries in Napa are able to get the “hipster” crowds from SF to come out. Scribe - a winery in Sonoma, California and one of Thomas Keller’s modicum wine does a wonderful job of drawing the crowd.
This was excellent and some good questions too. I think one of the things with wine in your 20s & 30s is mostly a lack of cash. You can't afford the "good stuff" (despite there being some absolute bargains out there these days - viz Lidl's Monte Plogar Carinena gran reserva at £5.99!) Coupled with that acute feeling of not wanting to look a tit in front of people when ordering or buying. (Especially knowing if a wine is "corked" or not. It's a veritable nightmare)
It's only really as you get older you worry less about looking daft or simply asking for what you want, "red wine with fish sir?! Yes don't argue!" As well as knowing when something is not right about the wine you've just been asked to taste and having the confidence to say so...
Also physically, your palate is simply different; big flavours are what do it for you when you're young but as your palate changes you acquire more nuance.
Thanks! There’s a lot of unecessary British angst about wine (not just among young people) - doesn’t worry anyone in France! The price issue is true, I know - though it’s partly priorities: it’s easy to drop £12 on a cocktail in a London bar, which is the price of a reasonable bottle…
Loved reading this and my main take away is that in order to get young people into wine you must talk and share wine with them! (Duh? I say this as a young person in wine lol). Also, I wish my Dad would do a tasting for my friends and I 😂.
Ha! Thank you!
Interesting, thanks Andy and wishing Clara and her friends a long and enjoyable wine drinking career. I do think a lot of wine's future does depends on marketing and its probably time for a new think.
The example of real ale is interesting, it almost died out but was having a revival when we were at university, at least in part due to better presentation, but now is back to being an old man's drink. In its place there has been a 'craft' beer growth. Not exactly the same but similar with different presentation and packaging.
It needs to be sustained and interesting and needs to match taste to palates. The supermarkets did this a few years ago - I proudly remember that Sainsbury's did 56 wines under £2 in 1984! I think if they want to appeal to younger buyers it is time for producers and retailers to freshen up some of the presentation and maybe put more focus on sustainability.
I remember some of those Sainsbury’s wines…
"even in 1980, just a quarter of French 20-24 year-olds drank wine regularly"
Thank you for mentioning this. I've grown very weary of "the Youths aren't drinking wine, we're screwed!" discourse.
I didn't drink it at all until I was 25 and then not at the level I do now until I was in my early 30s. It's something you just need to ease in to. Of course, we're both Gen X, so what does our opinion matter, right?
Ha ha! Right, exactly
Such an interesting piece - thank you.
Thanks!
Genz not drinking wine is a failure of PR
Commentators are generally blaming the wine trade for not winning them over, it’s true - though I think it’s probably more complicated than that
Not the trade itself. It’s more the marketing teams… a ton of wineries in Napa are able to get the “hipster” crowds from SF to come out. Scribe - a winery in Sonoma, California and one of Thomas Keller’s modicum wine does a wonderful job of drawing the crowd.
All things Genz -
Non snobby storytelling
Small farmers, female winemakers, BIPOC producers
Orange wines, light fruity reds, pet-nats, red/white wines
I don’t expect them to love wine straight out of Bordeaux.
This was excellent and some good questions too. I think one of the things with wine in your 20s & 30s is mostly a lack of cash. You can't afford the "good stuff" (despite there being some absolute bargains out there these days - viz Lidl's Monte Plogar Carinena gran reserva at £5.99!) Coupled with that acute feeling of not wanting to look a tit in front of people when ordering or buying. (Especially knowing if a wine is "corked" or not. It's a veritable nightmare)
It's only really as you get older you worry less about looking daft or simply asking for what you want, "red wine with fish sir?! Yes don't argue!" As well as knowing when something is not right about the wine you've just been asked to taste and having the confidence to say so...
Also physically, your palate is simply different; big flavours are what do it for you when you're young but as your palate changes you acquire more nuance.
Thanks! There’s a lot of unecessary British angst about wine (not just among young people) - doesn’t worry anyone in France! The price issue is true, I know - though it’s partly priorities: it’s easy to drop £12 on a cocktail in a London bar, which is the price of a reasonable bottle…