Every year, the same blaring alarm resounds across the wine industry: Younger generations are not drinking wine as much as we’d like them to. That statement comes with caveats; younger consumers are interested in consuming more wine, but that growth isn’t as evident yet as it is for other drinks like tequila or RTD cocktails. Are Millennials and Gen Z simply faced with too many drinks options, some of which are doing a better job connecting with them, or are they not exposed to it often enough in the first place? Whatever the reason, many things could help bring these consumers into the fold and create a lifelong curiosity about wine.
To gather inspiration, Wine Spectator asked 10 young wine professionals across the country for their ideas and the strategies that they themselves use to make wine more attractive to younger diners—from creating accessible wine education and encouraging exploration of underrepresented regions to updating label designs and information.
Wine Spectator: What can the wine industry do to better appeal to younger drinkers? And how are you encouraging younger diners to order wine?
Summer Knoop, owner and wine director of Cafe Mamo
When I was young and first getting into wine, the things that kept me away from ordering bottles were the feeling of pretension when looking at a wine list and thinking the staff would judge me based on what I picked. Plus, I was flat broke, so the idea of spending $40 on a bottle of wine in a restaurant was daunting, especially considering I might not even like it!
I see this still with young guests that come into Café Mamo, so we offer half off bottles at happy hour just to ease people into the idea of sharing a bottle with the table. From there, our entire philosophy revolves around simplicity and being unpretentious, so our list has bottles that fit every price range from broke college student to avid wine collector.
Hugo Bensimon, wine director of Grill 23
I think the wine industry should appeal to young customers through the actual label itself. I find that a lot of “natural” wines have gone the direction of sprucing up their wine labels with much less of a classic look and appealing towards the younger demographic. We see it mainly in retail, but a lot of today’s classic wines have had the same label for years. I know a lot of the younger crowd that picks a bottle of wine purely on what the label looks like.
I would love to see some classic wineries, with great wine, update their seemingly outdated labels and reflect a more fun approach towards their wines. I think we have had a strong correlation with the more expensive a bottle of wine is, the more the label needs to seem classic and plain. I would love to see that change.
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