Wine industry must do more to attract youth: Vinexpo survey March 29, 2007
Maggie Rosen
The wine industry could lose a generation of customers if it doesn't get better at capturing the attention of younger drinkers, according to a survey commissioned by Vinexpo.
In a study of 100 occasional wine drinkers aged 20-25 (20 each in London, Paris, Brussels, New York and Tokyo), focus group participants said they are curious about wine, but deterred by too many choices and styles, complex labelling and wine's stuffy image.
At the same time, a study of over 500 18-25 year olds conducted by decanter.com confirmed that this age group is interested in wine, and eager to learn more.
'The vast majority of respondents [to the decanter.com survey] don't consider wine a culprit in binge-drinking,' said editor-at-large Adam Lechmere.
'Furthermore, they believe it's their parents' job – not the government's - to teach them a responsible approach to consumption.'
Dubbed 'the first generation' of drinkers by Vinexpo CEO Robert Beynat, this age group views wine as a social lubricant and a source of pleasure without guilt.
Beynat added that in some instances, the young people surveyed indicated that they would welcome industry efforts to market wine directly to them.
This finding was dismissed by Stephanie Doering, assistant sommelier at Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant in London, who is 24.
'Young people do not want to be treated differently, they just want to be taken more seriously,' she said, describing her own experience as a customer in a respected wine shop where she felt ignored by the staff due to her youth and casual dress.
'There is no need for a kind of Ikea kindergarten section for us in wine shops, but sommeliers and shop assistants need to be better trained at engaging with younger clients. As a sommelier I can tell you that if you make an effort to get them interested, they will spend more money.'
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I am an academic in New Zealand who has been studying wine tourism for almost 10 years and I have watched the youth market very carefully over this time. I also teach wine business to many students each year and I have observed how their attitudes and behaviours change once they have been on a field trip to a wine region.
The story on the youth market is indeed an interesting one and the issues raised are somewhat perlexing - why is a generation that is apparently so interested in wine also so easily turned off by it?
In recent years the youth market has been the focus of a number of studies in Australia and New Zealand, especially in relation to the youth market's perceptions of winery visits. These studies have tended to find that visits to wineries can be useful in breaking down some of the barriers for these younger consumers, but that this requires careful management. A study by Peter Trelor in 2004, for example, found that the majority of younger consumers across both countries had visited a winery and found it to be a very enjoyable 'day out'. Meanwhile a study carried out by Steven Charters and Joanne Fountain, once again in both countries, found that wineries had a tendency to treat younger consumers with some contempt and that this was very off-putting for younger consumers.
One thing is very clear, winery visits do present an excellent opportunity for younger consumers to not only breakdown some of the mysteries of wine, but also be swept up in the romance and mystique of it all. Wineries provide more than the wine itself, they present an experience that can be rural, scenic, adventurous, social, educational, fashionable and trendy all at the same time and therefore they give younger consumers many reasons for engaging with wine than simply imbibing.
I am happy to provide more details if you are interested.
Dr Richard Mitchell, Senior Lecturer, Department of Tourism, University of Otago, New Zealand
I agree with Stephanie Doering. As a 23 year-old wine consumer, I don't want to be pandered to with flashy labels and 'hip' ads. I just want to be respected and offered the same service as anyone else. I think her point goes right along with why Wine X Magazine failed. People our age want to
learn, but we don't want to be patronized and treated like we're stupid,
inferior or less important because we're more likely to buy a $20 bottle of
wine rather than a $40 bottle. I think if sommeliers, wine merchants, and
tasting rooms would take more time with younger buyers to help them learn
rather than snub them, young people would be much more likely to become more
interested in wine and eventually buy the $40 bottle. Jordan Small,
Walla Walla, WA
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I am an academic in New Zealand who has been studying wine tourism for almost 10 years and I have watched the youth market very carefully over this time. I also teach wine business to many students each year and I have observed how their attitudes and behaviours change once they have been on a field trip to a wine region.
