"Why aren't millennials drinking wine?" seems to be a common lament of wine industry representatives. This comment is frequently colored by commentary on the craft beer craze, whiskey, cannabis and even the desire for low calorie and gluten-free options.
But I think that the real problem lies somewhere in the stickiness of the fraternity house floor on a Sunday morning, the ease of ingestion of a gummy on a Sunday evening and the machismo associated with bourbon on Thursday night cocktail hour. Wine is simply a less convenient option in every respect.
Consider the college party - mass consumption of alcohol is the key theme. High quantity, questionable quality. The end game is a blissful state of blacking out, or close to blackout. Wine offers potential stains, red teeth and an even worse hang over were the state of blackout achieved.
Next, think to the Sunday after the weekend spent doing the aforementioned activity, the goal is probably relaxation and easy sleep. While wine seems to fit nicely here, the default is cannabis for relaxation and sadly wine is an also-ran.
Finally, consider the dinner table or company event where taste in alcohol is considered a test of character and resolve. Asking for a certain vintage shows knowledge and grace; however, there is a much greater chance that the restaurant doesn't carry the same catalog of wine that your rich uncle introduced you to over the break and thus you are risking it by throwing out the name of the vineyard, grape or year and better off asking for a hard to find whiskey, which you can temper with a "well I'll just do Woodford if you don't have that...", which is guaranteed to still evoke respect and understanding.
In short, the millennials don't do five-course meals. The bottle of wine is mainly consumed during a date or in the home of a parent. Since millennials don't know much about wine, buying an expensive bottle is less likely to impress and thus there's little reason to splurge when that same money could be used to buy differing fancy cocktails that you can each share and use as a means of learning about each other. In short, wine needs to find a new arena that works with millennials, in which it dominates the atmosphere.
No comments:
Post a Comment