New figures suggest that millennials have become the biggest wine drinkers in the US, consuming nearly half of America’s supply of our favourite vintage last year.
Changing habits
Figures indicate that UK consumers are buying more wine online. For example, data from Rabobank suggested that UK wine sales increased by a staggering 11% in the first quarter of 2015. Explaining this trend, Rabobank attributed it to millennials who have grown up using the internet, with the firm calling this age group an “increasingly wine-drinking demographic.”
But millennials aren’t just making their presence felt in the UK wine market. Experts have forecasted that US wine consumption will rise by 11% from 2014 – 2018 and they attribute this increase largely to the growing millennial market. Defined as people aged 21 – 38, at present there are around 79 million millennials across the United States of America.
Millenials Drinking America’s wine
A new study from the Wine Market Council, an industry non-profit organisation, has shown how millennials are influencing the American wine market. News site USA Today reported that the Wine Market Council found that millennials drank an unbelievable 42% of US wine last year – far more than any other generation.
The study found that millennials consumed a staggering two cases of wine per person, on average, in 2015. Millennials now comprise 30% of high frequency US drinkers – those who drink wine several times a week. Gen xer’s (those aged 39-50) accounted for just 20% of high frequency drinkers and baby boomers (aged 51-69) made up 38%, so millennials are now the second biggest high frequency wine drinking age group.
Meanwhile, the study noted that as millennials grow older, “they’re settling into eclectic wines that may cost more.” The Wine Market Council found that while among all age groups only 10% of the US population had paid over $20 for a bottle of wine in the past month, this rose to 17% for millennials.
Sup on fine wine
In other words, the Wine Market Council study indicated that as wine enthusiasts mature, they come to realise the benefits of splurging on a bottle of decently priced fine wine. If you want to find a truly luxurious vintage to sup on in 2016, why don’t you purchase the Chateau Lafleur 1990 from the Ideal Wine Company? A first-rate vintage of the highest quality, this Bordeaux red will blow you away!
