We hear it all the time nowadays: young people don’t drink wine. The wine industry is worried, in Europe and the USA. Sowine, a French consulting firm, has conducted a study on what French wine producers can do to persuade the 18-25 age group to, at least occasionally, abandon cocktails and beer and drink a glass of wine instead. Sowine’s recommendations are nothing new. The same things came up when France was first confronted with competition from New World wines just over 20 years ago.
A slightly simplified summary of Sowine’s advice to producers is that they should think differently. The young reject the traditional. They are drawn to wine labels that are fun, colourful, and different. Childishly drawn figures pique their interest more than a picture of an old chateau. They want soft, fruity and easy-drinking wines without prominent tannins. The wines should be marketed in places where young people go, such as music festivals and the like.
The question of young people’s lack of enthusiasm for wine has come up a couple of times during our travels this past autumn, i.e. in Bordeaux where some châteaux are expanding their range and complementing the château wines with a wine adapted to a younger target group.
But not all producers see such an adaptation to young taste buds as a solution. Wine is wine, they say, and young people must learn to like it. The eternal question: how much should producers adapt and how much should consumers get used to?
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