Platts: The Wine Generation

Last week — after a year of hard work and months and months of being told we couldn’t do it, that we were too lazy and too entitled — it was announced that the millennial generation consumed more wine in 2015 than any other age group.

#wedidit

#winewasted #wedonegood #neverdoubta

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thirstymillennial

My young and sprite generation drank 159.6 million cases over 12 months. This is a whopping 42 percent of the wine sold in the U.S., according to the Wine Market Council. We beat out the Baby bBoomers and stuck it to Generation X, showing that, even in our immaturity and lack of wisdom, we know how to get things done.

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Whether it be a bottle of red or a bottle of white (as Billy Joel says, it all depends upon your appetite), millennials drink it. The survey from the Wine Market Council shows that we appreciate diversity in our drinking repertoire. We try wines that are made from Greece to New Zealand to Oregon, however our favorites are from the more traditional countries: France, Italy and Australia.

Next to appreciating more variety, it’s also been discovered that millennials just drink more wine overall (no surprise there). We consume an average of 3.1 glasses per day while our older cohorts (Generation X) have 2.4 glasses and our even older cohorts (Baby Boomers) only have 1.9.

As far as type of wine is concerned, we millennials are kind of the love the one your with type folk. We like everything from a smooth Malbec to an oak-y Chardonnay. We are also credited with the resurgence of Rosé, which hasn’t been particularly popular since the 70s, but it’s back in now in a big way. As Charles Smith Wine says, you can drink Rosé and still be a badass.

Moreover, millennials are bypassing our cheap personas and actually shelling out some dough for the fine vinos. This same survey showed that 17 percent of millennial wine drinkers bought bottles costing $20 or more. No more Two Buck Chuck or boxed wines for us.

Personally, as an aspiring wino since the early age of 10, I was proud to hear that my generation is getting so much enjoyment from wine. I grew up watching my family drink it starting at precisely 5 p.m. everyday. When I was in my preteens, I even ordered my Coca Cola without ice in a wine glass to fit in. Everybody thought it was cute at the time, but years later they realized it may have been a warning of over-indulgence to come. I think I enjoyed doing it because I saw wine drinking as a sign of maturity and even luxury. To an extent, I still see it in this way today. That’s why I find it so interesting that the youngest generation legally allowed to buy wine is also the largest consumer of it. I was almost proud of my generation when I heard the news. Oh hell…I was damn proud. But it does bring up interesting questions about us. Do we all associate this beverage with maturity and luxury? Are we, as a generation, finally starting to grow up? Or perhaps the perception of wine has just changed over time, making it more approachable to hoodlums like us.

I don’t have the answer as of now. We may just have to keep drinking more wine in order to

find out.

Barbara’s drink of choice is red wine…typically a Malbec or Cabernet, but she’s really open to whatever is in front of her at the time. Email her and share your favorite kind of wine at bplatts.000@gmail.com.