Chamard Vineyards Relates to Generation Y......
Excerpt from The Hartford Courant
By WILLIAM WEIR Courant Staff Writer
November 26, 2007
Used by permission
A few weeks ago, a magazine ad for Yellow Tail wine included a temporary tattoo. The same ad campaign also features fireflies, with blinking lights on billboards, and in magazine inserts.
It's a far cry from the rather staid and low-key model of marketing that winemakers once stuck to. But as the profile of the average wine drinker has changed, so has the way of selling it.
Everyone from winemakers to people who blog about wine (of whom there are a good number these days) say younger people are drinking more wine than ever in the U.S.
Part of it is price — decent wine is a lot more affordable than it used to be. Also, the wine industry has done a lot to take the stuffiness out of wine. People who might have once opted for beer or cocktails no longer think of wine as something that's only for rich, old folks.
"You might even go so far as saying that wine is the new black," says Tyler Colman, creator of the popular Dr. Vino wine blog. For one thing, he says, learning about wine has become a lot easier and less intimidating. Wine classes, he says, are "very popular with twenty- and thirtysomethings."
Chamard Vineyards in Clinton is taking advantage of the trend and offering several seminars for people who want to learn more about wine. Young people have made up a large part of the seminars' attendance, says Bridget Riordan, Chamard's director of sales and brand management.
"We certainly have seen a change in the demographic of the people at the vineyard," she says. "There are not only younger people, but younger people who are interested in learning more about wine."
Wine consumption has gone up in general; according to the independent Wine Market Council, the average American drank about a gallon of wine in 1970. Last year, it was closer to three gallons
When the Generation X folks came of drinking age in the 1990s, microbreweries and specialty beers were all the rage, taking away much of the wine industry's potential profits. But the latest incarnation of twentysomethings, known as the Millennials or Generation Y, have taken to wine like no other generation before them.
Previous generations eased themselves into the wine life, drinking white zinfandels perhaps once a month, and working their way up to more sophisticated wines. The Millennial wine drinkers have jumped right into the robust reds, and many are drinking once a week, according to the Wine Market Council.
One reason is the quality of wine in the U.S. About 30 years ago, you had a choice of a handful of big wines. If you wanted anything better, it meant a dropping a good bit of money.
"In the '60s, we really didn't drink that much wine," Colman says. "Some of it was pretty rough stuff."
The shift began when the wine industry stopped marketing wine as something for a special occasion, and started selling it instead as something for every day.
Even champagne, which many still think of as a drink only for celebrations, is starting to change its image. Yellow Tail just came out with its own champagne (though it calls it sparkling wine, because it's not actually made in the Champagne region of France). It's called Bubbles, and Yellow Tail's website tells us that "no moment is too ordinary to break open the bubbles. It's fizz and fun for everyday, casual occasions."
Another factor is health. Studies that suggest a glass of wine or two a day can be good for the heart have been cited as a boon for the wine business. In the 1980s, before these studies came out, "health concerns" was one of the reasons for the slight dip in wine sales. Stricter DUI laws, harsher warning labels and the raising of the drinking age in all states to 21 were other factors.
Also, the Millennials have grown up in a time when more sophisticated tastes are all around them. Exotic beers have filled shelves once occupied only by the likes of Budweiser and Miller; the phrase "gourmet coffee" no longer confounds. The 24-hour cycle of cooking shows has helped refine our tastes.
Alder Yarrow, who blogs at Vinography (vinography.com), says vineyards are finding new ways to introduce their wines to younger drinkers, like throwing house parties with DJs...
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