Good news in the next wave: head of wine marketers says young consumers love wine

Cheers, April, 2004

It's John Gillespie's job as the head of the US Wine Market Council to promote wine consumption, and these days, he has plenty of ammunition at hand for wine sellers, especially those who operate restaurants.

"'Catch the Wave' (the theme of the Cheers conference) evokes the wine boom of the 1970s that swept over a generation of young people," he told conference attendees during his session, entitled "Shaping the Future of the US Wine Market. "Today, a new wave of demographically diverse wine is in the market" and receiving increased attention from young consumers.

According to Gillespie, a higher proportion of millennial adults (those 26 years of age and younger) have become core wine drinkers, more than Generation X (39.3% vs. 36.2%). Even more important, more than half (51%) of Millennial men are core wine drinkers. (Overall, core wine drinkers in 2000 were only 37% male, and now make up 40% of the total. American men have traditionally lagged behind women as core wine drinkers.) With beer consumption slipping, wine seems to be picking up the slack, he noted.

In addition, Gillespie said Millenials are more likely to say that they like the taste of wine and associate wine with fun times.

Gillespie gave attendees a snapshot of the state of today's wine consuming public. More than 25 million adults are core wine drinkers, 28.2 million are marginal wine drinkers, while 62.2 million are beer and spirit drinkers, and 87.7 million say they drink no alcohol.

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That makes about 32% more wine drinkers today than three years ago, and eight percent more non-drinkers (which Gillespie said was a reflection of the aging of America). The number of beer and spirits drinkers shrunk by about two percent as wine drinkers increased.

Not only Millenials, but all demographic groups are driving growth in wine consumption, Gillespie said. For example, adult per capita consumption was up in 2003 to an all-time high, 2.68 gallons per adult per year. The previous high was 2.58 gallons in 1980.

Gillespie noted that the US still lags far behind France (15 gallons per person per year), Italy (13.2 gallons), Australia (5.3 gallons), Canada (2.7 gallons), and many other countries in per capita consumption, meaning there is still lots of room for growth. (U.S. wine consumption in latest figures was 2 gallons per person.)