Pursuing wine buyers of a younger vintage

For a decade, wineries have pretty much targeted one type of consumer -- the older wine enthusiast with plenty of disposable income.

But that was before a glut of high-quality, inexpensive wine flooded store shelves. Now, as some vintners struggle to stay afloat, their future may rest with someone they’d mostly ignored: the younger wine lover.

A study released this week shows that young drinkers, ages 21 to 34, are more willing to pay for premium wine than the generation of 35-to-54-year-olds that has consumed most of the industry’s attention.

Younger drinkers are 84% more likely than the average adult to spend $20 or more for a bottle of wine, according to Scarborough Research, a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and VNU Marketing Information Inc.

“At a time when these wineries can’t get rid of their expensive wines, here is the youth market,” said Alisa Joseph, an Arbitron vice president. The study was initiated by Scarborough in response to wine industry queries.

The new research is emerging just as the industry tries to reach beyond its staid core consumers.

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Got wine?

The Wine Market Council, an industry group whose members range from growers to winemakers, is about to launch a $2-million national advertising campaign encouraging people to let the wine pour. The idea is, if you drink wine, drink more -- it’s good for you. Think the “Got Milk?” ads and the California Blue Diamond almond growers “a can a week” campaign.

The wine campaign will target 25-to-49-year-olds and is designed primarily to reach women, who traditionally drink more wine than men. If successful, the industry plans to pump more money into an expanded campaign later in the year.

Wine companies typically run national TV and radio ads to spur holiday purchases by wine drinkers of all ages. But most other advertising -- mainly in magazines -- has been aimed almost solely at an older audience with plenty of disposable income, says John Gillespie, president of the wine council.

Gillespie says the industry has been reluctant to spend money cultivating new consumers -- that is, until the current glut.

“Now, when I talk to the industry about the need to expand the consumer base, all heads are nodding,” he says.

It’s true that members of the well-heeled generation roughly the age of baby boomers uncork a bottle of wine nearly twice as often as their younger counterparts, according to the Scarborough survey.

But by ignoring people in their 20s and insisting that they naturally “grow” into thirtysomething wine aficionados, the industry has stunted its own growth, says Darryl Roberts, editor and publisher of Wine X Magazine, which is aimed at 25-to-40-year-olds.

“The wine industry has concentrated on one demographic slice of society, and [the baby boom generation] can’t possibly drink more. That group is good for 1% growth per year,” says Roberts.

The wine council has conducted national surveys of U.S. wine drinkers in 1994, 1997 and 2000 and is preparing another for 2003. The core consumer throughout has remained a middle-aged, financially flush wine enthusiast. But there have been hints that the younger drinker holds promise.

“Red wine drinking is really high among twentysomethings,” Gillespie says. “People think you work your way up to red, and yet they are going straight to it. They are sophisticated. It’s a hopeful indicator.”

Advertising in theater bills, art museum brochures and at golf clubs -- the “good life” activities the wine industry has long assumed its consumers enjoy -- is clearly now too limited. Younger drinkers tend to hang out at rap and hip-hop concerts, go to comedy clubs and play team sports, the Scarborough survey shows.

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From espresso to Cabernet

None of this is a surprise to Joel Quigley, executive director of Wine Brats, a 10-year-old national network of wine clubs with 28 local chapters and 40,000 members. Sixty percent of Wine Brats’ members are younger than 35.

This generation has grown up sipping Starbucks, says Quigley. “To take someone from a double espresso to a big, beautiful Cabernet is not a stretch.”

During the wine boom of the 1990s, California vintners “sat in their wineries selling everything they had, and they did nothing to reach out to new consumers. There was plenty of pie for everyone,” says Quigley.

After growing 33% a year for the last several years, Wine Brats recently overhauled its Internet, computer and financial systems to enable it to grow more quickly.

The group was founded by Jeff Bundschu, Mike Sangiacomo and Jon Sabastiani, all sons of vintners who went to high school together in Napa Valley. It took family connections to persuade vintners such as Robert Mondavi, E&J; Gallo and F. Korbel and Bros. to underwrite the group.

Still, after a decade, the industry’s commitment has grown to a mere $300,000 a year.

Wine industry sponsors at extreme sports events don’t appear imminent.

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First sips

A recent survey of wine drinkers ages

21 to 34 surprised some in the wine industry. Here’s a profile:

*--* Bought wine in last three months 25% Usually spend $20 or more a bottle 10% Usually spend $5 to $9 a bottle 32% Gender 51% women, 49% men Median household income $49,500

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Source: Scarborough Research