5 Things We Learned in June 2024

Chemists analyse the world’s oldest wines, young Americans put their investment dollars into wine, and Dolly Parton’s new wine suggests there’s no slowing the celebrity wine train.

1. Young Americans are investing in wine

A massive, generational transfer of wealth is underway in the US — and younger investors who come into money are investing it quite differently to their elders. This is according to a new report by the Bank of America (BoA), the 2024 Study of Wealthy Americans, which looked at the investing habits of 1,000 people with more than $3 million in investable assets.

“Wealthy young Americans are increasingly turning their backs on traditional assets in favour of more unique investments, with rich Gen Zers and millennials choosing to buy watches and rare cars instead of simply stocks and bonds,” Fortune magazine reported. 

At least 72% of those under 43 were sceptical about traditional assets; 94% were interested in collectibles including watches, sneakers, rare cars and wine and spirits.

“Their interest is perhaps unsurprising—after all, the soon-to-be “wealthiest generation in history” has already shown an interest in the finer things in life,” the Fortune article went on. “In January, a report from Bain & Co. revealed that by 2030, Gen Z will account for 25% to 30% of luxury market purchases, while millennials will account for 50% to 55%.”

The report says that “younger wealthy people are twice as optimistic as older generations about the state of the U.S. economy,” according to the BoA report. “They’re even more divided on the outlook for the global economy. What do older and younger wealthy people agree on? They give similar ratings to their personal financial security, and they’re both positive about the outlook for the stock market in the year ahead.”

In other words, it’s a good time to be a fine wine producer.

2. Chemist proves find is the oldest wine in the world

Chemical analysis of a liquid discovered in a Roman tomb has revealed that it’s the oldest wine in liquid form — the previous record was held by a wine bottle dating from 325 AD, found in Speyer, Germany.

This latest find was uncovered in 2019 in Carmona, Seville, when a home was being renovated. In what may or may not have been a delight for the home owners — the discovery must have slowed the renovations down considerably — the workers uncovered a Roman tomb that’s at least 2,000 years old.

The tomb turned out to be a treasure trove of relics, including a glass urn holding a reddish liquid, which has since been analysed by José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, an organic chemist at the University of Córdoba, and his team.

“The tomb, part of the western necropolis of Carmo (the ancient name for Carmona), dates back to the early 1st century CE. It contained eight niches,” wrote Dario Radley in Archaeology News. “The urn in Niche 8 was especially significant. Encased in an oval lead box with a flat-domed lid, it contained approximately five litres of a reddish liquid alongside the cremated bones of a Roman man.”

The article went on to say that wine played a vital role in Roman funerary practices, and was probably placed in the tomb for the man to take into the afterlife with him.

“The wine’s preservation attests to the sophisticated methods used by Roman winemakers to prevent spoilage,” Radley continued, adding that the wine incorporated cooked musts “to increase sugar and alcohol content, and using sodium chloride as a preservative and flavour enhancer. These methods are reflected in the fine wines currently produced in regions like Jerez, which are considered similar to those from ancient Roman Baetica.”

Urn containing the reddish liquid. Credit: Cosano et al., Journal of Archaeological Science, Reports (2024)
Urn containing the reddish liquid. Credit: Cosano et al., Journal of Archaeological Science, Reports (2024)

3. Rhône rangers have zillennial appeal

Anyone worried that young people aren’t interested in wine should have been present at the Hospice du Rhône (HdR) which took place in the Walla Walla Valley in Washington State in April.

The HdR is an international celebration of Rhône varieties, headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California. The bi-annual HdR has been part of Paso Robles for more than 20 years, but the organisers decided it was time to expand their reach and let another Rhône-producing region be the host.

Steve Robertson, owner of Delmas Wines and the SJR Vineyard, told Areni Global that it attracted a “much younger, more diverse demographic” than usual, as well as the more typical, older fine wine enthusiasts.

“The obvious takeaway was the benefit of exposing these wines to an appreciative, fine-wine, consumer base,” he said, adding it was a great way to compare the region’s own Rhône Valley-inspired wines with benchmark wines from around the world.

Bringing together Rhône-inspired professionals from across the West Coast also built new bridges between them, he went on. “These collaborative relationships will ultimately serve to accelerate credibility for the region.”

Like what you are reading? Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to access new articles.

Name
Consent(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

4. Napa now too expensive for many

This month Rob McMillan released his annual Silicon Valley Bank’s annual Direct-to-Consumer wine survey — and it showed that the number of visitors to Napa wineries has dropped by a whopping 37% since 2016.

“An obvious reason is tasting-room fees,” wrote W. Blake Gray at wine-searcher.com, pointing out that in 2016 the average tasting room fee was just $16 for a normal tasting, and $34 for a special tasting. “But in Napa County, the average fee is now $75 for a regular tasting and $138 for reserve.”

As he said, no other region comes close.

And that’s not all.

“The average hotel room in Napa County cost $470 a night in 2022, up from $327 in 2019, according to the Napa Valley Register,” he continued. “Also, tipping is now suggested at two thirds of wineries; only 21 percent allowed it 10 years ago. The average winery in the US sells $209 worth of wine to the average visitor; surely it’s higher in Napa Valley. A 20 percent tip is not an insignificant expense.”

For a long time, the wine world looked at Napa’s tourism infrastructure with envy, as visitors to the region could revel in a wide variety of activities and levels of wine tasting. Today, however, the region is more of a warning of the perils of becoming inaccessible.

5. Dolly Parton enters the wine trade

Beloved celebrity Dolly Parton has launched Dolly Wines, in collaboration with Accolade Wines.

The first wine is a California Chardonnay, which launched through Vivino. Other wines in the range will include a rosé, a Prosecco and another sparkling.

The huge amount of publicity around the launch suggests there’s still plenty of life in the celebrity wine trend. 

The first notable celebrity collaboration came when Jay-Z acquired a stake in Armand de Brignac Brut Gold Champagne in 2006. Before long, celebrities were creating gins, tequilas and even — in the case of Danny Devito — limoncello (which Time magazine called an “odd-ball celebrity product”.)

Since then, the pace has accelerated, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Cameron Diaz and Kylie Minogue all launching wines.

Another celebrity made wine news in June: Rupert Murdoch got married to Elena Zhukova, his fifth spouse, at his vineyard in California. There was no word on which wines they drank at the party.

Additional Resources