Debunking the Myths About Young People and Fine Wine

If you’re a wine professional and you want to make yourself miserable, put the words “younger drinkers are not interested in wine” into a search engine.

A whole slew of articles from well-regarded publications will pop up, informing you that younger people simply aren’t interested in wine. They’re reaching for cocktails, or cannabis, or just heading to bed for an early night.

But is it true?

Recently, Areni Global convened a series of round tables to discuss the weighty matter of GenZ and fine wine consumption.

And, it turns out, the news for fine wine producers is positive.

Areni’s own research

The first round table began with an overview by Pauline Vicard, CEO of Areni Global.

“Younger consumers are still very attracted to fine wine,” she said.

In the past several years, Areni has conducted market research in Japan, the UK, the US, Hong Kong, China and France — and in all those countries, it’s not just the boomers drinking wine.

“In China, Hong Kong and Japan, 43% of fine wine consumers are between 35 to 54 years old,” said Vicard.

In China, Hong Kong and Japan, 43% of fine wine consumers are between 35 to 54 years old.

Pauline Vicard

In some markets, Bordeaux ranks more highly with older wine lovers rather than younger ones. Otherwise, younger consumers are reaching for much the same wines as older ones.

Auction houses have also reported that they are seeing more customers aged between 28 and 40, who have the disposable income for fine wine, and the interest; what may be attracting many younger people is new technology, which puts price and trading information in their pocket.

As for why people buy the way they do, Areni’s research has demonstrated that it’s more important to focus on why people buy fine wine, rather than their age. “Regardless of them being 30, 40 or 60, they have very similar pathways into buying fine wine,” said Vicard. “They want to be recognised for who they are, and they want to be seen as unique.”

Regardless of them being 30, 40 or 60, they have very similar pathways into buying fine wine. They want to be recognised for who they are, and they want to be seen as unique.

Pauline Vicard

In any case, many claims made about demographics that simply don’t add up. Vicard said she’d recently seen research claiming that GenZ likes “free shipping and delivery, special discounts and a flexible return policy. But who doesn’t like free delivery? I think we sometimes attribute things that are across the board to one generation.”

This is certainly true for fine wine buyers, who have a number of key characteristics in common. First, they want their merchants and advisers to have a deep understanding of the customer’s palate, and should offer bottles in pristine condition. Those who manage this, are repaid with loyalty.

“Loyalty is a common trait when they find someone who can give them access to the wines that they want,” said Vicard.

Fine wine buyers are, surprisingly, very price conscious, even when spending huge amounts of money. “Fine wine consumers, whether they do it for collecting or investing, will have Excel spreadsheets and apps, and will follow the market,” said Vicard. “They will know the wines better than most MWs and they know the price.”

This group is often made up of deep divers, who will get bitten by the fine wine bug and go searching for great wines. This has made WhatsApp central to the fine wine economy, as enthusiasts gather together to swap tips and new discoveries.

Another feature of enthusiasts is that they often overbuy, which means they eventually sell to the secondary market, keeping a constant flow of wines moving through the system.

Another feature of enthusiasts is that they often overbuy, which means they eventually sell to the secondary market, keeping a constant flow of wines moving through the system.

There are other groups who buy fine wine, such as the well-off who buy wine as they need it, but who aren’t particularly engaged with the product. “Then, of course, you’ve got the status seekers who will buy labels and wine to validate their own status.”

After consultation with many fine wine merchants, Areni estimates that around 10% to 15% of fine wine clients are buying purely to invest.

“At the risk of repeating myself, this is what we see, regardless of age,” Vicard finished.

Insights from luxury marketing

Vicard yielded the floor to Polly Hammond, founder of wine digital marketing agency 5forests, which has considerable experience in luxury marketing.

“The first thing is that luxury is reporting unprecedented levels of growth,” began Hammon. “The percentage of growth has actually slowed by about half for 2024 so far, but it’s still averaging 5% to 7%.” Bain & Company, she said, expects the luxury goods market to keep doubling between now and 2030.

By 2030, GenZ will account for 25-35% of the luxury market, with Millennials accounting for 50-55%. One reason is that they will have the money to do so.

“We are in the middle of the largest transfer of wealth in history, which equates to approximately $70 trillion that is being transferred from the hands of the Boomers,” Hammond went on. “Millennials are actually on the largest receiving end and they’re don’t necessarily know what to do with their money.”

We are in the middle of the largest transfer of wealth in history, which equates to approximately $70 trillion that is being transferred from the hands of the Boomers. Millennials are actually on the largest receiving end and they’re don’t necessarily know what to do with their money.

Polly Hammond

Hammond said that 5forests was now rethinking how consumers are categorised, and that age sometimes comes into the equation. “We want to use demographics to ask the question, are they old enough? Can they afford it? And can they store it?”

Mostly, though, she said it was “time to stop talking about generations. Generations are an invention.”

Hammond said that even Pew Research “is changing how they’re reporting on generations, to the extent that they will only use generational data when it has very strict applicability to what they’re talking about.”

And when it comes to “anything that falls into a high spend, or discretionary income category,” age data is not particularly helpful.

Instead, said Hammond, it’s more important to look at intention, lifestyle, motivation and values. “How does my life work and what impact does that have on how I purchase and the problems I’m trying to solve? What are our core values and how does that tie into purchases?”

Understanding motivation is extremely important for luxury marketing, because “it’s really the foundation of the personalised experience. What does this buyer want? How do I present that to them and how do I do it in such a way that allows them to feel catered to?”

Then there is intention. “Why are we choosing to purchase fine wine? Do we want the gain of an asset that doesn’t have capital gains tax on it? Do we want it because we want to impress a girl or a boss or a boy?”

Or are people buying for status?

What marketers also need to consider is that consumers don’t exist in isolation. There are many people who will influence the decisions they make. Parents, for example, may be doing more than transferring wealth — they may be transferring ideas about what taste is and how it should manifest, in what Hammond called the “intergenerational transmission of luxury purchasing”.

And then there are core values, or what people believe. “There is a lot of ambiguity around this, as there is with any discussion of sustainability, because there is much rhetoric that says GenZ is heavily influenced by products that have strong sustainability values,” Hammond went on. “This is not always translating into purchasing, but we do see value-based brands.”

At the end of Hammond’s presentation, the participants on the call quickly jumped in with their own experiences and insights — and there was a loud chorus of agreement that it’s important to look at how knowledge and values are transmitted.

“In our research, we ask people, ‘How did you get into this?’ And it’s usually somebody who introduced them to it,” said another participant.

Over the next two hours, there was a lively discussion about who is drinking wine, how they discovered it, and how they can be understood. And nearly all of it was positive.

Talk to the experts, and it turns out young people are very interested in fine wine.

All of their insights will be available in the next articles in this series.

Additional Resources