Millennials & Varietals
From this months Wine Spectator online, comes this concept of a no-varietal generation. Interesting enough that we in the wine business should probably take pains to think about and let it percolate in.
"Red blends in particular, most notably those coming from California, have seen a boom in recent years, both in volume and diversity, as Wine Spectator sister publication Market Watch reports. In years past, blends might have been identified as a Cabernet-Merlot or Shiraz-Grenache; now they bear names like Apothic's "Dark" or "Crush" and Ménage à Trois' "Silk" and "Midnight" that hint at a style. These popular brands, in the $15 and under range, have developed a solid Millennial customer base.
At a higher price point, and possibly attracting the older and more affluent subset of the generation, are wines like The Prisoner and Orin Swift's California reds, Machete and Abstract, which take a similar approach of not putting the grapes front and center. "[It] allows us the freedom to not be constrained by a single varietal, affording us the opportunity to make the best wine possible and maintain consistency from vintage to vintage," said Orin Swift winemaker Dave Phinney, who launched both brands before selling them, respectively, to Constellation and E. & J. Gallo, who have been expanding them. Phinney believes that while young wine drinkers do want to know the grapes, their focus is more on the quality of the wine, and that they're always willing to try new things."
