A New Vintage of Wine Consumers Are Young and Ethnic According to Scarborough Research

A quarter (25 percent) of wine purchasers are between the ages 21-34 and nearly half (45 percent) are between the ages 35-54. The ethnic make-up of wine drinkers closely mirrors the ethnic break-out of the U.S population with 10 percent of wine consumers being African-American and 10 percent Hispanic.

Wine Market Council's 2003 Consumer Tracking Study final report.

Both core and marginal wine drinkers exhibit very positive attitudes about many aspects of wine and wine consumption. For both groups, the highest rated attribute of wine is "makes a good gift," followed closely by "I really like the taste of wine." Consumers also agree that "a good bottle of wine can be bought at retail without spending a lot of money" a conclusion that has been consistently expressed since the first Merrill study in 1994. The high degree of awareness of the positive health effects of moderate wine consumption persists in both core and marginal segments.

Despite sharing many positive opinions about wine with core wine drinkers, marginal wine drinkers continue to express some reservations about wine, or at the very least a lack of comfort with wine that tends to keep their wine consumption frequency low. Freshness and keepability are issues for a majority of marginal wine drinkers that tend to deter them from developing the habit of having an open bottle of wine on hand for by-the-glass enjoyment at home. Other factors such as those involving wine selection and service also impede the evolution of marginal wine drinkers to core wine drinking status.

The overriding conclusion of the Merrill Research tracking study is that the U.S. wine industry now stands at a crossroads. For the first time in thirty years, a new generation of young adults gives evidence of a strong preference for wine as part of their lifestyles. Many of them are entering the category as core wine drinkers. With their significant age-group numbers and their adoption of wine in their mid-twenties, they are a leading indicator of great potential as their cohorts likewise reach adulthood. With adult per capita consumption of table wine now at a twenty-year high, the prospect for continued and rapid growth of demand for wine in the coming decade is significant. At the same time, a shrinking population of marginal wine drinkers and their diminished preference for wine are challenges the industry must meet through cooperative and concerted effort if growth of the market is to be sustained over the long term.

Wine: It's What's With Dinner, Say New Ads

During the past three years, the percentage of core consumers has risen to 12.5 percent, according to the council's latest study. "That's good news," Gillespie said. "It means that more marginal wine drinkers have become core wine drinkers. We can project that, as those core drinkers between the ages of 21 to 29 get older and their disposable income and leisure time increase, so will their wine consumption." Future is rosy for red wine

Red wine is tipped to lead the way in growth, with white and rosé wines also predicted to do well with sales increasing by between 5 and 20%.

Champagne and sparkling wines should also do well after the post-Millennium decline in sales. They may well match – if not overtake – the figures of the white wine sector with a possible rise of around 17.5%.