It’s The Economy, Stupid
When I first started working in the wine and spirits industry back in 2007, I had already missed the boat for Bordeaux. Whereas most of my older colleagues had already built cellars around $40 bottles of Pichon Baron and $25 bottles of Haut Bailly, I was facing anywhere between $75 - $150 per bottle for wines of a similar quality. No matter how much I wanted to partake, I was limited by my wallet (similar to first-time home buyers today).
Budding Scotch and Bourbon drinkers are in the same situation today. The single malt bottles that I was able to buy for $100 fifteen years ago are now $1000 or more, which is why fewer young people are drinking single malts. The categories that have stayed somewhat affordable—like American whiskey—are now dominated by secondary market flippers. Brands like Pappy Van Winkle and Weller are still incredibly affordable, if you can find them for standard MSRP—which you can’t. Once prices for mature Bourbon fall in line with market expectations, you can expect to see a deeper decline in actual consumption.
So when I started perusing through the causes and comments in today’s New York Times article about the decline in millennial wine consumption and what it means for the industry, it was interesting to see the variety of explanations. Some people think it’s simply due to a lack of interest in wine from younger people, and perhaps a greater interest in cannabis. Others think it’s due to a healthier, more socially-conscious way of living with the kids today. But I know the real answer, and it’s the same reason that subsequent generations are choosing to eschew all sorts of undertakings that were previously taken for granted: MONEY.
There’s a reason the phrase “OK boomer” took off after Chlöe Swarbrick brilliantly retorted to a heckling older colleague. It’s the perfect answer to just about any disgruntled prejudice concerning young people today from older generations who were able to take advantage of a more affordable era of living.
Why don’t you just work while you go to college rather than take out expensive loans? OK boomer, college costs 50x now what it did back then.
Why don’t you save your money and buy a house instead of rent? OK boomer, housing prices are astronomical.
Why don’t you learn about about the great wines of France and Napa, then start building a little wine collection? OK boomer, those wines are literally 10 - 30x more expensive today than they were just a few decades ago.
Why aren’t millennials interested in diamonds? Why aren’t millennials investing in stocks? Why aren’t millennials having kids?
It’s the economy, stupid!!!
I’m part of Generation X, so I’m not being defensive about the criticism being leveled upon millennials. I’m simply tired of older generations being completely out of touch with what’s happening and giving their completely irrelevant opinions about things they don’t get. Millennials and Gen Z drinkers don’t hate wine as much as they hate being expected to fall in line with a system that no longer takes into account their economic well-being.
Do the great chateaux of Bordeaux expect today’s 25 year olds to pay $1000 for a case of wine they can’t drink or even look at for the next twenty years, when they’re $30,000 deep in collegiate debt?
Do the fine winemakers of Napa believe that 30 year olds still living at home with their parents are doing so in order to fund their expensive wine habits? These generations can barely afford to pay rent in today’s market, let alone more than $10 for a bottle of wine.
As a wine and spirits retailer, if I was able to curate a dinner event showcasing the great wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Brunello, and Barolo, for prices that these kids could actually afford, I’d have millennials and Gen Zers lining up outside my shop, as I slowly turned them into budding wine drinkers. But I can’t even afford most of those bottles today myself, so how in the hell am I supposed to inspire kids with less money than I have?
You want today’s younger generations to step up and continue the traditions of the previous ones? Give them the economic feasibility to do so. Let them buy the great wines of Napa for the same prices that young boomers once paid.
Otherwise, shut the fuck up.
No generation wants to be the sad-eyed kid looking in, nose pressed against the window, watching the upper classes drink Latour and Petrus, knowing they’ll never be able to afford that experience. It’s condescending and demoralizing. As a result, millennials aren’t standing in line, pining for a tiny taste of what previous generations were able to enjoy. They’re finding other ways to enjoy themselves.
-David Driscoll