Wine consumers: the forgotten 40s, 50s and even 60s

Looking at the large number of wine influencers out there you might reasonably conclude that no-one over the age of 40 is remotely interested in wine. Hardly anyone of their generation is talking to them online.

Are they going to take advice from influencers who are scarcely older than their kids? Maybe but most likely not.

Sure, there are reasons for this state of affairs

It’s well documented that younger consumers are not massively into wine so from the wine industry’s point of view they need to be encouraged to drink more.

Who can reach them best? Wine communicators of their own age using media, mainly Instagram and TikTok which the communicators are adept at operating and with which their audience feels comfortably familiar. They are basically more influenceable in other words.

They’re also more open minded and most likely willing to spend more than older consumers whose purchases are largely driven by reputation or cost.

But they don’t buy as much as millenials (consumers born between 1980 and the mid to late 90s) or boomers. According to Richard Halstead, COO of Wine Intelligence in a Drinks Business interview a couple of years ago, wine-drinking millennials tend “to be participating in the wine category because they are really into wine”, adding that “this age group were confident in their knowledge, keen to try different wines, and willing to spend more per bottle on average than those over 55 years old.”

True, the ongoing popularity of prosecco, Provence rosé, New Zealand sauvignon blanc and malbec suggests that once a certain type of customer has found a wine they enjoy they’ll keep on buying it though there was a time when none of these wines was as popular as they are now. (Remember Aussie chardonnay?) It’s easy to forget that things change.

But what about families in their ‘40s with young kids who don’t have the time, money and opportunity to go out as much as they used to so cook, entertain and buy wine to drink at home?

What about the empty nesters in their 50s and 60s, free to travel and open to new experiences which might include drinking unfamiliar wines?

And what about the cookbook buyers of which there are still many judging by the number of titles that are released each year? If you take the trouble to make a time consuming recipe why wouldn’t you want to know the type of wine that would go with it best - in a price bracket that you can afford?

The truth is - as it always has been - that there are different types of consumer: young, old and middle-aged. Collectors and bargain-hunters. Consumers who care about sustainability and others who are driven purely by price but in my career as a wine writer I’ve never seen so much attention devoted to a single demographic.

It’s a bit like when the entire wine world was chasing Chinese sales only to find the bottom falling out of the market. And it’s never quite recovered.

The analytics on my Instagram accounts (@food_writer and @fibeckett_winematcher if you’d like to follow me) shows my posts are mainly reaching millennials, Gen X and younger boomers which is unsurprising given my own age but these people are scrolling instagram too. And they probably have more disposable income and are more willing to spend it on wine than younger consumers.

The old media still largely fields writers who have years of experience. Jancis Robinson of the FT, Jane McQuitty of the Times and In a younger age group, Victoria Moore of the Telegraph to name three.

For many consumers buying wine is a question of trust rather than quick fix entertainment.

Of course the world moves on but why throw the baby out with the bathwater?  Given the general downturn in wine sales I’d say the trade ignores the older consumer at their peril

Do you agree that producers and promotional bodies ignore the over 35s or do you think they don’t need our help?

Top image by Atelier211 at shutterstock.com

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