Listed below is a link to a recent post on the SmartBlog site for Food and Beverage. This post starts out with the fact that. although boomers remain the biggest overall spenders on wine, millennials are now the fastest-growing group of wine drinkers. It then details several suggestions on how to better market to this segment, of which a couple of items stood out for me:

Gen Y drinkers are not afraid to try new things and are very explorative. According to research sited from Napa Technology, older buyers tend to stick with familiar varietals and vintages but millennials are more than willing to experiment. One example mentioned is that this age group has helped broaden the market for malbecs and other Argentinean varietals.

Another point made is that millennials also are on the lookout for wines that come with a story, especially about where it’s sourced. When traveling, they will look for wines from the general area they are visiting  (and this relates to local craft beers and food as well).

One reason this piece caught my attention is that we recently delivered a wine fixture to a customer, Sugarland Cellars in Gatlinburg, TN, that directly addresses both points. The display is located in a high-visibility spot within the winery’s  retail store and showcases recent  and popular wines. The winery and store is located right at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and one of this company’s goals, in addition to sharing their passion for winemaking, is to share stories about the local area. This display provides an excellent fit to this merchandising strategy.

Links:

SmartBlog on Food and Beverage:  The Art of Marketing Wine to Millenials

When in Gatlinburg, TN, visit Sugarland Cellars