LIFE

When millennials go legal, wine is the choice

Geoffrey Wilson
Poughkeepsie Journal

While hanging out with friends, Victoria Meiller enjoys winding down with a glass of wine.

“After a long day at work or when out on an occasion, it’s a really nice way to relax and just to enjoy the evening,” said Meiller, 23, of Pine Plains. “There’s also such a wide variety of local wines that catch my interest, which is fabulous.”

And Meiller isn’t alone.

A wine from Glenora Wine Cellars is poured at the Hudson Valley Food and Wine Fest in Rhinebeck.

With a growing number of millennials reaching the legal drinking age, many are adopting wine as their go-to drink. And these millennial wine drinkers are forging their own path, approaching wine with a different set of standards and values than previous generations.

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Millennials adopted wine drinking much earlier than past generations, said Professor John Fischer of the hospitality and service management department at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

“Millennials dove into wine and have chosen wine as their premier drink,” said Fischer, 55, of Hyde Park.

Geoff Wilson

Similar to trends in craft beer, millennials enjoy variety in their wines. Millennials, which comprise the youngest people of legal drinking age, are more likely to buy new and different drinks, as well as locally made alcoholic beverages, according to Nielsen Holdings.

This holds true with wine, with 23 percent of wine drinkers aged 21 to 34 having purchased more than 10 wine brands in 2014, compared to less than 20 percent among all wine drinkers aged 21 and older, Nielsen reported.

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While partial toward Seyval blanc and other white wines, Meiller said she likes to experiment with different types and flavors.

“I like to be a little daring sometimes and try a different type of wine that might be more fruity or sweet,” Meiller said.

Rather than buy a bottle, Fischer said millennials will order wine by the glass, sampling a variety of types and flavors.

“They’re not focusing on one grape, but they want to try them all,” Fischer said.

Millennials seek out small wineries with a backstory and interesting flavors instead of buying into popular wine brands, Fischer said. Like the craft beer movement, local wineries tend to attract millennials, Meiller included.

“It’s great to see local wines really making a name for themselves,” Meiller said. “I am a big fan of supporting local.”

The trend toward millennial wine drinkers is apparent in Dutchess County, said Stacey Held, tasting room manager at Millbrook Vineyards and Winery. About half of all the tasting room’s visitors are millennials, said Held, 41, of Poughkeepsie.

“They are educated consumers interested in how things are made,” Held said. “They want to get the whole experience and story and not just drink the wine.”

Along with varied tastes, millennial wine drinkers are much more casual about the drink. Rather than reserve wine for a dinner or special occasion, Fischer said millennials enjoy wine as an everyday drink and at parties.

“It’s no longer on the altar, but in the cooler,” Fischer said.

Geoffrey Wilson: gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4882, Twitter: @PoJoGeoffWilson

Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest Coverage

Do you enjoy wine, food and craft beer?

Food and drink reporter Geoffrey Wilson will be covering the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest and the Hudson Valley Craft Beer Fest on Sept 12-13 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck.

If you plan to attend, let us know your thoughts and what topics you’d like to see covered in the food and drink beat.

For live updates throughout the event, follow Wilson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat for posts, photos and videos from both days.

Stop by booth 140 in building D for a chance to win a basket of goodies from the Poughkeepsie Journal by guessing the correct number of wine corks in the jar. Talk to Herb Adams and find out what’s new at Poughkeepsie Journal.  Then walk to the opposite side of the booth where you can spin the prize wheel to win one of several prizes being offered by FoodieHV.com, the area’s newest website on local food, beer and wine.