ICCWS: Millennials have a thirst for cool climate wines

By Andrew Catchpole, Jo Gilbert

Published: 03 June, 2016

As climate change pushes viticulture further and further towards the poles, a similar shift is happening to the type of wine consumer and the types of wines they are consuming.

As climate change pushes viticulture further and further towards the poles, a similar shift is happening to the type of wine consumer - and the types of wines they are consuming.

At various emerging cool climate seminars at last week's ICCWS, experts presented on how the warming world is continuing to open up the possibility of new viticulture regions and how these in turn can open up new opportunities for the trade - in particular to millennials, who are lapping up emerging regions with gusto.

Indeed, the speed at which climate change is occurring and the impact that this is having on the frontiers of viticulture, was illustrated by Professor Hans Schultz of Geisenheim.

He said: "[There has been a] +1 degree temperature change from 1950 to the present, meaning new areas now have average temperatures of 13 to 15 degrees during the April to October growing season (in the northern hemisphere), with these new areas clearly moving to the north, and opening up coastal zones even further north."

To further illustrate the point, it was revealed that the mean temperature in Oxford is now as consistently high as Geisenheim was during the 1980s, and Gothenburg in turn is as warm as Oxford was in the 1980s.

Cool climate California near the Sonoma Coast Cool climate California near the Sonoma Coast

The major point, though, is that the warming world is continuing to open up an approach to consumption defined by the consumer themselves, with millennials the globe over wanting choices that reflect their own sense of independence and discovery.

Richard Halstead, chief operating officer of global research company Wine Intelligence, connected the dots.

Young people drinking

He outlined how modern, under-35 consumers consume quite differently to an older wine-drinking generation, whether in the US, Europe or China.

Buzzwords included "instant", "immersive", "devotion" and "custom" all pointing to a desire for fascination and discovery.

However, Steve Charters MW from Burgundy Business School, questioned whether this sense of discovery will only lead to affinities for regions which are transient, and encourage fads rather than form lasting connections.

"Our wine drinking culture has grown up over a long period, but China has emerged in the past 15 years," he said. "It's completely new and one of things that happens with rapidly emerging markets is that you tend to get trends rather than loyalty - and I'd question whether devotion leads to long-term devotion.

"I'm still drinking the same wine from France as I was 30 years ago. Emerging markets are not like that."

He added: "Millennials drink socially in small groups. We need to listen more to what they want rather than try and proscribe. "

For the full report on the ICCWS and the impact climate change is having on winemaking across the globe, click here.

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