In a move that many will consider as entirely politically motivated, Russia has announced that imports of all Ukranian alcohol products, including beer and wine, were banned as of last Friday, August 15th. The reason given is becasue of labelling inaccuracies, but the ban is strangely reminiscent of the ban placed on Georgian wines, beers and spirits in 2008, just as tensions increased and a minor war broke out over the breakaway Russian-leaning regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Then, health and safety fears were cited as the reason, but few doubted the real motivation for the ban.
America’s 29 million “Millennial” generation wine drinkers are set to reshape the US wine market into a more diverse and culturally mainstream sector, according to a new report published by Wine Intelligence. Monthly wine drinkers under the age of 35 now account for over 30% of the American wine drinking population, and have grown in both size and influence over the past five years. Researchers found a large disparity in terms of behavior and attitude among younger drinkers. The highest involved group, dubbed “Epicureans”, exhibited high spending, high frequency of consumption and involvement in other aspects of the category, such as wine tourism. At the other end of the scale the low involved wine drinkers (known as “Peripherals”) saw wine as just another drink, and one which they generally consumed only when their peers were doing so. The research team discovered a correlation between high involvement in wine and whether a bottle made a regular appearance at the family dinner table when these consumers were growing up. The connection with wine at home was a stronger predictor of high involvement in adulthood than any other factor. Lulie Halstead, Chief Executive of Wine Intelligence, said: “As an industry we need to recognise the growing importance of Millennial consumers. It’s also gratifying to refute any theory that involved, engaged wine drinkers are born rather than made. The data strongly points to the influence of parents, in the home, in educating their children on the pleasures of food and wine, and how much of an impact this has on their behaviour as adults”.