SENSORY PROFILE – MILLENNIAL WINE CONSUMERS

SENSORY PROFILE – MILLENNIAL WINE CONSUMERS

Sensory Study Of Young Wine Consumers In North America

For years the wine industry has tried to figure out the next generation wine consumer. Millennials, specifically, are an important cohort that is larger than the baby boomer generation on whose shoulders the industry flourished. Unless millennials embrace wine in a more significant way, the industry’s struggle to grow will likely persist.

A new Quini wine consumer sensory?report?sheds light on what the North American millennial wine drinker likes and dislikes.

The report, delivered as an interactive analytics experience rather than the traditional verbiage plus chart images format, allows for filtering data in a number of ways including by blind or non blind tasting, geographic region, gender, drinker wine experience, varietal, wine type, winery or product.

Here are some key insight from the report, titled MILLENNIALS – Sensory Study of Young Wine Consumers, North America, 2022.

FEMALE CONSUMERS HAVE LOWER EXPECTATIONS OF WINE PRODUCTS?– Female millennials are almost twice as likely to refrain from setting expectations on a wine, than male drinkers. They also have lower expectations overall, of a wine.

Millennial female drinkers have lower expectations of wines presented to them.

AUSTRALIA REIGNS?– On average, wines from Australia get rated at the top by millennials, albeit marginally ahead of United States wines. New Zealand wines rank third.

COUNT MORE ON MALE DRINKERS TO SPREAD THE WORD?– Male millennial drinkers, on average, are slightly more open to recommending a wine, than young female drinkers.

Male wine consumers are more likely to tell others about a wine they enjoy.

FLORAL NOTES ARE KEY TO TASTE PREFERENCE IN RED AND ROSE WINES?– Floral forward taste impression is associated with higher mouth appeal average scores by millennials for red and rose wines, but not for white wines.

Floral notes on the palate drive millennial drinker preference in red and rose wines.

MORE FEMALE MILLENNIALS PARTICIPATE IN QUINI DIGITAL WINE TASTINGS?– Of eleven major US and Canadian markets included in the analysis, more women attended Quini digital wine tastings than men did. In nine markets, the ratio of female wine tasters was between 51 percent to 70 percent. Five of those cities boasted a higher than 60 percent female to male ratio.

More female wine consumers engage in digital wine tastings than male consumers.

CARAMEL, FLORAL, FRUITY AND NUTTY FLAVOURS APPEAL TO YOUNG RED WINE DRINKERS?– These flavours are associated with higher mouth appeal, amongst millennial wine tasters. Honey and chocolate correlate the highest with mouth appeal within the Caramel flavours category on Quini, while almond and walnut lead in the Nutty category. Also for reds, in the floral group on Quini, bergamot leads, followed by general floral notes.

IN RED WINE, CHEESE, YEAST, SHERRY, AGED AND FRESH VEGETAL FLAVOURS NOT MILLENNIAL FAVOURITES?– Other flavours that millennial drinkers often associate with lower red wine ratings on Quini include butter, prepared vegetal, black pepper and mushroom, among others.

Red wine taste notes associated with mouth appeal average scores.

WHITE WINE DRINKERS FAVOUR NOTES OF WALNUT, CHOCOLATE, SHERRY AND BERRY?– Other preferred notes include hazelnut, butterscotch, orange blossom, woody and anise, among others.

IN RED AND ROSE WINES BLENDS RANK HIGHER THAN SINGLE VARIETAL WINES?– The top two rated varietals in the red and rose categories are blends. In the white wine category, the top two are single varietals, namely Muscat Ottonel, followed by Riesling, driven mostly by male drinker preference. Notably, when isolating female drinker tasting data, Riesling drops out of the top ten most preferred white wine varietals.

METHODOLOGY

We analyzed sensory and attitudinal feedback from nearly 600 millennial consumers in the United States and Canada. The group included people who drink wine regularly but also those relatively new to wine. The analysis covers over 200 different high volume wines and nearly 6,000 individual Quini wine reviews completed by Quini wine consumer panelists using the Quini wine tasting and rating application. Data coverage included multiple metro markets, namely Seattle, Los Angeles, Tampa, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Houston, Boston, Toronto and Vancouver.

The report looks into market leading high volume brands including Josh, J., Meiomi, Ferrari Carano, Decoy, Talbott, 19 Crimes, Twisted, Carnivor, Apothic, La Marca, Cambria, Kendall Jackson, Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Gray Monk, Jacob’s Creek, Mission Hill, Open and many others.

The report is delivered in an interactive analytics dashboard format that features extensive data filtering and charts.

MEDIA RELATIONS

Media may obtain further details and data breakdowns by contacting Quini media relations at [email protected].

Content and images may be reused with credit to Quini?.