Wine Labels for Young Wine Consumers

Wine labels are very important for consumers because it is from here that they are going to get the information about the wine that they are ultimately going to buy. The complexity of each label varies a lot according to each country. Labels from the New World are usually very simple to read - they regularly shows the producer, vintage, the name of the wine, grape variety, wine region and country in which the wine is produced. 

 For the costumer, it is easy to read this kind of labels, because they do not need to guess what to expect from the wine. Wines and their labels coming from France and Germany are very difficult to understand because the local wine consumer is expected to know the grape and the style of the wine that she/he is buying. A consumer who has just started to drink wine will not have that kind of knowledge and will probably find it very confusing to choose the wine just by reading the label. 

Because of this - and to expand the target audience - countries from the Old World like Spain and Italy have started to adapt their labels to appear more young and easy to read - and buy - for new consumers. This “young” style originally started to appear in countries like USA and Australia and is now gaining momentum in the more conservative wine countries too. 

Some examples that stand out for me are labels by the Spanish Winery - Gallinas y Focas, with some of their wine labels seemingly drawn by young children; and the Italian Winery Donnafugata, which chose artistic labels that appear more like a masterpiece, not a wine label! 

The innovations do not stop there: labels printed in Braille, like the Spanish Winery Lazarus are gaining popularity among the consumers (blind or not), just for its uniqueness leading curious consumers to want to experience the mystery behind the wines! 

Such innovations are helping more people to get into the wines, because the labels are happy, friendly, interactive, young and the most important: Easy to understand!!! 

So, if you just started to drink wine, and you are not really sure about what kind of wine you are buying – do not worry…the “old world” is beginning to look out for you. Just look for labels that appeal to you – most will usually give you the basics like grape variety etc, but more importantly, even if the wine is not necessarily amazing, at least you will have enjoyed the experience which is often the forgotten part of this entire exercise.

Relationship with Wine: It's Complicated!

How can wine ever hope to compete with drinkers under 30 in some of the most dynamic markets globally? Across Europe, consumers hitting adulthood around the turn of the millennium (aka Generation Y) are choosing beer, cocktails and mixers over wine. Maybe the traditional image of wine is playing against itself. It seems like wine marketers are just failing to connect with the new generation of guzzlers.

French, Italian and Spanish wines for years have been loosing traction with younger drinkers and lagging in the race against beer and spirits. Surprisingly, this is especially true in those traditional, wine producing countries with long established traditions of wine at the dinner table.

Accessibility, risk loving and fun are a few of the sentiments evoked by competing giant brands Red Bull, Coca Cola, Absolute, Bacardi, Budweiser and Dos Equis. They often express humour, friendship, sharing, travel and care free moments. More personalities than brands, these are friends that Gen-Y can identify with. Brands that reflect the values these drinkers recognise and respect. This includes overcoming social boundaries and conventional ways of thinking: ‘Brand Wine’ doesn’t come close. If top brand beers are the friend waiting at the school gates after the final bell sounds, then wine might be the lecturer calling for hush and order as the class heads in the other direction.

Social media can provide some anecdotal insights into values the masses hold dear. For a brand to exist on social media, it must have personality. Browsing some of the most popular You Tube videos of the past years gives some valuable insights into the values we need to nurture as wine communicators.’ Gangnam Style’ Psy, ‘That Really Hurt’ Charlie, The Evolution of Dance mover and shaker, the Don’t Taze Me Bro activist, The Harlem Shake crews and the ‘I Like Turtles’ zombie. These personalities bring spontaneity, originality, novelty, authenticity and a challenge to the status quo. Often this is done with catchy music, cute visuals, humanity and ridicule. Most commonly it’s all about fun.

Relationships grow on shared location, shared time and shared interests. Relationships thrive on shared attitudes and shared humour. Craft Beer in the USA and beyond has seen inspiring growth over the past decade. But Craft Beer isn’t popular as the cool kid at school. It’s the 21 year old dot com millionaire with vision, attitude and direction: The kind of personality that’s welcome at a party of social revolutionaries. So when the world of vine has so many personality wines of poise, attitude and wit, why do we still have issues in telling others about this?

We’d appreciate your thoughts: Which wines evoke that freshness, quirkiness and attitude we need to take us into the next decade?