Cool Booze...

05 Sep 2019

Forget natural or low intervention wines, what people want is “cool booze”
Hang on, it sounds like you've been having far too good a summer. What do you mean?
Don't worry this is not a rant about legalising cannabis and opening up new pot bars everywhere. It's about how can wine become part of every day people's lives by being, well, “cooler” and certainly more fun (in a Portman Group-approving way). In the same way craft beer has taken over the “fun” part of going out for a beer with mates. With all its off-beat names, wacky designs, and cans that make you look so much “cooler” just by holding them. Wine by contrast, once it is in the glass, all looks just the same.
What do you want, more different colours of wine?
No, we're fine with white, red, rosé and fizzy. It's how relevant those different styles of wine are to people that really counts. What can we do to make them as cool as craft beer, or a super-stylish cocktail? For some, wine is already well on the road to discovery. All the coolest wine bars and restaurants are all focused on one thing. Low intervention wines. Be they natural, sulphur-free or biodynamic. They are just different. Wines with a purpose, a meaning, a reason to buy. But does it mean the people buying them are suddenly interested in how they are made? Did they want to know why the American Red IPA they have just finished tastes the way it does? Or did it just make them feel good, and look cool drinking it?
 
“We can't just rely on the 40 year+ age groups to keep the wine market going. For even the middle-aged want to be seen as cool too.”
 
But surely people who buy natural wines are more interested in wine than those who just buy supermarket own label?
Let's ask Tim Wildman MW who first started making pet nat wines in Australia five years ago, when a bet ended up with him changing careers to be a full time winemaker. He's not on any road to wine Damascus, but wanted to make a style of wine he loves and get as many people as he can loving it too. He says the natural wine bar scene in Australia, particularly in parts of Melbourne and Sydney, has exploded not because there are thousands of wine geeks wanting to worship the lack of sulphur. They just want to hang out in hip and happening places and, as he says, “drink cool booze”.
That does sound like fun. So how's he doing?
Well, he can claim to be the UK's biggest importer of Australian pet nat wines and was one of the first producers in Australia. Where he has really cut through is with the names of his wines. Astro Bunny and Heavy Pétting. Wines that sound more like craft beers than craft wine. “I wanted names that you don't need to know about wine to enjoy, that sum up what it's like to taste them,” he says. “All it says on the label is Astro Bunny and pet nat. Most wine names are all looking backwards to how the wine was made and where it comes from. Look at craft beer with all its sour beers and harsher flavours. It's great for people who want to enjoy themselves when they are out and that's where I come from.”
How can the mainstream wine market become “cool booze”?
If you spend too much time on Twitter then chances are you will come across the regular debates that US wine digital expert, Paul Mabray (@pmabray), of Emetry is having. He's usually trying to convince those from the more purist side of the wine trade to wake up to the power of online, digital and appealing direct to consumers. The conversation normally falls at the first hurdle when “wine twitter” believes the key to winning over new consumers is all about telling the story of wine, about how, where and why a particular wine has been made. Mabray disagrees. Everyday, non-engaged wine drinkers are not interested in any of that. They just “don't care as much as we want them to,” he says. Instead we need to invest our time and imagination into making wine content and marketing that is relevant, personal and yes, “cool”, to the people we want to buy it. “We live in the experience economy,” adds Mabray. “We all love experiences. They are our ‘like' dollars.”
 

Yes, but we are not selling the latest hip line of trainers here. This is wine. It needs to be shown some respect?
It does, but it also most definitely doesn't if we want to get more young people into drinking wine. We have all seen the demographics that show those who are just coming into drinking age, don't see wine as cool. Older millennials are not making the switch to wine either, lured over to more premium, exotic spirits, cocktails and, yes, craft beers. We can't just rely on the 40 year+ age groups to keep the wine market going. For even the middle-aged want to be seen as cool, too.
Speak for yourself. But how does all this talk turn wine into “cool booze”?
It's already happening. It just depends on your definition of “cool”. It does not need to be all about natural wines starting at £10 a glass. Look at Treasury Wine Estates' 19 Crimes. It's not about the wine. It's about the label, the experience of seeing it come alive on your smartphone. Californian winemaker, Orin Swift, might make very good quality wines, but the reason E&J Gallo spent millions of dollars acquiring his brands is they have cult, almost Tarantino-esque appeal. Wines that are more about what they look like, the iconographic labels and how it makes people feel buying them. It's just the same for those who only drink fine Bordeaux clarets. Do they know or care how the wine was made? It's the name on the label that makes them feel good. Just like those in a nightclub splashing out on Armand de Brignac, or staying at home with friends enjoying Whispering Angel, or an episode of Killing Eve with I Heart Prosecco. When it comes to “cool booze” it's all about finding the drink that makes you happy, makes you feel comfortable and relaxed. A drink you can have some fun with too. Simple as that.

 

On the Grapevine
We take a look behind the headlines of the major news stories and assess what impact they
may have on the trade
 
Be cool, be in with Generation Z
 

You really need to be sipping the Kool-Aid if you want to have any chance of talking and engaging with Generation Z, or the i-Generation - all those of drinking age born after 1995. Interestingly this is a consumer group that is more likely to want to know how a particular wine is made. Not from a geeky point of view, but is it healthy and safe to drink? They will also go the extra mile to check you out. Forbes research claims 80% of Gen Zers in the US will research a product online before purchase. This includes going much further than a brand's website, but following its social media pages, and finding out what other Gen Zers think about it. A study by the Cassandra Report claims that up to a third of Gen Zers want to see more wine advertising online, the edgier the better. Interestingly a study by the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University found that when Gen Zen wine drinkers were asked to describe wine, 90% said it was "pleasurable," 83% "delicious", and 81% "fun." Only 19% thought it was "confusing," and 15% "snooty."

 
Top 10 ways to make wine cool - by Gen Z
 

The Sonoma State University study also went as far as asking the Generation Z wine drinkers what advice they would give producers to make wine more appealing to them. Top of the top 10 suggestions was to target them online on the channels they watch - YouTube and Instagram. Be it straight ads, amusing, informative videos or creative food and wine pairings on Instagram. They want to be entertained. Next came more funky and edgy packaging and designs. But with labels that make it much clearer about what wine is inside. So less wine info, more about what it tastes like. Make wine education easy, too. Just give us the basics to help us enjoy what we drink. Then came the chance to taste more, better free samples in-store, and more ways to try before you buy. They also want to see better quality wines at events and festivals. Finally they want more wines that are good for you, lower in alcohol, less sugar and calories, no gluten, you name it. Get half those right and you will have Gen Zers picking up your bottles.

 
What's the next big thing...in spirits?
 

OK this may not strictly be about wine, but whenever has Grapevine ever been constrained by that? Here's a clue as to what could become the next big thing to hit the back bar in the coming months and years. Distill Ventures, the accelerator drinks company that works with Diageo to invest in new brand ideas that they believe have global appeal, is placing its bets on...wait for it...New World whiskies. Now that might not sound too radical, but if you are working with spirits how many New World whiskies do you have in your range, or have you seen on a back bar recently? For all the hype around Distill Ventures it works very slowly and painstakingly with only a selection of brands. Since it was launched in 2013 it has only brought 15 brands to market and only two, Seedlip, the breakthrough non-alcoholic spirit, and Belsazar, a German vermouth, have actually been bought and become part of Diageo's business. It now believes it can do the same with New World whiskies and has two on its books, Melbourne-based whisky producer, Starward, and American single malt whiskey, Westward. So if you are looking to expand your spirits and whisky repertoire then head to the New World.

 
How points mean prizes at Boisdale
 

We're constantly being told that print is dead and you don't exist if you are not online. But chances are you have spent some of the summer lost in a book, or delving into magazines picked up at the airport, for there is nothing quite like immersing yourselves in columns of good old fashioned print. It's also deeply personable. It's that connection which Ronald Macdonald, founder of the Bosidale group of restaurants in London, wants to latch on to with the long-term, on-going success of his own lifestyle magazine, Boisdale Life. A serious publication in its own right, with a circulation of 100,000, that many national magazines would be proud of. It also has a unique way of attracting some of the best writers, commentators, politicians, and columnists around to write for it in exchange for what are known as “Boisdale points”. A point equals a pound for every word you write, that can only be redeemed by coming to Boisdale to enjoy some top quality food, wine, whisky and live music. A great way of attracting top, and loyal, clientele to your restaurants. “It comes out once a quarter and we have been doing it for years. It's all about creating a sense of what Boisdale is all about. A place to come and relax, enjoy yourself, meet friends, new people and have some fun.” And we could all certainly do with having more fun in our lives.

Forget natural or low intervention wines, what people want is “cool booze”

Hang on, it sounds like you've been having far too good a summer. What do you mean?

Don't worry this is not a rant about legalising cannabis and opening up new pot bars everywhere. It's about how can wine become part of every day people's lives by being, well, “cooler” and certainly more fun (in a Portman Group-approving way). In the same way craft beer has taken over the “fun” part of going out for a beer with mates. With all its off-beat names, wacky designs, and cans that make you look so much “cooler” just by holding them. Wine by contrast, once it is in the glass, all looks just the same.

What do you want, more different colours of wine?

No, we're fine with white, red, rosé and fizzy. It's how relevant those different styles of wine are to people that really counts. What can we do to make them as cool as craft beer, or a super-stylish cocktail? For some, wine is already well on the road to discovery. All the coolest wine bars and restaurants are all focused on one thing. Low intervention wines. Be they natural, sulphur-free or biodynamic. They are just different. Wines with a purpose, a meaning, a reason to buy. But does it mean the people buying them are suddenly interested in how they are made? Did they want to know why the American Red IPA they have just finished tastes the way it does? Or did it just make them feel good, and look cool drinking it?

 

“We can't just rely on the 40 year+ age groups to keep the wine market going. For even the middle-aged want to be seen as cool too.”

 

But surely people who buy natural wines are more interested in wine than those who just buy supermarket own label?

Let's ask Tim Wildman MW who first started making pet nat wines in Australia five years ago, when a bet ended up with him changing careers to be a full time winemaker. He's not on any road to wine Damascus, but wanted to make a style of wine he loves and get as many people as he can loving it too. He says the natural wine bar scene in Australia, particularly in parts of Melbourne and Sydney, has exploded not because there are thousands of wine geeks wanting to worship the lack of sulphur. They just want to hang out in hip and happening places and, as he says, “drink cool booze”.

That does sound like fun. So how's he doing?

Well, he can claim to be the UK's biggest importer of Australian pet nat wines and was one of the first producers in Australia. Where he has really cut through is with the names of his wines. Astro Bunny and Heavy Pétting. Wines that sound more like craft beers than craft wine. “I wanted names that you don't need to know about wine to enjoy, that sum up what it's like to taste them,” he says. “All it says on the label is Astro Bunny and pet nat. Most wine names are all looking backwards to how the wine was made and where it comes from. Look at craft beer with all its sour beers and harsher flavours. It's great for people who want to enjoy themselves when they are out and that's where I come from.”

How can the mainstream wine market become “cool booze”?

If you spend too much time on Twitter then chances are you will come across the regular debates that US wine digital expert, Paul Mabray (@pmabray), of Emetry is having. He's usually trying to convince those from the more purist side of the wine trade to wake up to the power of online, digital and appealing direct to consumers. The conversation normally falls at the first hurdle when “wine twitter” believes the key to winning over new consumers is all about telling the story of wine, about how, where and why a particular wine has been made. Mabray disagrees. Everyday, non-engaged wine drinkers are not interested in any of that. They just “don't care as much as we want them to,” he says. Instead we need to invest our time and imagination into making wine content and marketing that is relevant, personal and yes, “cool”, to the people we want to buy it. “We live in the experience economy,” adds Mabray. “We all love experiences. They are our ‘like' dollars.”

Yes, but we are not selling the latest hip line of trainers here. This is wine. It needs to be shown some respect?

It does, but it also most definitely doesn't if we want to get more young people into drinking wine. We have all seen the demographics that show those who are just coming into drinking age, don't see wine as cool. Older millennials are not making the switch to wine either, lured over to more premium, exotic spirits, cocktails and, yes, craft beers. We can't just rely on the 40 year+ age groups to keep the wine market going. For even the middle-aged want to be seen as cool, too.

Speak for yourself. But how does all this talk turn wine into “cool booze”?

It's already happening. It just depends on your definition of “cool”. It does not need to be all about natural wines starting at £10 a glass. Look at Treasury Wine Estates' 19 Crimes. It's not about the wine. It's about the label, the experience of seeing it come alive on your smartphone. Californian winemaker, Orin Swift, might make very good quality wines, but the reason E&J Gallo spent millions of dollars acquiring his brands is they have cult, almost Tarantino-esque appeal. Wines that are more about what they look like, the iconographic labels and how it makes people feel buying them. It's just the same for those who only drink fine Bordeaux clarets. Do they know or care how the wine was made? It's the name on the label that makes them feel good. Just like those in a nightclub splashing out on Armand de Brignac, or staying at home with friends enjoying Whispering Angel, or an episode of Killing Eve with I Heart Prosecco. When it comes to “cool booze” it's all about finding the drink that makes you happy, makes you feel comfortable and relaxed. A drink you can have some fun with too. Simple as that.

 

On the Grapevine

We take a look behind the headlines of the major news stories and assess what impact they
may have on the trade

 

 

Be cool, be in with Generation Z

You really need to be sipping the Kool-Aid if you want to have any chance of talking and engaging with Generation Z, or the i-Generation - all those of drinking age born after 1995. Interestingly this is a consumer group that is more likely to want to know how a particular wine is made. Not from a geeky point of view, but is it healthy and safe to drink? They will also go the extra mile to check you out. Forbes research claims 80% of Gen Zers in the US will research a product online before purchase. This includes going much further than a brand's website, but following its social media pages, and finding out what other Gen Zers think about it. A study by the Cassandra Report claims that up to a third of Gen Zers want to see more wine advertising online, the edgier the better. Interestingly a study by the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University found that when Gen Zen wine drinkers were asked to describe wine, 90% said it was "pleasurable," 83% "delicious", and 81% "fun." Only 19% thought it was "confusing," and 15% "snooty."

 

Top 10 ways to make wine cool - by Gen Z

The Sonoma State University study also went as far as asking the Generation Z wine drinkers what advice they would give producers to make wine more appealing to them. Top of the top 10 suggestions was to target them online on the channels they watch - YouTube and Instagram. Be it straight ads, amusing, informative videos or creative food and wine pairings on Instagram. They want to be entertained. Next came more funky and edgy packaging and designs. But with labels that make it much clearer about what wine is inside. So less wine info, more about what it tastes like. Make wine education easy, too. Just give us the basics to help us enjoy what we drink. Then came the chance to taste more, better free samples in-store, and more ways to try before you buy. They also want to see better quality wines at events and festivals. Finally they want more wines that are good for you, lower in alcohol, less sugar and calories, no gluten, you name it. Get half those right and you will have Gen Zers picking up your bottles.

 

What's the next big thing...in spirits?

OK this may not strictly be about wine, but whenever has Grapevine ever been constrained by that? Here's a clue as to what could become the next big thing to hit the back bar in the coming months and years. Distill Ventures, the accelerator drinks company that works with Diageo to invest in new brand ideas that they believe have global appeal, is placing its bets on...wait for it...New World whiskies. Now that might not sound too radical, but if you are working with spirits how many New World whiskies do you have in your range, or have you seen on a back bar recently? For all the hype around Distill Ventures it works very slowly and painstakingly with only a selection of brands. Since it was launched in 2013 it has only brought 15 brands to market and only two, Seedlip, the breakthrough non-alcoholic spirit, and Belsazar, a German vermouth, have actually been bought and become part of Diageo's business. It now believes it can do the same with New World whiskies and has two on its books, Melbourne-based whisky producer, Starward, and American single malt whiskey, Westward. So if you are looking to expand your spirits and whisky repertoire then head to the New World.

 

How points mean prizes at Boisdale

We're constantly being told that print is dead and you don't exist if you are not online. But chances are you have spent some of the summer lost in a book, or delving into magazines picked up at the airport, for there is nothing quite like immersing yourselves in columns of good old fashioned print. It's also deeply personable. It's that connection which Ronald Macdonald, founder of the Bosidale group of restaurants in London, wants to latch on to with the long-term, on-going success of his own lifestyle magazine, Boisdale Life. A serious publication in its own right, with a circulation of 100,000, that many national magazines would be proud of. It also has a unique way of attracting some of the best writers, commentators, politicians, and columnists around to write for it in exchange for what are known as “Boisdale points”. A point equals a pound for every word you write, that can only be redeemed by coming to Boisdale to enjoy some top quality food, wine, whisky and live music. A great way of attracting top, and loyal, clientele to your restaurants. “It comes out once a quarter and we have been doing it for years. It's all about creating a sense of what Boisdale is all about. A place to come and relax, enjoy yourself, meet friends, new people and have some fun.” And we could all certainly do with having more fun in our lives.