An Untapped Market:: Young Adults that Drink Wine

There are still quite a few "untapped markets" in the business world: housewives who do aerobics at home is still an untapped market...pet owners who cremate their deceased animals has yet to realize its full potential....and certainly convincing young adults that drinking wine is "cool" has GOT to be one of the last great frontiers in marketing. Why? Because it's a past- time that has yet to come of age.

In the United States it's almost a forgivable sin. In the 20 - 25 year-old age group most young adults still drink beer. And a large percentage of that number is still drinking with the intent of getting drunk. But in a lot of other worldwide locations where wine is accepted and typically consumed with the mid-day or evening meal, the lack of new wine-drinkers is an odd paradox. In fact, according to an article in Wine.com (www.wine.co.za) in a study of 100 occasional wine drinkers aged 20-25 (20 each in London, Paris, Brussels, New York and Tokyo), focus group participants said they are curious about wine, but deterred by too many choices and styles, complex labeling and an image that many young professionals consider "stuffy."

There may be some truth to those results, but at the same time, another focus group -- according to Decanter.com (www.decanter.com) -- found that in a study of over five hundred 18-25 year olds, the vast majority were interested in wine, and eager to learn more.