How Millennials are Changing the Wine Industry

(FoxBusiness) - The face behind the wine glass is looking a lot younger.

The Millennial generation, which includes the youngest legal drinkers, is consuming more wine than previous generations when they turned 21, and the industry is taking note.

“Millennials are storming the wine market and they want adventure and demand more transparency and authenticity from winemakers,” says Rowan Gormley, CEO of Naked Wines, who estimates that one-third of his costumers are of this generation.

Wine makers and distributors across the U.S. say they are seeing more demand from Millennials, and to help attract and maintain this demographic that will continue to become of legal age they are changing the types of wine they produce, how they market their brand and how they connect with their customers.

“Historically, wine has been marketed to older generations and came with a huge pretense,” says Melissa Saunders, owner of wine importer Communal Brands. “But this generation is blowing all of that out of the water. They don’t care about the pretentiousness of a wine, they want something that is authentic and speaks to them. This is a huge marketing opportunity.”