Wine education in the wine country

6. Students in hospitality school and wine consumption

It seems that young hospitality students face difficulties in learning about wine and that they are not confident enough when entering the workforce to advise the customers. Therefore it was important in this study to analyse their feelings towards wine and wine culture. It is necessary to understand that they are the next wine prescribers and as a result they should be concerned by the learning process.

6.1. Young people and wine consumption

In France, in 2000, only 39% of young people (20 to 24 years old) were occasional drinkers while 57% were non consumers (HIIIInsIn° 75 July-august 2000). Twenty years ago they were around 70% who drank wine. In the nineties, the young generation had a lower wine consumption frequency than the previous generations which drank wine on a more frequent basis. Nowadays wine is absent at young adults parties and only champagne is served occasionally (Lecoin, Hallaire 2007). The family unit used to play a great role in wine consciousness and if it is probably still the case, adults wine consumption has decreased significantly these last years and wine is less represented in the daily meal. If wine is still inseparable from the French food culture, its symbolic representations have evolved through the ages.

Lecoin and Hallaire point out that young people (15 to 25 years old) have a complex relation with wine, a drink which reflects the adult's world and which is often thought as luxury product. They also tend to find it difficult to understand and it is true that only a small number of marketers try to focus on this customer segment which could have helped to increase and democratize wine consumption among young people.

Moreover, the 15-20 year old bracket build their own personality through rejection, wine being by nature the adult drink and reflects parents' symbols therefore young people tend to turn to other drinks such as beer.

Does the legal drinking age matter? In France, young people are allowed to drink wine as soon as they are 16 (but not to buy) but wine consumption tends to be lower, which therefore leads to the question of the age of drinking. Isn't it too early for them to taste wine as their palate is not mature enough to accept the beverage? In USA, where the legal drinking age is 21, it seems, according to a wine survey (source winemarketer.com) that even if the millennial generation apparently drinks later than young French people, they tend to prefer wine to beer. In France "This trend is in complete opposition with the United States, where the major group responsible for increasing wine consumption is the Millennials (people who reached adulthood around the year 2000)," said Liz Thatch, professor of management and wine business at Sonoma State University. Americans aged 21 to 29 are the fastest growing segment of the wine market, according to a 2005 study by the Wine Market Council, a trade organization of winemakers, importers, retailers and others» (Wine spectator June 2008). One of the reasons which leads to a higher wine consumption is probably that young people in USA are targeted by wine marketers who use media to spread the information and consider young people as potential customers which is probably not the case in France. Wine is also often seen as an expensive product compare to other drinks such as beer and people don't want to spend too much money when they eat in restaurants or when they are in nightclubs.

However there are some positives signs which lead to a more optimistic vision: according to Simmonet-Toussaint (in Géo confluence) wine image among young people is still vivid and also drives identity to convey. French young adults between 16 and 24 years old still drink around 30 liters of wine per year per capita (while young Americans reach 9 liters). «Despite the downward spiral, there is a bright side. Young French consumers frequently drink wine outside of mealtime, something unheard of 20 years ago» (Macle 2008).

Even if wine consumption is decreasing in France, apparently the bottle of wine still shares a great place with the traditional Sunday lunch and plays a major role in tightening the family unit around the sacrosanct meal