The French are ditching the wine bottle. According to a Kantar study for RTLIn ten years, wine consumption by those under 50 years of age has contracted by 6%.
Retirees continue to be the least affected by this trend since their consumption has only fallen by 1% in the same period. On the other hand, the younger generations avoid drinking more. Wine consumption by young people between the ages of 18 and 35 fell by 7% in 2011 and 2021.
A trend that can be found in the profiles of current wine drinkers. According to a study carried out by IWSR in collaboration with Wine Intelligence, almost one in two wine consumers (47%) is over 55 today. One in four is between 40 and 54 years old, while 21% are between 25 and 39 years old and 7% between 18 and 24 years old.
Less consumed red wine
And the disenchantment of the French for this traditional drink is even more marked by red wine. For this category, it fell 32% compared to 2011, all ages combined. A decline that could be explained by meat consumption, with which red wine is often associated, suggests RTL.
It could also be due to a structural change in the way this alcohol is consumed, since wine is drunk today more in a festive context than at the table with the family.
Progress in online sales among young people
Despite this drop, however, red wine is still more consumed than white and rosé. According to the IWSR and Wine Intelligence survey, it remains particularly popular with older people. Consumed as much as white and rosé wines by people aged 18 to 24, its share increases with the age of consumers to reach 54% among those over 55.
But these works also highlight a segmented use of distribution channels according to age. Among young people between the ages of 18 and 24, 53% indicate, for example, that they have bought wine online in the last six months. A proportion that decreases with age. It reaches 49% for those between 25 and 39 years of age, 36% for those between 40 and 54 years of age, and 21% for those over 55 years of age.
Source: BFM TV
