2015 and 2016 are milestone years on the U.S. wine market.
In 2015 the World War II generation sank to single digits in millions, less than the population of New Jersey.
The youngest member of the Swing generation, though more than a dozen years behind the World War II generation, turned 70 in 2015 and Generation X saw their oldest members reach 50.
And at the end of 2015, the very youngest Millennial turned 21 on New Years’ Eve.
In 2016 the oldest Baby Boomers will turn 70 years of age.
In 2016 the youngest member of Generation X will turn 40 and, most importantly of all, the next generation – the iGeneration – enters legal drinking age in 2016 as their oldest members turn 21.
Taken together, these two years will be transformational to the U.S. wine market.
At Wine Opinions, we have conducted the most extensive generational research of wine drinkers ever, and our findings are detailed in our American Wine Generations report.