Americans in Their 20s and 30s Account for Almost Half of U.S. Wine Consumption

Americans in their 20s and 30s account for almost half of the wine consumed in the United States, according to a report from the industry nonprofit Wine Market Council.

The council found Americans ages 21 to 38, known as millennials, drank 42 percent of all wine in the United States in 2015. They drank 159.6 million cases of wine, or an average of two cases per person, according to USA Today.

Millennials made up 30 percent of “high frequency” drinkers, who drink several times per week. High-frequency millennial drinkers consumed 3.1 glasses of wine in one sitting, more than other generations. Two-thirds of frequent drinkers under 30 were women. Among millennials in their 30s, frequent drinkers were split evenly among men and women.

People in their 20s and 30s are spending more on wine, the report found. The average retail cost of a bottle of wine was $7.81 in 2015. The study found 17 percent of millennials paid more than $20 for a bottle of wine in the past month, compared with 10 percent among all age groups.

Millennials were less likely than Baby Boomers to purchase wine from California, the most popular wine producer, the article notes. More than half of millennials who drink wine said they talk about it on Facebook.