The future of the wine industry depends on introducing new people, including young people, to wine. This is particularly the case as older generations diminish and drink less wine, with research indicating that young people are not drinking as much wine as their parents.
However, promoting wine to young audiences, even in a responsible manner, is fraught with difficulty due to regulatory barriers.
Under the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code, a not-for-profit, voluntary scheme that a significant proportion of the Australian wine industry has signed up to, you cannot package or promote wine in a manner that has a “strong or evident appeal to minors”.
“But what appeals to an 18 to 25 year old is quite likely to appeal to a 17 year old,” said Will Taylor, Finlaysons Wine Partner. “Take Taylor Swift or Pat Cummins, for example.”
Taylor explained that winemakers have to be very careful in designing their wine promotions if they are targeting young adults.
“It is a fine line,” he said.
“Alcohol causes much damage in society, so it obviously needs to be regulated,” said Taylor. “But when sensible regulation, aimed at curbing alcohol abuse, over-reaches into ‘fun policing’, it actually damages society rather than benefiting it.”
“A winemaking couple cannot feature on their website their young family picking grapes or working in the winery, even where there is no suggestion that they are going to consume alcohol. They can only be shown in an incidental role,” Taylor said. “There are numerous family businesses in the wine industry who are proud of their business, the wines they produce and their kids. They have no intention of promoting alcohol to minors. So why can’t they show off their family working in the business?”
“This is a classic case of regulatory over-reach,” Taylor said. “I understand that abuse of alcohol is a very serious issue, but so is abuse of motor vehicles. It doesn’t mean you should not be able to advertise cars in a responsible way.”
Taylor expressed annoyance at the “prohibition” on suggesting that wine could improve the mood of a social occasion.
“If someone puts a great wine in front of me, it makes me smile,” said Taylor. “That’s before I’ve even had a sip, so it’s not the alcohol doing that. Then, if putting my nose in it and taking a sip is a great experience, I’m ecstatic – still without any alcohol in my bloodstream. It’s just ridiculous that a winemaker can’t tell me that their wine is going to make me happy.”
This dilemma for winemakers, amongst other challenges in attracting new consumers to Australian wine, will be the subject of the 32nd annual Wine Roadshow seminar series conducted by Finlaysons in 10 leading viticultural regions of Australia during August and November. Finlaysons will be joined on the road by senior representatives of Wine Business Solutions, Australian Grape & Wine and Wine Australia.
The venues and dates are as follows:
Limestone Coast
Thursday 8 August 2024
Riverland
Monday 12 August 2024
Barossa
Tuesday 13 August 2024
McLaren Vale
Thursday 15 August 2024
Hobart
Monday 19 August 2024
Yarra Valley
Tuesday 20 August 2024
Rutherglen
Wednesday 21 August 2024
Canberra District
Thursday 22 August 2024
Hunter Valley
Friday 23 August 2024
Margaret River
Monday 18 November 2024
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