Is wine for old people?

A week ago I took part in a forum about wine in the Club de Marketing of La Rioja. In one of the discussions the theme of how wine is always related to people of a certain age, social class and economic position came up. It was then compared with the general image of beer. Beer is often associated with young people and an idea of fun. It also seems that everyone, with or without being especially informed about beer and its properties, can enjoy one.

I am going to give my opinion, from a standpoint a little removed from the culture of wine as I am from Madrid which is not a city with a history of wine like La Rioja where the whole environment, from the gastronomy to the very tiles of the streets remind you of this region’s special tie to wine.

I think there are three factors behind the reason why young people in Madrid often think “wine is for old people”:

1. Communication: The logos, the bottles and their labels, the colours used, the language used… everything conveys a sense of age, of something ornate, that has difficulty reaching an audience if they don’t not know if the wine should have been X months in a barrel and who knows how many in a bottle to allow the wine to taste fruity or to have a woody or smoky flavour because it has aged more or less.

2. When you grow up in a land of wine it is naturally easier to acquire knowledge about the development and enjoyment of a good wine.  Maybe, like me, when you are at home you have a glass of wine at lunch or dinner; as it is traditionally said to be good for your health.  As my father says “Wine is art”. But it often isn’t like this and when you start to drink beer, vodka or whiskey for the first time (and this is related to the first factor), what is communicated by these drinks? What is transmitted in their ads? Youth, partying, fun and modernity.

3. Knowledge: why is it that it seems that in order to appreciate wine -or to have an opinion as basic as ‘whether I like it or not’- we have to have an intimate knowledge on the subject? I do not understand beer or vodka or how they are prepared and know if I like the taste or not. The other day, I said I preferred a crianza to a gran reserva and the accusing looks I got almost killed me, as yes, I prefer fruity flavours to a smoky or woody taste.

And to explain all this with some pictures, what do the following images transmit to you?: