This Generation Drinks More Wine Than Anyone Else

When you think of wine drinkers, you might call to mind a middle-aged man in a suit sipping cabernet sauvignon in an upscale restaurant — but in fact, it seems the average wine consumer in the United States is quite a bit younger. It turns out that Millennials drink more wine than any other age group in the United States. Wine: It's not just for Baby Boomers anymore. Does this mean that Millennials are officially classy yet?

According to new research from Wine Business, millennials drink 42 percent of all wine in the United States, more than any other generation. And it seems we are also driving the decline in "occasional wine drinkers" and the rise in "high frequency wine drinkers." Though I suppose it's possible we're not really drinking all those bottles we buy but are instead using them in facials or some other new fangled that kids these days are into. Still, it seems like the truth probably is that Millennials just really love wine.

Of course, part of this could be the fact that Millennials seem to drink more than other generations in general. According to a Gallup poll from 2012, people ages 18 to 34 are no more likely to be drinkers than older generations, but they are more likely to have more drinks per week. So it could be that Millennials are buying up all the wine because we're buying a lot of alcohol in general — which is not great. Or it could be do to the fact that Millennials are more likely to attend college. Research also suggests that college graduates are the most likely to drink wine.

However you slice it, though, it seems that Millennials are officially into wine — which, honestly, shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's hit up a Trader Joe's Wine Shop recently. And I'd also imagine it's possible that the fact that shops like Trader Joe's have made wine more affordable for us broke young people has a lot to do with the fact that we're more likely to drink it.

The fact that Millennials do still seem to be heavy drinkers isn't the best for our generation as a whole, considering the many health risks of alcohol. However, if we are in fact drinking more wine, rather than reaching for other forms of alcohol, that might actually be kind of a good thing, as long as we're doing it in moderation. After all, there are all kind of health benefits to wine, from lowering your cholesterol to increasing exercise performance (something Millennials also do a lot of).

So cheers to that! And cheers to the fact that our generation seems to be way more classy than anyone gives us credit for.

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