Experts generally agree that drinking wine, especially red, in moderation is healthy for the heart. Even the Mayo Clinic has proclaimed in an article, “Red wine and resveratrol: Good for your heart” that antioxidants called polyphenols in red wine may help protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart.

A recent Study, conducted by Colangelo & Partners to study U.S. wine drinker attitudes and behaviors as well as trends related to beverage alcohol consumption and health, in collaboration with, and using consumer databases of Wine Opinions, surveyed 2,013 U.S. adults who drank  wine regularly- more than 2-3 times in a month.

Among the participants, 762 respondents were under the age of 40 years,  631 were in the  range of 40 to 60 years, while the rest 620 were in the category of 60 years and older. The youngest in the category including millennials and Gen Z skewed somewhat to males, while the middle 40-60 year category skewed somewhat to females, according to the Report. As expected and consistent with past research, there was a significant male skew in the ‘seniors’ category of over 60 years old respondents.

John Gillespie, founder CEO of Wine Opinions, says, “The findings were quite noteworthy, with younger respondents indicating they considered health risks to be possible at very low levels of consumption. In this segment, 58% of respondents said that two glasses daily or less as a potential health risk, One in four respondents even indicated a health concern over one wine glass daily, or even less.”

 “There are several challenges for the wine industry heading into 2024,” says Gino Colangelo, president of Colangelo & Partners. “Personally, I think the biggest threat is the growing neo-prohibitionist movement and its potential to affect the USDA Dietary Guidelines for adult consumption of beverage alcohol, which are due to be reviewed in 2025. Related consumer movements such as Dry January and Sober October also impact consumer behavior. The research with Wine Opinions provides our clients and the wine industry with data-driven insights that will help adapt business strategies during this pivotal time,” he adds

Perception of benefits

Among the more positive findings of the study were respondent’s opinions on the benefits of wine. Just less than half of survey respondents strongly viewed wine as an enhancement to social situations or gatherings, while one-third strongly agreed that wine can be part of a healthy diet, according to the report.

Two thirds of this younger set of under 40 agreed that as a part of everyday life, culture and traditions, wine and food complement each other, and that wine has historically been a part of nearly every culture. When it comes to participation in sober holidays, such as Dry January and Sober October, the report further notes that interest among U.S. beverage alcohol drinkers has increased. These are two movements in the US and UK to stay pwithout alcohol for a month, hopefully reducing further consumption and might even result in total abstinence.

Dry January and Sober October

The reported participation in Dry January or Sober October in 2023 was highest among respondents in the under-40 segment, with over half of the cohort reporting participation by cutting back wine consumption or abstaining from wine altogether. Nearly two-thirds also indicated that they intend to participate in one or both of these events in 2024.

Meanwhile, as the wine industry combats negative messaging on the topic of wine consumption and health, a measure of the study was that of wine consumers’ participation in other “health risk” behaviors. To gather this data, the survey asked respondents to check from a list of health risk activities or behaviors they engaged in at least occasionally.

The results showed survey respondents checking a wide range of risk behaviors. Nearly half of respondents indicated they at least occasionally “eat at fast-food outlets,’” and one-third at least occasionally engage in summertime activities without using sunscreen, or ride their bicycles on city streets, according to the report.

“The assertion that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption doesn’t take into account that adult Americans make educated risk-reward decisions every day, wine consumption included,” Colangelo noted. “These research findings demonstrate how U.S. wine consumers are self-aware and knowledgeable, possessing the ability to make choices that they believe will lead to a balanced and fulfilling life.” 

Subhash Arora