Generational change drives wine industry innovation

There is a generational change coming to the wine industry, as the Millennials come of drinking age.

"It's a really, really good business, because you can be quite creative," Tanja Baumann says.

The 26-year-old German winemaker is part of an important, younger demographic, that is changing the types of wine being produced.

Winemaker, Tanja Baumann

"Especially the younger people, they don't know anything about wine," she said.

"Like me, I started with drinking really, really sweet wine, or sweet sparkling wine.

"That's why I have the idea to make a 'dryology' of wine and sparkling wine.

"So the line is called 'Be Sweet, Be Smart, Be Dry' and is a sweet sparkling wine, a medium-dry sparkling wine and a dry sparkling wine.

"It's like a symbol that you start drinking sweet if you are younger, and then you turn and drink a little bit drier," she said.

Ms Baumann is the fourth generation of her family to embrace the wine-making and marketing game.

She said, though new to the world of wine, her generation are drinking more when wine is presented to them.

"Another idea is we made a sparkling wine on ice and it's really sweet, but on the ice it's really fruity," she said.

"It's like a long drink and it was such a big trend last year.

"Everybody wants to try this sparkling wine on ice, especially the younger generation."

Ms Baumann is travelling around the wine world, from Europe, though the US and New Zealand and is currently in visiting vineyards in Tasmania.

In addition to visiting the Hunter wine region in New South Wales, she'll visit South Australia's Barossa district and work vintage in South Africa before taking on running her family's business.

She said in addition to producing hundreds of brands for specific customers, her business has revamped its cellar door, to attract more visitors and attends many promotional events.

"In Germany 90 per cent of the wines are sold by supermarkets for, on average, $3 to $4, so it's really nothing," Ms Baumann said.

"That's why we have to change the tradition.

"The Germans want to drink international wines (that's why we have such a big import), and we have to give our wines an international name.

"Here I think it is really different.

"In Australia they drink their Australian wine, and not wine of other countries.

"It's really sad because [in Germany] our prices of wine are so low.

"We have big brands of beer in Germany, but not for wine.

"We also have to make our business a really big name and that's quite a hard way."

Source : ABC Rural    Sunday, 18th January 2015