While significant research has been devoted to understanding established collectors, we know remarkably little about how people actually become fine wine buyers in the first place — what sparks curiosity, how people become confident, and how this turns into buying or collecting behaviour.

 Areni new study, The Next Fine Wine Consumer – How people under 40 find their way into fine wine, addresses this blind spot.

 This research looks at people under 40 in six major cities — Paris, London, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore — to understand how people first become interested in fine wine. Instead of analysing who is buying today, it focuses on how they got there in the first place, including looking at family, friends, education and gender.

 What it finds goes against a lot of accepted thinking. The gap between wine “buyers” and “collectors” isn’t just about labels — it reflects real structural differences. It also shows that new demand only emerges when access, education and community are all in play. And although many women get involved in fine wine early on, there are built-in barriers that stop a large number of them from becoming long-term buyers or collectors.

 The New Fine Wine Consumer was made possible thanks to the support of our funding and research partners, and I am particularly grateful to Berry Bros. and Rudd, 67 Pall Mall and Vins d’Exception. My thanks also go to everyone who took part in what became a genuinely absorbing piece of research — one that I am confident will help shape the future of our sector.

 Source: Areni Global