NextGen Wine Competition
About the Competition
2012 NextGen Wine Competition
Competition Dates: June 4-6, 2012 
Extended Entry Deadline: May, 22 2012 (see Rules & Procedures)
About The Competition
Greetings from the Chief Judge
Meet the Judges
Rules and Procedures
Promotional Opportunities
Award Winners
Register Online
Download Entry Form
Registration is now open!
The Vineyard & Winery Management Group has announced entries are now being accepted for the 4th annual NextGen Wine Competition for Millennial Wine Drinkers. The competition was designed specifically with this exciting and important consumer group in mind, and will be judged by qualified and knowledgeable wine industry millennials aged 21-35.
Produced by Vineyard & Winery Management, NextGen is one of the fastest growing and most exciting wine competitions in North America today. “Millennials are today’s wine consumers, not tomorrow’s potential customers. They are taking the nation by storm in determining new ways to communicate, interact, and determine their own distinctive taste and style,” says Giovanni “Gio” Balistreri, Chief Judge. “Through social media, clubs, consumer tastings, and other social outlets, millennials are making their opinions known.”
The regular entry fee is $75 per wine, with a registration deadline of May 8. With the early bird discount, wineries can save $10 per wine if they enter by April 18. All wines must be received by May 17. The competition is open to all commercial grape and fruit wines and fruit distilled spirits produced and marketed in the U.S. and abroad, and will take place June 4-6, 2012.
Why you should enter Vineyard & Winery Management's NextGen Wine Competition for Millennial Wine Drinkers...
Millennials and Wine
Millennials are discovering wine in record numbers. According to the Wine Market Council's 2010 Consumer Tracking Study final report (www.winemarketcouncil.com), "Today, Generation X adults, mostly in their mid 30s and early 40s, have accepted wine in significant numbers. Moreover, the Millennial generation is exhibiting the same receptivity to wine that leading edge Baby Boomers did more than thirty years ago. Like the Baby Boom generation that is 77 million strong, the Millennial generation with 70 million members makes their dominance in the market inevitable. This generation, on average, adds 5% more new adults to the U.S. population each year compared to Generation X. The Millennial generation offers the wine industry the kind of growth potential not seen in more than thirty years. Moreover, Millennial generation adult wine drinkers have been impacted less severely by the economic downturn than older generations, and are sustaining their taste for wine and choice of wine in a variety of casual, everyday situations. The fact, too, that there are about 16 million members of the Millennial generation who have yet to reach the age of 21 gives some assurance to wine marketers of continuing market growth in the near term."
Savvy wine marketers are embracing this growing trend through outlets like Wine Channel TV (winechanneltv.tv/), Wine Library TV (tv.winelibrary.com), mobile phone aps such as Hello Vino (www.hellovino.com), and companies like Taste Inc., the parent company of Vino Volo (www.vinovolo.com) - a growing chain of wine bars in 14 airports across the country (Entrepreneurs Target Millennial Wine Drinkers (Reuters, January 11, 2011).
Have a Look at the Numbers
from 03 May, 2009 at 11:30 pm Written by Carol Phillips in Blog, Boomers vs. Millennials, Gen Y Trends:
"First, wine drinking appears to start in earnest as Millennials graduate from college and start careers. Incidence of wine drinking increases from 23% among 21-24 year olds to 32% among 25-34 year olds (Mintel, Oct 08), approximately the same as adults in general (35%). However, the wine preferences, attitudes and behavior of Millennials are quite different. They are more sophisticated in their preferences, and more willing to spend to indulgence their preferences.
* Millennials who drink wine are twice as likely to belong to a wine club (20%) and to drink at wine bars in the past three months (38%) than older groups, (Wine Council).
* Millennials are much more likely to purchase their wine at a winery (33%), specialty liquor store (40%) or gourmet food store (20%). (Mintel)
* Millennials say they spend about $10 more per bottle than average across a wide variety of wine buying occasions. For example, Millennials say they would spend $40 on a bottle of wine for a special occasion compared to just $24 for all adults. (Mintel)
* Forty percent of 25-34 year olds agree that more expensive wine tastes better compared to 31% of adults on average. (Mintel)
* Millennials’ criteria in wine selection tends to favor more familiar wines and wines with fun, casual names. (Mintel)
These facts don’t completely relate the sheer enthusiasm of young drinkers for wine. They see wine as part of their move into adult life. It is a passion that drives them to look for new ideas and authentic experiences."
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(wineindustrynetwork.com) The Wine Industry Network is a comprehensive business-to-business (B2B) Internet marketplace specifically created to help wine industry professionals more effectively and efficiently locate and connect with suppliers and service providers, regardless of region or category of interest. Founded by industry veterans George Christie and Elizabeth (E) Slater, the site is dedicated to the business of wine and to providing information crucial to the success of the entire wine industry.
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"The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make." (Quote: Robert M. Parker, Jr. The Wine Advocate)
"The Riedel family has never stamped its name on a single bottle of wine. But over the past 50 years, this Austrian clan of master glassmakers has done more to enhance the oenophile's pleasure than almost any winemaking dynasty". (Quote: TIME MAGAZINE)
Claus Riedel was the first person in the long history of the glass to design its shape according to the character of the wine. He is thus the inventor of the functional wine glass. Make a journey through our world of glasses and senses. On the following internet pages you will find detailed information about our glass creations and our unique philosophies on the ultimate enjoyment of wine.
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So, what does this mean for you? Consumer pull-through and increased exposure for NextGen medal-winners! Since top results will be seen in the subsequent issue, 7x7 will provide your wines even more exposure to a targeted millennial-aged audience.
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50,000
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9,200
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branded events.
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issues are delivered to high-traffic retail establishments including
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7x7.com anaytics
1.8 million impressions per month
450,000 page views per month
202,000 visitors per month
130,000 absolute unique visitors per month
Social Media
20,000 Twitter followers
12,000 Facebook Page Likes
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