There is an old adage that wine skips a generation. This suggests that every other generation embraces wine as a beverage while the generation in-between does not. There does appear to be some truth to this as both the Millennials and Boomers welcomed wine, but Gen Xers and the Silent Generation were more enamored with cocktails. Now a new generation – called iGeneration – has just turned 21 this past January, and the question is: will they buck the trend and embrace wine, or will they be wooed away by other beverage choices?

Conducting research on wine preferences of a group of people who just turned 21 can be complicated from both a logistical and ethical standpoint. However the wine business majors in Sonoma State University’s Bus 305W class – many of whom are members of the iGeneration – rose to the challenge. Following is a glimpse of what they discovered from the 38 people they surveyed, and though this is a convenience sample and therefore cannot be generalized to the total population, it does shed some light on how iGeneration relates to wine. The study also includes survey results from over 200 Millennials for comparison purposes.

Characteristics of the iGeneration

Born in the 1990s through the 2010s (there is some debate on these dates), the iGeneration is currently ages 7 to 21 and comprises 61 million Americans, or nearly 20% of the US population. Also known as Gen Z and Post-Millennials, they are described as having the following characteristics:

• Immersed in Technology – the “i” in iGeneration stands for mobile technologies such as the iPhone, iPod, ITunes and the fact they are immersed in technology all of their waking hours, including school. They were born after the Internet, receive an average of 3,146 texts per month, and are defined by their love of technology.