Premium wine, spirits sales increase with refined consumer palates

The days when a simple shot of Jack Daniels with a splash of Coke was a crowd favorite may be waning.

Today's consumers are choosing higher-end wines and spirits and innovative, more sophisticated cocktails, eschewing the old standards their parents drank, industry observers say.

“The consumer palate is changing,” said Scott Schiller, managing director of Thoroughbred Spirits Group, a spirits consulting firm in Chicago. “(People) care a lot more about where things come from and how they're made.”

Millennials — those born between 1980 and the early 2000s — are the driving force behind the shift.

“A lot of your ‘value' products have been around for years. Everybody knows them,” said Pam Bernd, chief of regular product selection for the state Liquor Control Board. “Millennials like to experiment.”

Sales of “premium” wines, defined as those between $12 and $14.99 per bottle, grew 11.7 percent last year compared to 2013-14, LCB figures show. Over the same period, sales of “value” wines, those costing less than $9 a bottle, dropped a quarter percent.

Those numbers are consistent with the national market where wines costing $12 to $20 are best-sellers, according to the trade publication Wine and Spirits Monitor.

Millennials “are willing to just get out there, and they don't care much about price,” said Steve Pollack, buyer for the LCB's Chairman's Selection wine program. “They're looking for quality and something different.”

While shopping in Murrysville last week, Scott Van Dyke, 30, of Export was searching for a nice bottle of wine to celebrate his wife's birthday.

He said he doesn't buy expensive items very often, but he appreciates the work that goes into making a good wine, because he makes some himself at home.

“Every now and then we splurge a little bit,” Van Dyke said. “Like tonight, I'll probably spend a little bit more than I usually do.”

Diane Pluck, 31, of Export went to the Murrysville store intent on spending about $12 for a bottle of white wine, but said sometimes she, too, is willing to splurge.

“I don't mind paying a little bit extra when I know it's something I like,” Pluck said.

Sales of “ultra-premium” spirits, those priced at more than $40 per bottle, jumped 18 percent from 2013-14 to 2014-15 while “value” spirits, which cost $10.99 or less, grew just under 2 percent, LCB figures show.

In Pennsylvania, Basil Hayden's Bourbon ($41.99) and a 12-year-old Macallan Scotch ($62.99) are among the top-selling ultra-premium spirits.

Schiller said, nationally, craft whiskey and gin are on the rise; a hybrid of the two — a barrel-aged gin — is rapidly gaining momentum.

“It's pretty neat,” he said. “The wood mellows out a lot of the big, bright flavors of non-aged gin.”

Not only are shoppers trying more high-end products, but bartenders — sometimes called mixologists for their culinary treatment of drinks — are stocking more premium ingredients to use in craft cocktails, Bernd said.

So instead of serving a simple Jack Daniels whiskey and Coke over ice, some bartenders are using craft whiskeys or adding lemon soda and thyme for “more flavors than your basic cocktail,” Bernd said.

For millennials, Pollack said, “The gin-and-tonic days, those are the older days. Now fusion restaurants and bartenders are driving the new market.

“If a recipe calls for Cointreau, an up-market brand of triple sec — an orange-flavored liqueur — millennials want that, not just any triple sec.”

They are not the only customers trading basic products for higher-end experiences, Bernd said. Baby boomers — those who grew up in the age of Boone's Farm Apple Wine and sloe gin fizzes — are also trying higher-end bourbons and whiskeys.

“For the older guy who maybe likes Jack Daniels, now he's getting into some of (Jack Daniels') single-barrel stuff because he can — he's a little older,” Pollack said.

Deborah Campbell, 55, of Murrysville said she likes both wine and bourbon and has seen the price of craft liquor rise as it becomes more popular.

But that's OK, as long as the prices match the quality, she said.

“You're going to pay for something you like,” she said.

Campbell said she likes to sample different products, but her spending is dictated by the occasion.

When she's looking for a wine to have at home with her husband, she buys moderately priced wines. If she's hosting a party, she'll shell out more.

“It depends on the event,” she said.

Kari Andren is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-850-2856 or kandren@tribweb.com. Staff writer Jacob Tierney contributed.