02/11/2004
A New Vintage of Wine Lovers
Vineyards Hopeful That Expanding Market Will Lift Sales
Kimberly Edds, Special to The Washington Post
(read complete review)

Excerpt...

PASADENA, Calif. -- With a thumb casually hooked through his belt loop, 24-year-old John Dwight leans against the bar and surveys the dimly lighted red lounge at Bodega Wine Bar. It's a Wednesday night, and Dwight, dressed in a brown corduroy blazer and black T-shirt, with hair carefully tousled, traces the rim of his glass of merlot as he checks out his options.

Dwight may not know a lot about the wine he's drinking, but he knows the essentials. Stick to chardonnay on dates. Red stains your teeth. Ordering the house red or white is fine, but it's more impressive if you know how the different labels and wines compare. Wine makes you look sophisticated.

"Honestly, the buzz is a little better with wine than with beer. Plus it's a little more socially acceptable," said Dwight, a freelance art director who was introduced to the art of wine drinking during a student exchange program in Italy. "A lot of younger people are drinking it."

Dwight -- and thousands of other members of the "millennial generation" -- the 21-to-26-year-old set -- are trading in their pints of beer and shots of liquor for glasses of zinfandel and pinot noir at startling rates when they hit the town -- or the living room couch. And that has wine industry players buzzing.