Gay wines

In the last two decades, competition in the beverage sector switched between beers, soft drinks, wine coolers and stronger liquids. Wine only joined this circus later.

As American attitudes towards gay people have improved – later than in most of the Western world – the presence of “gays in wine”, always there but largely invisible, has become clearer: not just in the industry itself, but in their marketing approach as well. But it’s also recognition that the gay community has a lot of disposable income – and gay people like to drink wine:  16% more than straight people. According to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs some 75% of gays and lesbians were described as “current drinkers,” as compared to 68% of bisexuals and 59% of heterosexuals. And lesbians out-drink gay men. “Historically, so much gay drinking went on in gay bars because there was virtually nowhere else where gays could socialize,” author Sharon Wilsnack says. “Although that has changed, they still face the chronic stress of being a marginalized group, and one thing alcohol’s pretty good at, at least temporarily, is reducing stress.”

Read my blog for Marketing the Rainbow.