Let me start by saying I am Gen-X.  I am not particularly fond of pet-nat.  The over-population of somms cause involuntary eye-rolls, and I have considerable disdain for Millennials.

 Steve Heimoff:  MILLENNIALS AND THE DEATH OF WINE WISDOM

While I can see the point of this article, the finger-wagging is mis-directed.  They say everything skips a generation and IMO, wine–and the death of wine wisdom, the concern for story over substance–is no different.  Boomers care what is in the bottle, albeit being perhaps a bit label-centric.  Millennials–even while searching trendily for the next big thing, or hurriedly discarding a style of wine after inflating it into the clouds–care what is in the bottle.  Look at the explosion of Somms and the craft-beer and craft-spirits movements along with smaller and smaller wineries constantly popping up as the bearded generation continually put their ideals into glass.

It is GENERATION X who do not give a RAT’S ASS what is in the bottle.  EVERYTHING is story.  The grapes in the sun, the fall colors in the vineyard, the picnics, the beautiful winery, the winery grounds, the paintings, the sculpture, the restuarant, the cat, the winemaker and his struggle, the winemaker’s dog and his struggle, the bottle, the label and closure, the Passport-tour, the vineyard-tour, the winery-tour, the winemaker-tour, the bicycle-tour through Burgundy, the soil, the climate, the weather, the wine-club, the band who plays Sunday afternoons at the winery and nobody gives a SHIT what is in the bottle.  Listen to them!  THESE are the conversations Gen-X’ers have about wine.  “OMG THAT’S MY FAVORITE WINERY HAVE YOU SEEN THE ART IN THAT PLACE?!?!” And the wine?  It’s wonderful.  Of course it’s wonderful.  The actual wine is a complete side-note to all this *Wine Wisdom*.  THESE are the places doling out pallets of dretch far more undeserving of our attention than pet-nat.  And marketing it to people who need far more of a reality check than the Ashleys, Taylors, Tylers and Joshuas.