Research findings reveal poor British knowledge of wine

So you thought the UK had the best-educated wine drinkers in the world? Not according to one of the country's largest wine suppliers.

Waverley has just published the results of the second stage of its Face Value Research into the modern British drinker, which looks at when, where and how wine is drunk - and it doesn't make pretty reading.

According to the report, commissioned from drinks market research specialist AlcoVision, there is very poor knowledge of wine generally, with 43.5% of the UK's wine drinkers unable to recall the name, grape, region or style of the wine they had drunk in the previous week.

And 11% confidently declared that Chardonnay was a red wine. "It is an indication that people think they know more than they do," said Waverley category manager Paul Waddingham.

The research was broken down into six drinker types - including Chardonnay Girl (young, experimental), Classic Connoisseur (serious, knowledgeable) and Easily Pleased (no pretensions or ambitions).

Those who had better know-ledge, predictably, were the Enthusiasts, the Classic Connoisseur and the Adventurer (interested, but sketchy know-ledge) - with a strong male bias, although women drink more than 60% of the wine consumed in the UK each year.

But the vast majority of drinkers (84%) fall into the Easily Pleased category.

This compares with a much higher awareness of types of beer - only 6.9% of lager drinkers and 9.8% of ale drinkers were unable to remember which brand they had consumed in the same period - yet wine has become the most preferred alcoholic drink in bars, restaurants and off-licences.

"This will be a challenge for the on-trade," Waddingham said. "Wines must be displayed much more prominently behind the bar. And they must keep the message clear and simple - Australia is a good example to follow."

by Fiona Sims

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 6-12 June 2002