Wine and classic cars have more in common than you might think
06/03/2025
Anyone who is currently following how winegrowers are struggling because their sales are declining will be reminded of similar discussions about classic cars in some of the reporting.
Apparently, sales by winegrowers and wine merchants have been falling sharply for several years. It is said that young people in particular (i.e. the next generation) are hardly drinking any (or far too little) wine.
Of course, people are quick to look for causes, claiming that the WHO (World Health Organization) is to blame because it considers even small amounts of alcohol to be harmful to health. In addition, good wines are expensive and traditional distribution is not well received by younger people. In any case, the younger generations prefer beer to wine and are not interested in technical discussions and the complicated selection of different grape varieties and growing regions. We don't even want to talk about complicated storage and vintage discussions.
Well, similar claims are also made in the classic car sector. The "greens" are putting young people off driving, classic cars are too expensive and so is their upkeep. It is difficult to get started. Young people would rather drive a cell phone on wheels anyway and are hardly interested in old brands and even older cars. And so on.
There is no simple remedy for either wine or classic cars. Enthusiasm needs to be aroused, brand tradition and technological history need to be carefully communicated. Ideally by the youngsters themselves, who have already "tasted blood", because they are probably much more credible with the next generation than we old fogies ...
