How sherry is attracting a younger demographic eager for brands with stories to tell - Category Intel

Recruiting new consumers continues to be ever-more crucial for sherry brand owners as the category’s well-documented decline continues in most markets, including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and the US.

Not only is the segment’s traditional consumer base consistently being eroded, it also faces more specific challenges in some of its most important export markets, notably the duty increase imposed in the UK in August, which saw most fortified wines go up by about GBP1.50 (US$1.68) a bottle.

Sales in the UK have been faltering for some time, apart from during what IWSR Drinks Market Analysis senior market analyst Patrick Fisher describes as “a brief boost driven by off-trade sales during the Covid lockdowns”.

Germany exhibited a similar upward blip, according to fellow IWSR senior market analyst Fernanda Saldaña. “The pandemic aided volumes as consumers engaged in activities such as cooking with sherry,” she says. “However, volumes dropped afterwards as Germans returned to their regular activities.”

Post-pandemic, the category has continued on its long-term downward trajectory, adds Fisher, with UK sales slipping below 2019 levels in 2022. “After-dinner consumption occasions continue to dwindle and the traditional consumer base is ageing,” he says. But Fisher adds that the downward spiral “masks divergent trends, in what is a far from a homogeneous category”.

These trends include “more authentic sherry styles”, which Fisher says are starting to garner interest among younger LDA consumers in the UK’s on-premise. “Interest in premium products is bringing new drinkers into the category and, as they do so, they’re finding new ways of drinking sherry, such as choosing a sherry-and-tonic in the aperitif moment,” he adds.

‘Cultural shift’ helping to woo younger consumers

There’s a great deal to be done to cement the relationship between younger consumers and sherry, acknowledges Bodegas Williams & Humbert’s international marketing manager, Gonzalo Medina. “We have to carry on working to get young people to appreciate the multiple consumption options provided by sherry, as well as the history and tradition that go with this wine,” he says.

“We’re in the midst of a complete cultural shift in the attitudes towards sherry. The younger consumer is more open-minded to discovery and experimentation, interested in experiencing new tastes, and is social media-connected.”

Medina says younger LDA consumers approach the category free of preconceptions. “Sherry wines are wines of history and young people want to learn how we make sherry and the history behind the wine,” he explains. “The new generation of sherry lovers show curiosity and a love of experimentation.”

Such a desire for exploration is key to consumer recruitment, according to the wine buying manager at UK importer Enotria & Co, Peter Wallbridge, who likens the world of sherry to an intricate musical genre.

“The comparison I draw is jazz – arguably the most complex, elaborate music that can be incredibly hard to access unless you are a musician or an aficionado,” he says. Wallbridge thinks this is one of the struggles sherry faces, pointing out that successful “whirlwinds of recent years”, such as pinot grigio, malbec or rosé, were predicated on their mass appeal.

“They’re never going to offend anyone,” he says. “That’s where sherry can often fall on its head – it can be incredibly dry; it can be incredibly sweet; it can be incredibly long-aged and complex.”

Wallbridge believes there are some wines, which he describes as “sherries but not sherries”, that have great potential to introduce new consumers to the sector, among them Fondillón, an unfortified semi-sweet wine made in Alicanté from the monastrell grape. He says the wine is “flexible, because it’s something that’s not too dry or sweet, but sits in the middle”.

Wallbridge also highlights Bodegas Alonso Stripped Desnudo (‘naked’), another unfortified wine from the palomino grape, which offers “lovely salinity and crisp acidity. [It] is a really refreshing drink without those very complex acetaldehydes that come from the flor ageing. So it’s a really good feed into the sherry region”.

He is also enthused by the idea that a new generation of winemakers are potentially building a path to a broader appreciation of the sherry sector overall, with approachable, ‘unfortified sherries’ that appeal to younger, inquisitive consumers.

Sampling and social media lead education drives

The challenge that sherry’s flavour profile presents is acknowledged by many brand owners looking to woo this younger demographic. As ever, the overriding catchphrase is ‘education’.

González Byass UK brand manager Sarah Pollard says: “When introducing sherry to a new, younger consumer, it’s important to consider the occasion and serve: How does [sherry] fit into consumers’ lives? How and when would they consume it?

“There’s also the additional challenge of the flavour profile; a bone-dry Fino, like Tio Pepe, may be unlike any wine or drink they’ve previously sampled. Our 2023 campaign focused on raising awareness of Tio Pepe-and-tonic as the summer’s at-home, on-trend alternative to a G&T.

“Sampling confirmed that our target audience enjoyed Tio Pepe-and-tonic and the mixed drink format addressed the challenges around serve and occasion. The campaign featured adverts delivered via Sky AdSmart, YouTube and Meta, alongside PR, print and sampling activity.”

At Williams & Humbert, Medina is also a fan of actually getting the liquid into the consumer’s hands: “Education is the key,” he says. “We need to keep up exactly what we have been doing, working with chefs, sommeliers and bartenders, as they’re the ones who create tendencies and introduce the consumer to our wines.

“We make great efforts to raise awareness that sherry is not just an aperitif wine, but a wine that can accompany any type of dish. It is precisely its diversity and versatility that makes it so unique. There’s a sherry for every type of dish.”

Williams & Humbert runs tasting sessions aimed at this occasion, notes Medina. “We coordinate our actions with all the generic promotional events organised by the regulating council [Consejo Regulador],” he says. “One example is the recent Copa Jerez International Competition.”

Annual sherry week events showcase food-pairing serves

The annual International Sherry Week is a big deal when it comes to raising awareness, and its tenth iteration was held in November. Among the participants was Barbadillo, which, according to international area director Tim Holt, is committed to showcasing the food compatibility of sherry.

“As well as creating brands to suit the younger consumer – and higher spender – we create awareness via PR campaigns, social media activity, etc,” he says. “Sherry Week itself is in part a social media exercise, so by hosting sherry events or dinners in different venues, we can reach the consumer directly [and also] use social media on those events to make a noise. Barbadillo has been visible in events in the UK at Ambiente restaurants in Yorkshire and Curado Bar in Cardiff, in Shanghai with our importer Talentum and in New York with the ‘Feria En Rama’ event.”

Barbadillo, which was established in 1821, keeps a keen eye on broader consumer trends and has just launched organic and vegan Manzanilla and PX. The company also has two organic Palominos – Sábalo and Patinegro – and a Manzanilla-based Vermouth called Atamán, which Holt says “is an excellent way into the cocktail bars”.

Indeed, the brand owner lays claim to having launched the first expression catering to those “outside the traditional 60-plus market” in Pastora Manzanilla Pasada En Rama. First bottled in the 19th Century, the En Rama was resurrected about nine years ago with its original label.

“Manzanilla Pasada is a rare item,” says Holt. “The En Rama is now a category in the sherry DO and attracts the wine enthusiast. It means ‘unfiltered’ and was a term first used on bottled sherry by Barbadillo back in 1999 as a reaction against carbon-filtered Manzanilla, which was so popular in the 1990s.

“Now it’s synonymous with quality and premium sherry offerings.”