Wine Gains Momentum as Americans' Favorite Adult Beverage – Part 1 of 4
Lydia Saad– August 26, 2005
Special analysis shows different shifts in drinking preferences by age
The Gender Gap in Drinking
Men prefer beer; women prefer wine. That has been the case throughout Gallup's tracking of this measure. Even in 1992, when beer was chosen by nearly 2-to-1 over wine among all drinkers, only 27% of women named beer as their standard drink, while 43% named wine. Since then, wine has gained in popularity among both sexes, but especially among men.
This advance for wine has come at the expense of beer. There has been virtually no change in preference for liquor among men and women, but the percentage naming beer has declined since 1992/1994 by 12 points among men, and by 6 points among women.
Minorities Switching to Wine
The national shift from beer to wine is especially pronounced among the nonwhite population. The long-term increase in preference for wine (since 1992/1994) has been +7 percentage points among white Americans, but +17 points among nonwhites. Similarly, the percentage of those preferring beer has fallen by 10 points among whites, but by 15 points among nonwhites.
| |
Whites |
Nonwhites |
| Wine |
|
|
| 1992/1994 |
29 |
22 |
| 1997/1999 |
34 |
28 |
| 2004/2005 |
36 |
39 |
| |
|
|
| Beer |
|
|
| 1992/1994 |
47 |
53 |
| 1997/1999 |
44 |
45 |
| 2004/2005 |
37 |
38 |
| |
|
|
| Liquor |
|
|
| 1992/1994 |
20 |
19 |
| 1997/1999 |
19 |
23 |
| 2004/2005 |
23 |
21 |
| |
|
|
Future Gallup releases will review the extent of problem drinking in America, focusing on the relationship between age, type of alcohol preferred, and the self-reported tendency to sometimes drink too much.
* NOTE: Demographic trends are reported on the basis of two-year averages in order to increase sample size, and therefore, statistical reliability.
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