Millennials tuning out of music festivals.

So the music festival industry is fnally winding back with a whole line up of them cancelling their event over the past year, such as the Falls Festival, Groovin the Moo and more recently Spend it on the Grass, sorry, Splendour on the Grass.

About time millennials grew up I say.

Okay, struggling musos are going to struggle replacing that sort of gig, but make no mistake, these

Castelli Porongurup

Riesling 2018, $35. We’ve mentioned often that WA does things differently, and this is a great example. There is plenty going on in this riesling, not only from its middle age, and you might mistake it as not riesling, while simultaneously realising it’s very obviously, distinctly riesling, just unlike anything festivals aren’t cheap and it was largely fairly-high-networth millennials making up the crowds, and surely they can lose another little privilege even if mum and dad can afford it.

Of course there were many hard-working youthful types blowing their hard-earned McDonalds pay on a bit of blow and some meth but they themselves have caused the crisis in the festival scene, and not as many think because of the you’re accustomed to. Delightfully different. 9.6/10.

Castelli Mount Barker (WA) Riesling 2023, $27. This is somewhat more mainstream yet with still that edge that decidedly WA edge. A bit softer, still sharp, a bit fuller, yet tart enough, it’s a puzzle there’s not lots more WA riesling. 9.4/10.

Freeman Prosecco (2023), cost-of-living crisis.

No, as with generations before them, all festival goers eventually realise that spending $1000-2000 (drugs not included) on a rain-soaked weekend in a leaky two-person tent with six mates, lining up for food, toilets, pill testing and buying more pills is not as fun as it looks on paper, specially if the toilet paper has run out.

Sure you saw a million bands all crammed into three days of ear-splitting mosh action but eventually everyone acknowledges that, like gambling, hey, look what else I could buy with the money!

$30. A new world record for label minimalism. Two words and a star! How minimal is that? The wine is minimal too, simple and slurpable yet with simplicity that grows to satisfying familiarity and versatility. As the back label expands, it harks to the simplicity and sustainability of Italian lifestyle and tradition. 9.3/10.

A greater cause of festival failures mirrors why Facebook is no longer the platform of choice for youngsters, it’s been commandeered by old farts, Trump-loving antivaxxers, broader conspiracy theorists, terrorists and trolls. Young people want

Oakdene Bellarine their own platform to do those things and they need something new since their parents infltrated their music festivals too.

Peninsula Geelong Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc, 2022, $30. Not sure if Geelong has/had any festivals apart from surfng ones, but you’re best advised to stay home anyway because it would be cold or windy or both, which apparently is not a bad thing for grapes, least of all these. 9.3/10.

This phenomenon is most obvious at the Byron Blues Festival where as early as the ‘90s the Blind Boys from Alabama also accurately described much of the audience’s medical condition, who couldn’t see just how much the stars of the ‘70s had faded.

So yes, the era of festivals

Kosciuszko Tumbarumba Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay Pinot Meunier 2022, $40. All the great grapes of champagne without the food miles and arrogance. If it wasn’t so hard to spell and pronounce this could be our national sparkling wine, the one they pull out on Australia day, grand fnals, state dinners and the opening of is on the wane, replaced if not usurped by automated playlists on Spotify. parliament...hmmm maybe not the latter. 9.5/10.

But look on the bright side, it only costs $15 a month, you can turn up the volume so you don’t hearing aids, no queues at the fridge, crap in your own loo, and best of all, drink your own wine out of proper glass.

Kosciuszko Tumbarumba Pinot Noir 2022, $27. Don’t be fooled by the marketing which many may put in the same camp as Koala wines for tourists. This is serious and seriously decent pinot from an even cooler and likely windier climate than Geelong’s. 9.4/10.