Although I’m father to a pair of millennials, defined by marketers as the 20- to 25-year-olds who succeeded generation X, I was not up to date on their feelings toward wine until recently. It’s not that my son and daughter wouldn’t be forthcoming on a subject so important to old dad, but with one in Philadelphia and the other in New Zealand, it’s too hard to nab them for sit-down time. In lieu of that, I recently attended a seminar marking the release of a survey called “20-25 Year-Olds and Wine” commissioned by Vinexpo, a French trade group.

Dozens of millennials were interviewed in America (the group clarified in seminar materials that Americans can legally drink at 21), France, Belgium, Britain, and Japan. Their snippet-size, Power-Point-ed comments were, to my mind, surprisingly banal: “Wine helps you have fun … you feel more part of the party.” “A glass of wine is supposed to be good for you.” “It’s beautiful how it glistens … bright golden yellows … deep reds like velvet,” and so on. Among the study’s conclusions on how to market wines to millennials is “make wine’s image younger.” Maybe I’m out of the loop here, but why does wine need a younger image? Hip young people are crowding wine bars and wine shops wherever I look. In any case, just what would a younger image be — Sanjaya on the label?

A lively panel discussion salvaged this event, held recently at the Gansevoort Hotel in the meatpacking district. The creator of the wine Web log DrVino.com, Tyler Colman, announced that for millennials, “wine is the new black,” offering “a lot more return on your social investment than beer.” Philippe Newlin, who teaches a wine course at the Columbia Business School, released the results of a survey undertaken by his own students. Seeing wine as a social lubricant, 58% of the students are against drinking alone. Eighty-one percent say that wine quality is more important than quantity — an indicator of how different sipping wine is from glugging beer. Sixty-seven percent believe that wine is a healthier choice than drinks such as soda and vodka.

Unlike older folks who still buy wine according to the name of a chateau or appellation, Mr. Newlin’s students prefer to shop by grape variety. Everyone’s first choice, however, is French wine. According to Mr. Newlin, “The no. 1 one reason the students enjoy wine is how it tastes and how well it works over dinner. Wine is unmatched by any other kind of alcoholic beverage in that it’s viewed — dare I say it? — as a food.” This, he says, is the most heartening finding of the survey.

What can wine purveyors take away from the business school survey? “Wine isn’t about being snobby to these kids,” Mr. Newlin said. “So bring it down, look them in the eye, and don’t talk to them about history and more history. Just tell them what’s in the glass.”

That’s long been the strategy of the third panelist, Joshua Wesson, a co-founder of Best Cellars, a group of wine shops with a strikingly young clientele and prices that hover around $10 a bottle. “The older generation made a linear connection between price and quality,” Mr. Wesson said. “It was an aspirational thing, so they didn’t want to pay cheap. Our key driver has been to disconnect price from quality perceived. In fact, you can receive a great deal of pleasure without great expense. That’s the right message for young people.”

Best Cellars rarely gives its scarce shelf space to major wine brands such as Yellow Tail or Kendall Jackson, Mr. Wesson said. “People often buy a brand out of fear. They swim to the island that’s safest. But our brand is the store. We sell on taste, and that is how the millennials are most comfortable buying.” Getting down to the nitty gritty, Mr. Wesson offered a few good reasons why young people are drinking wine — and why its image is timeless: “It makes people more amusing. It makes food taste better. And, it ensures that you’ll have sex within six hours.”

REST IN PEACE

The saddest sight on West Broadway for the last year has been the boarded-up entrance to Montrachet, a pioneering TriBeCa restaurant that had been uniquely convivial to wine lovers. It was a Monday night hotspot, when you were invited to bring your own bottles sans corkage fee. Bottles were passed between tables under the amiable eye of wine director Daniel Johnnes, now with Daniel Boulud. According to owner Drew Nieporent, a dispute with the landlord closed the place down. On Friday, as part of a two-day auction, a remnant of Montrachet’s gemheavy wine cellar, comprising 550 lots, will be sold off by Zachys at Restaurant Daniel. It’s an eclectic offering, ranging from a pair of bottles of Chateau Latour 1945 (estimated between $4,000 and $6,500) to 12 half bottles of Napa Valley’s Opus One 1996 (estimated between $850 and $1,300). 60 E. 65th St., between Park and Madison avenues, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m., 914-206-4544. For more information, go to zachys.com.