(CapitalPress) - Today’s graduate students and young professionals are following in the footsteps of baby boomers in their preference of higher-value wines, a new survey has found.

Many millennials — members of the generation born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s — are “foodies” who have incorporated good wines into their quest for new experiences related to food, according to a survey by Robert Smiley, a University of California-Davis professor and dean emeritus.

The industry must retain them as customers by focusing on sophisticated marketing and communication, the survey found.

Smiley and his colleagues conducted the 14th annual survey of the heads of 27 wine companies and 150 California wine professionals about trends in the industry.

Among the survey’s other findings, according to a UC-Davis news release:

• Most executives remain confident in the health of the industry but are also taking precautions, including downsizing wine inventories, strengthening their supply chain and mechanizing to reduce labor expenses.

• Water and climate-change concerns have prompted executives to purchase only vineyards with good access to water, choose only vigorous, water-efficient rootstock and invest in water-efficient technology. They’re also considering the vineyard development in Oregon and Washington.