(SacBee) -  In wine parlance, it’s called “passing the glass.” As aging baby boomers taper off their wine consumption, the millennial generation is poised to pick up the slack, according to a new UC Davis survey of California wine executives. And despite water shortages and increased competition from craft beers, cocktails and imported wines, California’s wine industry is holding its own globally.

Those are among the results to be presented Tuesday at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium in Napa.

Robert Smiley, professor and dean emeritus of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, gathered comments from the heads of 26 wineries for his 13th annual survey of wine executives. About 60 percent of the wineries surveyed are in the Napa or Sonoma valleys, with most of the rest in the Central Valley, Sierra foothills and the Central Coast.

Smiley also completed a separate survey of wine professionals – representing more than 120 wine companies, growers, distributors and financial firms.

In the latest surveys, respondents said California’s massive wine industry will hold its own in the global marketplace despite shifts in consumer demographics, drought, competition from imported wines and the rising popularity of craft beers and cocktails.

Smiley said California wine likely will remain popular even as “baby boomers pass the glass to the millennial generation.” The survey of wine executives noted that wine consumption by baby boomers is declining and will continue to do so as that group ages.