PhaseTwo

My boss has the big wine cellar in the basement and spends a lot of money on wines. He swirls the glass around and smells it and describes flavors that make no sense. Why do people think they are any different drinking wine as someone drinking beer or liquor?

Sorry it's still alcohol no matter how many cool names and traditions you invent around it. He had me edit his wine website, and theres a quote page. Into the quotes I added " What wine goes best with captain crunch?" - George carlin. He wasn't too happy as this quote didn't make wine out to be glorious like the others quotes.

orieme

Wines do have different flavours, smells and even feels in the mouth. Also, certain flavours go well with each other.

As for the "it's like a summer's day in a meadow with freshly picked berries and a lightly scented incense candle burning in the background, with subtle undertones" talk it's down to people being pretentious of course.

Doug39

One of the things I will miss the most in sobriety will be going to wineries with my wife. It is fun and learning about and enjoying wines is awesome.

I was always a "corner bar beer chugging slob" and I fit in at wineries and I never ran into people that thought they were better than me.

Hypocritical

I can vouch that wine is my biggest downfall. I don't care how you package it or describe it it's still my enemy!

Coz

Carlotta

It sounds like your boss is a serious oenologist. Nothing wrong with it as long as he is not an alcoholic. For us, such a thing would be destructive but for others like your boss, it is a hobby. If he gets his kicks out of it, more power to him.

MidnightBlue

I was a wino, and what I enjoyed about it back then that wines have a wide range of flavors.

I think mass media contributed a lot to this "sophisticated image", when some super-cool movie character like James Bond makes a sip of wine, rolls his eyes and says "It's Chateau Margaux 1961".

hypochondriac

I think it's pretentious too. I had a rule with wine though... if you pay over 5 pound a bottle it's less likely to taste like vinegar.

Personally the people who spend a lot of money on wine or the like **** me off. My ex partners brother used to hang out with a merchant banker and boast about drinking shots of whiskey which cost £200 a shot. It made me feel sick that someone is proud of that when come people can't afford to eat. Personally I think it's a con to do stupid rich people out of their money

john44

It's all marketing. I remember when a wine called two buck chuck was selected over other, much more expensive wines by a panel of wine experts. Hysterical! Once, I bought a bottle of very expensive scotch I'd wanted to try for a long time. This was years before I drank alcoholically. Anyway, the scotch was very disappointing. I thought it was no better than others I'd tried at a fraction of the price. With high-priced booze, you do NOT get what you pay for.

elihoping

I was chatting to a girl in work about this. I asked her if she thought all these expensive wines would sell if they could take out the alcohol content but leave the taste. We both laughed. "Definitely not!" was the answer. I'm sure people do get a kick out of the different flavours of different wines but I think they're still drinking it for the alcohol content.

caboblanco

I think all dry red wines start tasting the same after two bottles. They taste like poop that gives you heartburn and cotton mouth

jat14

omg that made me LOL !! Good old George. I used to buy wine in a 4L box. Klassy eh? Some people actually do enjoy the smell or 'bouquet' as they call it and don't drink to get drunk like we do. Hard to believe huh? I know they p i ss me off too sometimes

orieme

caboblanco, let's not forget the attractive purple lips, tongue and teeth.

KissMyTiara

I don't know that wines are special. Some people really enjoy the craft beers and really good single malt scotch.

jaynie04

My mother in law owns a vineyard in Sonoma, has for 30 years. My father-in-law passed away recently, he was sick for a long time in the hospital.

She relayed a story about a long day at the hospital in Santa Rosa, coming home, pouring a glass of wine, but she couldn't find the tv remote. So she got up, poured the wine down the sink and went to bed.

She told this story because the dogs had hid the remote in the yard and she didn't find it for a week.

This was right before I got sober this summer, I remember thinking, if I couldn't find the remote I would have felt bad for myself and opened 3 bottles....

Yes, some wine people are snobs, but a lot of vintners are farmers. There are people who are scotch snobs, cheese snobs, truffle snobs, orchid snobs, car snobs.....

I happen to be a snob about finding a good cart at the supermarket. After many years of a seeming to habitually choose carts that only go left I got tired of doing donuts down the aisles. I now give my cart a very good test run before it is crowned "cart du jour".

I am also a snob about pillows. I hate puffy pillows. In fact I buy them in advance and put them under the mattress for 2 months of pre-game. At that point they are usually sufficiently smushed. I always feel more secure if I have 2 pillows in escrow.

I am also a lightbulb snob....but I will save that scintillating diatribe for another day.

PhaseTwo

I drank a lot of craft beers but I never smelled them for 5 minutes and then sipped and wrote about the hints of oak with a touch of pencil shavings and mango. my reviews of craft beer would have all been the same "good, nice hints of alcohol" I suppose you're right Carlotta, I shouldn't be irritated at the guy for having a hobby

KissMyTiara

Because that wasn't your thing. Your choice of alcohol.

tomsteve

its not all wine drinkers. I know a few ex wine drinker in recovery. they didn't give a crap as long as it had alcohol.
it isn't limited to wine drinkers. there are beer, bourbon, scotch, brandy,vodka,whiskey, and rum drinkers that do it too. then theres the beer, bourbon, scotch, brandy, vodka, whiskey, and rum drinkers that don't give a crap as long as it has alcohol in it.

hypochondriac

Haha

Pipping

I was a red wine drinker and tried to be a wine snob. Could never really get the hang of it because I drank to get drunk. All that sipping and swishing the glass did my head in, I just wanted to drink and be done with it. I puked in a winery car park once. I was the epitome of class and sophistication

Threshold

Different people are into different things. My eyes glaze over when people are discussing baseball pitchers or quarterbacks. Doesn't mean they're silly or pretentious, they just appreciate aspects of something I'm not into.

Same thing with coffee...SO many different kinds. Chocolate...now THERE is something I know about...and yup, I'll treat myself to a 5, or 8 dollar bar from time to time and YES it tastes very different.

Would people drink coffee without the caffeine? Or eat chocolate without the theobromine? maybe not...

Wine isn't what makes people snobby.