Wine snobbery is not restricted to wealthy wine collectors or avid wine geeks. In fact, it can affect anyone, to one degree or another. It is essentially a closed mindset which often leads to a refusal to drink certain wines due to preconceptions which are often not accurate.
One such preconception involves screwcap closures. When they first started showing up, people wrongly assumed that screwcaps were only for cheap wines, and avoided them. Yet that was not the case. Plenty of excellent wines used screwcaps and that has become better known but still has a way to go. I still meet people who refuse to drink wines with screwcaps because they still think they are inferior wines. Their snobbery prevents them from experiencing those delicious wines which just happen to be beneath a screwcap.
More currently, boxed wines are the target of much snobbery. Some of it has been partially justified as mostly cheap wines were initially placed into boxes. But that is changing, as I recently pointed out. Wine snobs though won't experience the excellent wines that are starting to be placed into boxes, as their preconceptions will stop them from even trying these wines. They think wine must be in a bottle to be good, and that is not the case.
Wine snobbery affects so many other areas too. Some wrongly assume that good wine only comes from a handful of U.S. States, such as California, Washington, Oregon and New York. Yet you can find excellent wine in plenty of other states, from New Mexico to Virginia. Some people refuse to drink wines made from certain grapes, wrongly assuming that all wines made from that grape taste the same. Yet that is definitely not the case either.
Are you sometimes a wine snob? If so, break free from your wine snobbery. Allow yourself to be open, to be willing to have your preconceptions challenged. If you dislike a certain type of wine, keep tasting different examples of that wine as you never know when you might find one you enjoy. Don't assume a wine is cheap just because it has been packaged differently. If something is new to you, don't automatically assume the worst. Just give it a try.
If you have overcome some preconception, if you have stopped being a wine snob, please tell me about it.
I'm not ashamed to admit I drink Black Box wine. ...and wines with screw caps! Get beyond the packaging or you'll miss some really good wine.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I love to try new things, especially if they are in a category I've yet to find pleasure in. So far, I'm lucky in that I only have 2 categories I've yet to find a palatable selection. Oaked chardonnay and red Burgundy in the $30 and under price range.
ReplyDeleteWine Spectator wrote up some boxed wines and gave them good reviews. I'm eager to try the Bota Box Cabernet based up on the posted tasting notes.