It is so not true that distinctions don't exist, and that they can't be spotted. Some generalisations:
1. Most of us don't drink enough wine, and certainly not enough variety of wine on a regular basis, sufficient to allow us to develop our palates; 2. Most of us should be able to figure out the difference between No. 1 in a blind test and No. 10, even if we can't make out any real difference between #6, #7 and #8; 3. Indian wines are improving, but certainly nowhere near the quality of a standard Chardonnay or a Pinot Noir out of any standard Tesco outlet, forget about the vintage and crus and grand crus; 4. Finding a wine style - either varietal or more subtle - to suit one's tastes is not particularly difficult. Finding a fortified wine of choice is even easier. It doesn't take a hugely sophisticated palate to conclude that either a Chardonnay or a Riesling is one's tipple, rather than the other whites (I bet nobody other than Charles has had any of the big Sauternes, so why bring them in?), or choose between Pinot Noir and the mix of grapes that go into Claret. The point being that some of what is being called wine snobbery here is probably due to having developed a taste in a kind of wine, and being unable to find the equivalent among Indian wines. Frankly, I think we are hugely overdoing the wine snobbery bit; if we can distinguish between cigarette brands and their smokes, or between different brands of blended whiskey, what is the big deal in being able to distinguish between different types of wine? And Indian wine has improved tremendously but ...... ________________________________ From: ss <cybers...@gmail.com> To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Sent: Thursday, 10 November 2011, 17:25 Subject: Re: [silk] Query on wines.... and snobbery On Thursday 10 Nov 2011 5:03:59 pm Charles Haynes wrote: > Anyway, I'm just trying to say that no actually, real wine > appreciation is a learned skill that can be used for snobbery or not > as suits the inclination of the individual. > Charles - I am sure you are right. But there are some things in life that are used by a lot of people to put on airs that they feel will show them as being among a hallowed group. Wine appreciation is one such thing. Golf is another. I know only one wine connoisseur with a golf handicap of less than 10. In fact you will know him too. His name's Bond. James Bond. shiv
