Wine descriptors tell us more about a bottle’s price than its flavor. – By Coco Krumme – Slate Magazine

“Graphite. Black currant. Incense. And camphor?” This is a great read. You’ve probably read something similar about wine bullshit before, but this is probably better. Interesting that more expensive wines are described with more specific words.

When it comes to invoking elegance, foreign and complex words have a natural advantage. Cigars and truffle conjure up prestige and luxury. Meanwhile, a little-known berry or spice conveys the worldly sophistication of the critic, which the drinker can share. For a price.

Wine descriptors tell us more about a bottle’s price than its flavor. – By Coco Krumme – Slate Magazine

Tasting wine blind | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters

“The kind of wines one loves in blind tastings are not necessarily the kind of wines one actually likes to drink in real life.” See also: Pepsi vs. Coke. I’m wondering how this would apply in a museum, perhaps. Maybe what you like to gawk at for a few moments in a gallery is different from what you’d want in your living room. Is there psychological concept for liking different things depending on the length of exposure?

Tasting wine blind | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters

How to be a snob when drinking alcohol: “There are guidelines. First, if you’re faking it, everything is faint—you want to talk in terms of hints, notes, and shades. Give the impression that you only barely caught this delicate wisp of a flavor because you were concentrating so intensely back in Step 2.”