What's a wine snob? Describe them please.?

Answer 1

A snob is anyone who thinks that what YOU like isn't as good as what THEY like. There are stereo snobs, car snobs, beer snobs, chocolate snobs, and of course general all-purpose snobs. Their egos are wrapped up in not only knowing, appreciating and liking the best of whatever they're snobs about, but more important, they have a deep need to let you know that what YOU like is inferior -- and, by extension, so are you.

A wine snob is someone who has these characteristics but uses his or her knowledge of wine for self-aggrandizement, at the expense of other people's feelings. That's the single most important part of snobbery -- it's all about making the snob feel more important by making the non-snob feel like a worm.

It can be a tough balancing act for anybody who has a real passion about a subject and loves to talk about it. Personally, it's something I try very hard NOT to be. Now, I love wine, and I know a little bit about it; I visit wineries and wine tastings, I enjoy chatting with the wine manager at our local market, and I love learning about new (to me, anyway) types and trends in wine. And I love to talk about wine with anyone -- whether they know more about it than I do and can help me learn, or whether they know less about it than I do and I can help them find something that they like.

Something else about wine snobs: they tend to be more concerned with how "good" something is than with how much they LIKE it. I have known people who would rather drink wine that they didn't enjoy, but which had a top reputation, than something they liked but was considered of a lower grade. For example: I'm a real devotee of champagne/sparkling wine, but Dom Perignon is not my favorite -- in spite of its generally deserved reputation as the world's best. True, it's flawlessly made, with great acid balance and bright, sparkling flavor on top of pinpoint carbonation -- but to my personal preference, it's a little one-dimensional (though it fills that dimension out very, very well!)

But when it comes time to untwist the cage and twist out the cork, I prefer old, yeasty champagne with lots of voluptuous fruit over aromas of buttered toast; consequently, I am currently an absolute fiend for Argyle's Extended Tirage brut (about US$35). Made from 90% pinot noir and 10% chardonnay, it's left on the yeast for ten years before being disgorged and dosed for the secondary fermentation (the one that gives it the bubbles). A good ET will give me goosebumps... and given the choice between being offered a free case of Dom Perignon and a case of, say, the '94 ET, I'd snap up the Argyle so fast it'd make your riddling rack spin. And at the same time, I'm completely comfortable with anyone who prefers Dom; if you're really a champagne buff, you need to taste it to know what the industry considers "best." And knowing that, you can decide what you LIKE the most.

So that's it. A wine snob would rather drink Dom Perignon because it's the acknowledged best, and more important would sniff in supercilious disapproval at anyone who liked something else. Someone who enjoys tasting, drinking, learning and talking about wine, without passing judgment on other people's tastes (and if possible, using his or her knowledge to help others find what they like), is what I prefer to think of as a wine ENTHUSIAST.

Answer 2

A wine snob knows all the appellations, and knows all the ways to describe the wines they taste. They don't like wines that aren't "good" according to the standards that are understood in the wine world. Actually, its no snobbier that if you like shoes or something, and don't like the ones that are poorly made or unattractive. The wine snob just knows more about the quality of wines and so they are fussier.

Answer 3

A wine snob or ''Whine-O" is a person who thinks that just because they get drunk off of wine it is justifiable. They think that its nonaddictive, just because its "wine''

They look down on people who dont drink wine. They are snobbish and pompous. They are alcoholics in denial - because they cant admit that they are addicted to the alcohol in wine. And, most of the time, they are mean and crude drunks.

They can regurgitate facts about how wine is made and try to sound intellectual about the growth of grapes - when all they are doing is passing off things they have overheard as their own knowledge.

They are rediculously annoying - and frankly I cant stand them.

I love to drink wine with my meals from time to time - I even know a think or two about what wines go with what meals... but I am, by no means, a Wine Snob.

Answer 4

There are plenty of fake wine snobs, and they are to be pitied. A real wine snob is to be admired. They would rather go without wine if the only choice is bad wine. They would rather drink a fine expensive wine with someone they hate who appreciates it, than to share it with someone they love who doesn't.

Answer 5

i'm no wine snob or specialist both and that i'm particular there are lots of better effective wines than this, notwithstanding the ultimate Ive ever tasted is a pink Spanish wine referred to as Bodegas Navarro Lopez - Gran Reserva 1996, it would want to were the meal i develop into having it with notwithstanding it tasted basically suited, and that i loved each and every sip !. I say the ultimate is and by no skill develop into, is because Ive nonetheless were given a bottle left, a chum despatched me a blended case of pink wine for my birthday one 3 hundred and sixty 5 days and there develop into 2 bottles of that contained in the case, and for some reason i determined to maintain the 2d bottle, and its starring me contained in the face declaring drink me LOL, possibly quicker or later ?? :-)

Answer 6

I had a blind date with a wine snob once. He grilled me on aromas, noses, flavors, etc... He looked down on me because I liked sauvignon blanc, because HE only liked reds.

A wine afficionado knows their wine, but doesn't push it on you like a wine snob.

Needless to say, there was no second date. Thank God.

Answer 7

Someone who thinks they know everything about wine, but really doesn't.

Answer 8

The sniffer. The swirler. The sommelier sycophant.