Wine Snob or Wine Geek? Take The Test

WINE TALK
41

You might be a geek if you;

Have not only taken your own wine to a restaurant, but your own glassware, in your own special carrying case.

Have ever used the term “soil driven” to describe a wine’s flavor profile.

Know the exposure and which direction the rows run in the vineyard of the wine you are serving.

You might be a wine snob if you;

Throw a cocktail party but set up a private spot with a few special bottles which you drink with just a few of your chosen guests while everyone else drinks plonk.

Show up at other people’s cocktail parties, eye the by-the-case $15 wine and ask the host/hostess, “do you have anything else…for me?”

42

neener

43

What? Maybe he cares a lot and actually could care less?

44

Wait, does this make me a grammar snob or a grammar geek?

45

@Chris: Awww crap. Didn’t catch that one fast enough.

46

Or you notice your kids swirling their milk glasses.


I have proudly worn the label “Wine Geek” for a long time:
http://www.finewinegeek.com/

47

I found the article to be rather supercilious in the manner of “I’m a wine geek, and aren’t I much cooler than that stupid wine snob”. That especially rang true with the final ‘question’, which is very much an arrogant assertion about ‘our club’ being popular (and frankly I don’t agree with it).

I’d only examine a closure if it was new to me (e.g. the first vinolok I saw), would not be able to name the soil that the grapes were grown on, for any wine I own or have drunk. I have an ex-wine shop owner as a good friend, but that’s because he’s a good friend. I read very few wine blogs and those are occasional reads. Sounds like I’m not much of a wine geek, but I accept that I am, but do try not to make that blindingly obvious amongst friends/acquaintances, unless they share the passion.

48

You know what SQN, QPR, QC, CnDP, RP, WA, JL, AG, ST, IWC, WS, KB, BoJo, Cru Boo, ABV, LdH, GPL, PC, WB and eBob stand for (I just frightened myself).


OK I just got 100% on the above test. Now I am really friggin frightened. Knowing all those abbreviations is not normal…

49

And don’t forget the AFWE acronym!

50

Yep me too. Though with WS I assumed Wine Spectator but thought maybe it could have been Williams Selyem?

51

If you dumpster dive a 5 year old thread on a wine board…

52

Or Wine Searcher.


I might add: "If you’ve argued with someone as to whether BdM stands for “Brunello di Montalcino” or “Bonneau du Martray”.

53

My list of favorite quotes on this thread:

  • You have passionate feelings about the use of “variety” versus “varietal”

Nah, that just means you pay attention to your English.

•Your dog disappears when you start taking about wine.
Animals are only good as meals, not pets.

[rofl.gif]



If you dumpster dive a 5 year old thread on a wine board…

[dance-clap.gif]

54

I would much rather see the HoseMasters list. I think it would be much more funny

55

That would make it the first funny thing he has done (I’m a comedy snob, not a comedy geek).

56

Was really hoping there was an actual test.

57

Or WS = Wine Searcher. The truly committed might not make that connection, only being familiar with WSP.

And PC: Premier Cru or Pontet Canet?

58

My personal results:

You Might be a Wine Snob if:

  • You have no idea what anyone else thinks about the wines at the end of a wine dinner. FALSE. I care what other people think even if I don’t personally agree.
  • You believe using improper glassware to be a criminal offense and would never consider drinking wine from a tumbler. TRUE. There’s a reason I have so many Schott-Zweisels.
  • You find everyone else’s opinions on wine to be insufferably boring. FALSE. I’ve told the illuminating story before of the woman I overheard whose note on icewine was “This icewine tastes just like… icewine.” So wrong and yet so right at the exact same time. I have never dismissed anyone else’s wine opinion ever since.
  • You prefer not to socialize with people who drink beer or other ‘pedestrian’ beverages. TRUE. Beer sux. neener
  • You never ask questions about the wine, because you know it all anyway. FALSE. I have no issue with asking if I do not know about it. That’s how I discovered Sauternes.
  • Your spouse disappears when you start talking about wine. FALSE. I am not married. However, OTHER people’s spouses have been known to disappear when I talk about wine. Does that count?
  • Your dog disappears when you start taking about wine. FALSE. I don’t own a dog but the landlord’s dogs love hanging around me when I’m drinking wine.
  • You have no friends, only wine bottles. FALSE. This said, the number of wine bottles I own vastly outnumbers the friends I have… by the hundreds. Does this count?

You Might be a Wine Geek if:

  • You select a wine in a restaurant because you’ve never heard of it before. FALSE. I personally think that’s a terrible way to order a wine.
  • You know the difference between silt, clay and loam. TRUE. Soil matters. I can get good wine and good grapes from good soil. I can’t get anything from bad soil.
  • You read wine blogs (thank you). TRUE.
  • You examine wine closures because they are fascinating. TRUE. Cork sux. neener Vino-lok and screwcap all the way.
  • You have more questions at the end of a wine dinner. FALSE. I make sure to ask them before it ends so everyone can learn.
  • Your wine retailer is a personal friend. TRUE. More than one, in fact.
  • You have friends, lots of ‘em, because you are always opening and sharing unusual new wines. TRUE The advantage of being a majority sweet wine drinker in a dry wine world is that I always bring something interesting to the table for at least someone.

I’m afraid that though I wish my hardest to be a wine snob, I am sadly a wine geek. Good thing there’s plenty of those around her to hang with. grouphug

59

Here is one that a snob would answer only one way.

BdM. .

60

You can go into a steakhouse without your eyeglasses, stand at one end of the room, and recite the wines standing up on a display at the other end based upon the vague outlines and colors of the labels. I did that once at Morton’s and really scared myself. Refused to look at a wine bottle for a whole week.