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Corks are used because they allow the wine to breath.

They also allow the wine to oxidize and become contaminated with TCA. About one bottle in twelve on retailers' shelves have gone bad because of the corks.

Which is why screw caps are becoming more and more common, and within two decades, all wine bottles will use them. Even us snobs.

I'll miss the ritual that goes with opening a bottle with a corkscrew, though.

I am a college student, looking to be a laywer...or a political operative (think toby or joh from the west wing). There is not one part of me that wants to be a PD.

That being said, I do not consider myself a snob. I like fountain pens, and often catch heat for spending $50 on a pen-despite the fact that I could spend thousands. They call me a snob for it.

I had 2 finals today. Last night, I was outside on the lawn, with a Conch Republic King Conch in one hand, a Parker 45 from 1970 that cost me $50, my cutter and lighter on the ground next to me, wearing jeans and a suit coat, studying, not doing anything to anyone. I got called a snob by 4 seperate people.

To me, snob implies interpersonal interaction. I consider someone a snob if they have an air of self-importance or arrogance when talking about the item. Wine snobs who look down on new drinkers for instance.

I started smoking cigars in march. Since then, I have made several good friends, am less stressed from life due to forced time to "do nothing" (nicely put hsmunoz), and share in a new brotherhood. I have discovered a hobby, and its something that I really enjoy. I hold that liking the finer things in life, having an appreciation that goes into making the aforementioned nice things, and enjoying quality is by no means a bad thing. In the throwaway culture that we live in, investing in quality is one of the best things we can do. I am planning on passing down my pens when I have children.

If the above makes me a snob, where do I sign up?

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To me, snob implies interpersonal interaction.

Couldn't agree more.

QM, I have to admit, I have always held the stem with absolutely no knowledge of the reason why. I figured it had something to do with the glass and cleanliness, but I did it primarily because I want to do things the "right" way.

I was interested to see that in James's latest video he did not toast the end of his cigar. He practically lit the entire thing on fire, which I have always been taught is bad form.

Sounds like you want everyone to see you. How apropo.

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Originally posted by Mitch Hislop:I was outside on the lawn, with a Conch Republic King Conch in one hand, a Parker 45 from 1970 that cost me $50, my cutter and lighter on the ground next to me, wearing jeans and a suit coat, studying, not doing anything to anyone. I got called a snob by 4 seperate people.
If the above makes me a snob, where do I sign up?

Personally, I stopped using glasses with stems for wine. I drink wine four or five days a week and only use stemless "casual" glasses. They're excellent quality and can safely be put in the dishwasher. I've had mine for five or so years and they look as new as the day I got them despite heavy use.

By the way, I distinctly remember cigar smokers in the late 90's (at the height of the boom) proffering up the same absurd snobbery about cigars as you hear today about wine. ("And is that a hint of Turkish cocoa on the finish...?")
When done in bad faith, like these tools were, it just detracts from real connoisseurship.

Coriolanus,
There is more than just the sloppy glass reasoning behind holding a glass by the stem. although that is in fact a legitimate reason. Firstly, you cannot make a proper oxidation swirl by holding it up top. Try to swirl that way, and you don' t get a swirl, the wine just splashes from side to side. Rules of inertia. Secondly, and more importantly, the heat from your hand can affect the taste of the wine. The finer/thinner the crystal, the hotter the wine can get. This is detrimental to reds. People are told that reds are to be served room temp., which often times is too hot. So you have wine that is already about 15 degrees too hot being further slow-cooked by the heat of your hand, which will then start to change the taste the same way the heat of your hand will warm cognac in a snifter. Unlike the wine, you're supposed to do this. Of course, if you drink your wine from a small, relatively thick glass, much the way it would be served in an Italian or French home, it won't make a difference, so long as you are not holding the glass in your hands the entire time...as for Suckling and his video blog...it would take entirely too much v-blog time to sit and toast the foot properly. For the sake of time, he had to light and continue. Strictly a pacing issue.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gregory Mottola,

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Originally posted by Steve Cohen:
Sounds like you want everyone to see you. How apropo.

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Originally posted by Mitch Hislop:I was outside on the lawn, with a Conch Republic King Conch in one hand, a Parker 45 from 1970 that cost me $50, my cutter and lighter on the ground next to me, wearing jeans and a suit coat, studying, not doing anything to anyone. I got called a snob by 4 seperate people.
If the above makes me a snob, where do I sign up?

I was one of about 30 people studying outside on the lawn. The only difference is that I had a cigar in my hand. It was the first nice day in a while-why does my being outside instantly mean that I wanted to be seen?

I'm just messin with you. But nothing pisses people off more than cigar smoking in public areas.

I would use some discretion.

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Originally posted by Mitch Hislop:

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Originally posted by Steve Cohen:
Sounds like you want everyone to see you. How apropo.

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Originally posted by Mitch Hislop:I was outside on the lawn, with a Conch Republic King Conch in one hand, a Parker 45 from 1970 that cost me $50, my cutter and lighter on the ground next to me, wearing jeans and a suit coat, studying, not doing anything to anyone. I got called a snob by 4 seperate people.
If the above makes me a snob, where do I sign up?

I was one of about 30 people studying outside on the lawn. The only difference is that I had a cigar in my hand. It was the first nice day in a while-why does my being outside instantly mean that I wanted to be seen?

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But nothing pisses people off more than cigar smoking in public areas

Thats why I only smoke in the bathroom.

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Originally posted by Coriolanus:
I'm curious to hear from more college guys, especially those of you who want to be lawyers. I suppose some of you may want to scrape by as public defenders, but I assume some of you want to make some big dough.

Well, not public defender, but public sphere in some capacity after the debt in paid off, yes. I have no interest in being a coroprate powerhouse and making boat loads of cash upon graduation. Maybe because I don't feel like working a million hours a week to get a starting salary of like $150,000. Nope, not for me, I'll take less pay and only work 40 hours, thanks.

Soooooo, I don't think I would be a snob as I will not make a lot of money, I'll actually end up doing a lot of free work most likely. I would eventually like to end up in academia in some capacity.

I guess I might be a language snob. It bothers me when people only know one language.I don't know, it's just weird to me. Go: figure

I enjoy having very few close friends, and I don't like to be in large groups. I enjoy personal items, finer things. If those things are expensive, so be it. Some people will look at that as being snobbish.
I will put my life in the following order: family, me, friends.
Being young, and a cigar smoker, people will talk. It is funny how you can get a label on you for just lighting up a cigar. I would have to say that I am not a snob. I know what I like, and I like my ways. If someone doesn't like those ways, I guess that's their problem.

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Originally posted by Gregory Mottola:
Coriolanus,
There is more than just the sloppy glass reasoning behind holding a glass by the stem. although that is in fact a legitimate reason. Firstly, you cannot make a proper oxidation swirl by holding it up top. Try to swirl that way, and you don' t get a swirl, the wine just splashes from side to side. Rules of inertia. Secondly, and more importantly, the heat from your hand can affect the taste of the wine. The finer/thinner the crystal, the hotter the wine can get. This is detrimental to reds. People are told that reds are to be served room temp., which often times is too hot. So you have wine that is already about 15 degrees too hot being further slow-cooked by the heat of your hand, which will then start to change the taste the same way the heat of your hand will warm cognac in a snifter. Unlike the wine, you're supposed to do this. Of course, if you drink your wine from a small, relatively thick glass, much the way it would be served in an Italian or French home, it won't make a difference, so long as you are not holding the glass in your hands the entire time...as for Suckling and his video blog...it would take entirely too much v-blog time to sit and toast the foot properly. For the sake of time, he had to light and continue. Strictly a pacing issue.

Thanks Gregory -- very nice explanation. I prefer to drink wine out of regular glasses, especially chianti when in Italy.

James could have toasted it if he had wanted to. Videos can be edited for time, no?

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I guess I might be a language snob. It bothers me when people only know one language.I don't know, it's just weird to me. Go: figure

Oh man, you would not believe how many people I have heard complain about the fact that "they don't speak English in such and such country." It's unbelievable. And I am sure it is those same people who complain the loudest when someone from another country comes here and does not speak English.

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Originally posted by jms2788:
I guess I might be a language snob. It bothers me when people only know one language.

Yeah, that pisses me off too.

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People are told that reds are to be served room temp., which often times is too hot. So you have wine that is already about 15 degrees too hot

Greg, isn't it true that most Americans drink red wine too warm and white wine too cold?

As was mentioned, snob implies an interpersonal relationship. There is nothing inherently wrong with swirling your glass by the stem and enjoying the subtle nuances of drinking fine wine anymore than there is something inherently wrong with drinking wine out of a box. A lifetime passes in the blink of an eye, so people should be doing what makes THEM happy, not what someone else says SHOULD make them happy. Neither is the better man for it. A snob is a person who does not realize this.

As to stuff. Stuff is just stuff (Profound, aren't I? ). You spend your youth wanting things. Fancy cars, fancy houses, etc. Then you get older and you get all those things and you realize, after a few months, your fancy car is just a car. Your fancy house is just a house. If your goal is happiness, material goods for their own sake is not advisable. Someone will always have a more expensive house. Someone will always have a more expensive car. To derive happiness from status is a way to assure that you will always be in the PURSUIT of happiness and never truly happy. One is much better off if his happiness is derived from people, not stuff. This is another realization that escapes the snob.

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As was mentioned, snob implies an interpersonal relationship.

Quite. But I do hope that no one ever mistakes my misery, misanthropy and cynicism for snobishness.

Apropos of all this is an editorial in today's Boston Globe:

"WINE snobbery can be a funny and foolish pose. The affectations of wine critics' prose, with their evocations of plummy jam and cigar-scented finish, are silly enough to alienate anyone who appreciates clear writing. Equally preposterous, however, is the attitude of the radical debunker who insists there is no difference between a lovingly cellared 1978 Chambertin and the latest shipment of "Three-Buck Chuck" at Trader Joe's.

The enmity between connoisseurs and casual imbibers has reignited because of two recent experiments: one suggesting that high-priced wines are no better than plonk, the other showing that wine drinkers are easily brainwashed to believe a higher price means more quality.

A recent book entitled "The Wine Trials" describes a blind tasting in which 500 volunteers sampled 540 wines priced from $1.50 to $150. A scoring system based on just four grades produced higher overall ratings for many cheap wines than for pricier ones. But when seasoned oenophiles were culled from the larger herd of tasters, they predictably gave higher ratings to the more expensive bottles, highlighting a crucial flaw in the exercise: People without a certain amount of experience tasting wines are unlikely to have developed a scale of sensory values for the taste and smell of good wine.

In another experiment, researchers from Stanford and Caltech simply lied about the price of a $5 bottle and a $90 one. The drinkers liked the $5 wine more when they thought it cost $45, and they liked the $90 wine less when believing it sold for $10.

These exercises in demystification may say something about the gullibility of American consumers. And if they help subvert the hyperbole of wine writing, that is to be cheered. But no laboratory experiment can devalue the pleasure of drinking a properly aged Musigny in the company of friends."

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Originally posted by Scottological:
Personally, I stopped using glasses with stems for wine. I drink wine four or five days a week and only use stemless "casual" glasses. They're excellent quality and can safely be put in the dishwasher. I've had mine for five or so years and they look as new as the day I got them despite heavy use.

I prefer to drink wine straight from the bottle - saves on dirty dishes - does that make me a snob?