For anyone looking for visible ways to elevate their status, regardless of whether or not they have the education, breeding or money with which to do so, nothing will raise an average person from the status of “hoi palloi” like the world of gourmet food, and along with that, wine. People who like to think of themselves as elite foodies often have wine tastings during which several different fine wines will be tasted.
This is something that is particularly common with wine collectors. There is much ceremony surrounding formal wine tasting, and these tastings are often done away from any type of meal. The lack of food at these tastings is a deliberate effort to focus all of the attention on the wines at hand. A wine tasting will traditionally begin with the most subtle wines and work up to the most aggressive or intensely flavorful.
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