Recently I was at "The Wine For Asia Show" here in Singapore. After having tasted wines from ten or so booths, I finally reached the one which bore the New Zealand flag. The lady at the counter suggested that I should try the popular one from a slim bottle. Certainly it was a dessert wine - a Riesling late harvest. At that very moment an Indian couple walked up and were offered the same. They nosed the wine, took a sip and almost immediately the wife said "it's nice!". The husband looked at me and uttered "huh! ladies' wine, not for me!". With some irritation and a half intoxicated mind, I said; "you don't like desserts?". He replied, "oh yes! we love desserts". "But you don't take desserts if there's alcohol in them?", I pressed on. I felt a tense atmosphere and staggered to the next booth. I thought to myself, though that guy may like the wine but he would not drink it openly because he wants to be a macho man. He hates being caught enjoying a ladies' wine. This incident reminded me of the "Great French Wine Expert" friends of mine who are disgusted by wines with even a trace of sweetness when paired with food but happily gulp down those ultra sweet Pepsi at fast food restaurants. Imagine the amount of snobbery and prejudice those people have attached to sweet wines.
- posted
18 years ago