To cringe at DH and FIL being "wine experts"

[MumblingRagDoll]

They're frigging embarrasing...they're from Souh Australia...where wine is one of the main exports....they sit here...in England...drinking wine in an "experty" way....and smelling it and things.

They're getting over-excited over something right now....I don't know why i annoys me...it ust does!

drink the effing wine ffs! If it's nice...then say so by all means but not with some kind of special ritual and words!

Just be grateful they're not coffee fiends, you don't want to be in the room listening to 'cupping'

Sounds mildly obscene

Morebeta it's also quite pricey. My DP had his MW course paid for by his company at the time - Berry's.

I have wine exams too - its my personal goal to become a Master of Wine.

I do not spit, and this causes consternation among the "wayne" experts.

I do enjoy upstaging them as thinks they know what they're talking about when given the chance. Particularly blokes who think they know a lot and don't expect a podgy british gal to know what she's talking about.

In fact, one of the reasons I want to learn more is to balance out some of the poncy pontification involved in drinking the stuff ...!!

MoreBeta It is considered the 'pinnacle of professional qualification' in the wine business (their words!) and it is deliberately rigorous. To use the letters after your name, once you've passed the exams and dissertation you also have to sign a code of conduct and commit to mentoring new students.

I am in the wine business already and see it as partly a PR benefit for my business and that of my clients, it also confers instant recognition within the trade and simply by following the course you inevitably build up a network of contacts/friends from the elite of the wine industry. In short, it costs a lot in terms of money and time but the benefits can be huge. I can put my fees up without further justification!

And you have to do it whilst you are working full-time. In fact, simply to get the vast breadth of tasting experience necessary you would find it hard if you weren't full-time in the wine industry.

I'm terrified of starting it - particularly the tasting side of it - mainly because it does take the fun out of drinking wine. And it is really bad for your teeth - I have a constant battle to keep the enamel on mine - my dentist despairs of me and claims I must be swilling neat sugar on a daily basis. It is in fact the acid in wine that is doing it.

Homage to Oenopod, the name, the subject ...

"drinking wine in an "experty" way....and smelling it and things."

OH is a cork dork as well. He sits with a glass of wine swirling it around and smelling it in between sips. I find it so irritating. At least he has given up telling me about the grape variety, where is was grown, who made it, the process by which it was made etc, etc. I have told him that as long as it tastes good I don't want or need to know the background.

lis your friend of the family and my DP must know each other. DP used to teach on the second year course for a few years - till I put my foot down about him swanning off for a week once a year when he could be with me.

fairtradefloozy I always say to DP that I couldn't do the spitting but he says when you are tasting up to 100 wines a day you have to otherwise you'd be pissed mortal.

faritradefloozy How do you manage a tasting of 100 wines without spitting! I would be drunk beyond any hope of making a proper assessment by the end of it if I didn't spit.

I was at the London Wine Fair last week and saw at least one person being virtually carried out of the venue - not a very professional look at a trade fair. It is not very respectful to those producers who have travelled thousands of miles to showcase their carefully crafted wines if the occasion is used as a chance to get pissed for free.

I used to work in the wholesale trade in London and we would blacklist anyone who came to tastings and got obviously drunk. The blacklists were then shared throughout the trade.

Oenopod I wonder if you and my DP know one another? He's been in the trade 20 years and was at the LWF all last week.

Stangirl it is quite likely that we would have come across one another at some point! The wine world is a small one. Is he still mentoring for the MW? Twould be odd if he ended up tutoring me!

Mind you I haven't been accepted yet so could be academic.