to think his behaviour was pretentious/ toffy??

[Summerdays011]

I've been on a few dates with a guy who ordered a bottle of wine at a restaurant and accepted waiters offer to try it, he swirled it on the glass then smelt it... then .. finally tasted it!! (I know this is the correct way to order /taste wine lol but it made me cringe??)

When I then picked up my glass and went to drink it he said "smell it first"... I wanted to throw it at him lol!!
.. am I over reacting???

*@MilkFuckingRules

I'd think he was a twat lol, I'm too down to earth for that shit!*

People who claim to be "down to earth" usually have very limited experience of the world and even less imagination.

why was he asking you to also taste it? If its corked, he should be able to tell himself. If he doesn't like it, it's his own fault for ordering it. He's pretentious, snobby and clueless.

He being a twat

It’s smell, swirl, smell then taste.

I say go in another date to give him the benefit of the doubt. If you still find his behaviour pretentious and irritating, youbhave your answer

Urgh I couldn't drink or eat something after some had been smelling it. Nose particles and all that. definitely not envy.
misses the point of the thread.

Good grief, I shudder to think how much of a plonker he is going to be at other events. Or dining at the 'V'...

Normal if a decent bottle.

People who claim to be "down to earth" usually have very limited experience of the world and even less imagination.

There's 6 billion people on this planet. Met 'em all have you?
Sweeping generalisations like that are silly.
Actually most people in the world have very limited experience of it (as a whole) because most of the world don't travel the world, but to claim they have even less imagination? dear me.

I think thats exactly it! I think he wanted to make sure I fully appreciated the bottle of wine he ordered which is a little insulting.. as if it shouldn't be wasted and I must fully appreciate it lol

Clearly you didn't appreciate it, so he was right.

You sound mean and weirdly judgemental. Poor guy. He was the one acting normally, you not so much.

I'm not hugely into wine, more of a G&T kind of a woman, but my dad is and ever since I was early teens he would teach me to do this and tell me various things about choosing wine. He's not pretentious about it he just really likes learning about the different kinds and it's very much a hobby for him rather than a status thing.

I think it's pretty normal for some, maybe you could get him to take you wine tasting for the next date? Could be a fun way to learn about his interests and really suss out if it's a hobby or a boast.

There's no need to taste it before accepting it. You're only smelling to see if it's corked.

Yes, pretentious.

My DP does it . He’s really into wine. Will do the smell , swirl thing even at home. He’s genuinely into it. He wants to talk about and compare to other wines we’ve tried. I can never remember.

It's not a class thing. People who are into wine tasting do it, I have several friends who are not middle or upper class but love wine tasting. It's a hobby, they go on wine tasting weekends a lot.
I'd find it odd if someone didn't smell the wine before tasting if it was a mature or corked bottle (off wine is horrible!)

I'm really not into wine at all. All those high notes of musk (or is that perfume, which I equally don't get?) comments confuse me endlessly. I dont care - its either tasty or it isn't.

The swirling, sniffing thing is very much the done thing in my circles, though (upper MC professional types; I'm from a lower MC background myself). When out with friends, I don't care. When out with work I try to avoid tasting the wine like the plague because a) yes, I do cringe a bit but b) it's expected. If I absolutely can't avoid it, I will go through the motions.

He might be just as puzzled as you are, OP, but think it's expected or you'll think he's a bit common.

I find it pretentious as well. When they ask me to taste the wine, I always feel like saying ''ofgs, I ordered the second cheapest bottle and we're not in a bistro in the south of france, just pour! to the top :-| ''

To check if wine is off, you only need to give it a quick sniff. A £20 bottle of wine in a restaurant would cost about £7 in the supermarket, so he's not that much of a wine buff if he only buys the cheap stuff. He's showing off with a little bit of knowledge of wine tasting, but then tripping himself up by buying cheap plonk!

The Freakonomics guys did a couple of experiments, I think, which showed that most people who fancy themselves as wine tasters can't actually tell 'good' wine from supermarket plonk in blind tasting, so probably a bit indulgent of him.

If it's corked (rare these days) you'd get it replaced anyway.

He sounds a bit pushy & show-offy. I'd probably give it another date - could be just a harmless affectation designed to impress - but his card would be marked, & it wouldn't take much more of the same for me to decide 'not for me'.

It's been a while since I've seen a thread so full of judgement. Judging this man - and calling him names - for the most insignificant thing; judging posters for not being into wine, judging other for being into wine. Blimey.

It's been a while since I've seen a thread so full of judgement. Judging this man - and calling him names - for the most insignificant thing; judging posters for not being into wine, judging other for being into wine. Blimey.

To be fair, it's a first date, which is nothing but a judgement period.

There's nothing wrong with rejecting someone who would sniff a cork and all the rest; there's nothing wrong with rejecting someone who would not.

Such is the mystery of romance.

To be fair, it's a first date, which is nothing but a judgement period. There's nothing wrong with rejecting someone who would sniff a cork and all the rest; there's nothing wrong with rejecting someone who would not. Such is the mystery of romance

I'm talking about the posters on the thread who are chucking judgements around and name-calling complete strangers.

It didn't take long for the snobs to rear their ugly heads in this thread.

Every now and then when the subject has come up that I don't like wine, I'll get some very rude person saying it's because I "don't have a sophisticated palate"

Oddly no one has ever said that when I say I don't like cod liver oil.

Maybe I just think wine tastes fucking awful end of and since I barely drink it shouldn't come as a surprise that I don't like most alcohol.

@Summerdays011

His show of tasting it does sound OTT and chastising you over how you taste it was rude.

The answer to this totally depends on two questions

1. How much was the wine
2. What was the restaurant

If it was a £16 bottle in Pizza Express this was ridiculously ott.

Ime people who talk about others as being "toffy" have issues.

I’m amazed anyone uses the word toff any more.

I think I last saw the word 'toff' in the Beano, circa 1982

The Hoi Polloi are revolting!