Kerry caricatured as wine-sipping Francophile, but wine now edges beer

[DeepModem Mom]

Los Angeles Times:
Our drink of choice? And no, it's not Bud
Somehow, wine has edged beer as America's favorite type of alcohol. Even among guys.
By Robin Abcarian, Times Staff Writer

What could it mean? For the first time since the Gallup Poll began keeping track in 1992, more Americans have reported that their alcoholic beverage of choice is wine, not beer. Months after Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was caricatured as a Chardonnay-sipping Francophile, and somehow less American for it, the French national beverage seemingly has become our preferred swill.

According to Gallup, 39% of American drinkers said they drink wine most often, while only 36% said they drink beer most often. (The rest prefer liquor, and a small percentage said they like all three equally.) Technically, the pollsters said, the numbers put wine and beer into a statistical dead heat (when the margin of error is considered). Still, the trend inspires speculation: Is the slippery-floored college keg party going to be replaced by civilized gatherings with string quartets? Will American guys trade their beer and baggy board shorts for Petite Sirah and man bikinis? Is our country, in other words, on some ineffable road to effete?

That wine drinking is more effete than beer drinking? No question," said Joseph Epstein, author of the bestselling "Snobbery: The American Version." Epstein happened to be enjoying what he identified as "a promiscuous but ultimately responsible Pinot" when a reporter called him at home in Evanston, Ill. "People who drink wine think of themselves as more cultivated, more educated, more sensitive. I think they are not. I just think they have more money."

But wine is also more affordable and available than it used to be, said Jodie Morgan, executive director of the American Institute of Wine and Food in Napa. "We have more wine, and we have more good wine, and it's affordable." In particular, she cites retailers such as Costco and Trader Joe's for helping get quality wines to consumers inexpensively....

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-et-wine25jul25,0,6819409.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=hppromo

[getmeouttahere]

1. I never developed a taste for beer...

no matter how hard I tried - a good wine just tastes so much better to me. And if I'm really thirsty, I gotta have water anyway, so beer doesn't cut it there, either.

Then again, my ancestry is mostly French-Canadian, so...

[sweetheart]

14. I didn't either until i lived in the UK

Then i discovered that "lager" is not "beer" and that beer is quite
a different tasting drink... one i like better.

That said, my fancy recently has been ciders. A good dry english
cold cider has less alcohol than wine, so can be drunk more like beer
... and i'm actually amazed that there are not more cider microbreweries.

[getmeouttahere]

16. Interesting....cider sounds especially good...

in the winter

[Bill McBlueState]

2. that's interesting

I wonder if there's also a trend among beer drinkers to drink better-quality stuff. Crap is crap, whether it comes from fruit or from grain.

[Bluzmann57]

3. OK someone answer a question for me please

What the hell does "a promiscuous but ultimately responsible" Pinot mean? I am not a wine drinker and likely never will be. So I guess I don't get the terminology. Gimme a cold beer anytime.

[AllegroRondo]

11. Half the stuff they say about wines in just made up

I've attended a couple wine tastings in the area - Missouri has some great wineries. Some were very pretentious, with people saying things like your quote, that left beginners and non-wine drinkers feeling stupid and scared. Some people say weird stuff about the wine just to sound intelligent, I guess.
Some were good, though. If you are really interested, look for a wine tasting for beginners or non-wine drinkers. It can help you find what kind of wines you like, so you can feel somewhat confident about picking wines you like in the future.

[KurtNYC]

17. What does 'King of Beers' mean?

why don't beers organize in a more democratic fashion? They should have a representative government and refuse to be dominated by a monarch from Anheiser-* !

[lectrobyte]

4. my doctor has been urging me to switch from beer to red wine

for a couple of years. Wonder if carb-awareness, etc. and all the "red wine is good for you" articles are having an impact?

[getmeouttahere]

7. How else do you explain the French and Italians...

eating all that fatty food and overall being thinner and healthier than the U.S.?

"Just hook it to my vanes!" - Homer Simpson

[lectrobyte]

19. Fatty foods? Sure. But you gotta compare it to the crap that

the typical Americans eat. Some of my cow-orkers hit fast food and get Biggy That and Supersize This every day. And I suspect that the typical European gets much more exercise walking in the course of a normal day than we do in our car-crazy land.

[1monster]

8. Sigh, red wine always gives me a headache, even if I only have half a

glass.

[AllegroRondo]

12. It could be the tannins.

Its a chemical in the skin of the grape, that gives red wine its tartness. It can trigger migranes in some people.

[1monster]

18. Most likely.

[tanyev]

5. I'll bet these guys don't drink wine.

[Dora]

6. Unless it's been bought at Sam's Club

I understand you can get Boone's Farm at a steep discount there.

[Village Idiot]

9. Understandable - completely understandable.

American beer tastes like moose pee.

[getmeouttahere]

13. Amen to that....my brother works for a beer distributor...

and about 10 years ago I gave him a case of Molson Canadian that I smuggled over the border...at that time you couldn't find it in stores in Oregon...anyway, he took maybe two sips and really liked it...almost immediately you started seeing it in stores in his area.

[KittyWampus]

10. Remember CNN's Candy Calling Kerry Outta Touch Cause He Drinks Green Tea?

you know, I found it in BULK in BJ's and also found a large generic, store brand package in the grocery.

How elitist can drinking Green Tea be when it's packaged in large store brands?

[getmeouttahere]

15. Not at all, just sheeple making themselves...

look more of an asshat than ever before

[pitohui]

20. aging population part of it

many older folk switch from beer to wine to keep the weight down -- beer belly is real -- we have an aging population

if i drink beer before dinner, i'm too full these days to enjoy my dinner but wine can help stimulate the appetite and allow me to enjoy my food

the alternative method of stimulating the appetite is currently frowned on by our legal authorities

[SmokingJacket]

21. Yep, I drank beer as a younger person...

but I dislike the carbonation now.

Also, I think half-way decent cheap wines are easier to find these days. I hated wine when all I knew was Gallo...