A peasant upgrades his status

Leap of a Beta moves up to post-college alchohol and finds he likes it:

During last week’s brouhaha about the Yale SWUG article, the discussion at Dalrock’s place veered towards the poor taste in alcohol among college kids. Leap of a Beta opened it up with this:

Gotta h/t both Badger and Vox on the wine tip originally. Tried it for awhile after they pointed out beer being a drink of the peasants. I find I get more attention and don’t feel as sluggish without the carbs, which is worth a few extra dollars a drink. Depending on mood I now alternate between a red wine and johnny walker black on the rocks. I enjoy both and get comments almost every time I order.

He is referencing these posts by me (on avoiding the brotastic beer shield) and Vox Day (where he refers to beer drinkers as “peasants“), and he’s following up on an excellent point: in America at least, there’s a class distinction communicated by the alcohol you drink. Thus, you can quickly and easily raise your apparent social status by ordering better stuff.

Put simply, the social status ranking goes like this: light-colored beers < dark-colored beers < stiff cocktails < red wine.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you need to become a pompous wine snob obsessed with expensive French cabernets and overpriced, ironically titled Napa merlots. My favorite table wines are inexpensive Spanish tempranillos and Chilean carménères, although I won't turn up my nose at an Australian syrah or a Piemontese dolcetto if they happen to be on sale. Badger is absolutely correct to point out that one of the more interesting things about wine is that there is a story behind so many of them.

And let's face it, there are few ways to DHV than to be drinking a wine made from a grape the woman hasn't even heard of before. Particularly if you can tell an interesting story about first being introduced to it by local restaurateur in Valdepeñas or Le Langhe.