Do women have a different relationship with wine to men? I feel quite strongly that — as consumers, at least — they do. In fact, in wine terms, I would actively dislike being a man. Wine joins cars and suiting as a heavily freighted social signifier. Society expects men to know about wine and thinks worse of them if they commit vinous faux pas. Women, on the other hand, are not expected to know anything about wine — witness most waiters’ automatic offer of the preserve taste to the man in the party.
女性与葡萄酒的关系,是否跟男性与葡萄酒的关系不同?我颇有这番感觉——至少作为一个消费者而言。其实,就葡萄酒而言,我肯定不会喜欢成为一个男性。葡萄酒跟汽车和西装一样,是重要的社会身份标志。社会期待男性懂葡萄酒,如果他们对葡萄酒的认知出了什么差错,社会对他们的看法就打了折扣。另一方面,没人期待女性对葡萄酒有任何了解——例如在宴会上,大部分侍者只是主动问男宾要不要酒。