De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est. Or, in English: In matters of taste, one should not argue.

The culture of being a more educated wine drinker has reached mass appeal. Check out the grocer — placement accommodations are bigger and better for wine than what you find for Frito-Lay.

Passing is the paranoia that the wine police are lurking in the wine list. De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est makes for a good credo. It invites everyone to the table; snobs, slobs, sloven and sophisticate. There is a lot to discover about the world of wine and each other. Expanding our grip of wine offers a common interest, and a lubricant to exercise conversation. Kind of like watching the Olympics or riding the Metro to the Card’s game.

Let’s visit this thread on wine.

On Wine: No one is safe from wine fashion police

Wednesday, August 22, 2001

By RICHARD KINSSIES
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

We tend to think that the criterion for great wine is absolute — that winemakers in the best wine regions of the world have figured out long ago what constitutes a great wine and set about producing them, occasionally foiled only by poor weather or an invading pestilence. We believe that winemaking in Burgundy or Bordeaux or Tuscany has changed little over the years and that newer regions such as California, Oregon and Washington are simply trying to figure it out and once they do we can expect few changes in style.

But this is simply not true.

Fact is, nobody has it figured out. Styles are changing everywhere to conform to what is perceived to be the latest fashion in wine. That’s why there was a stampede to plant chardonnay when that grape became popular, then came merlot and now syrah.

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The same is true, in polite circles of conversation about politics, sex and religion. We love it when we encourage someone to unearth a new found insight and to discover a previously unknown possibility