Do you consider wine a delicacy?

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My fiance's friend and I were arguing the other day about whether or not wine is considered a delicacy. I feel as though here in America, wine is definitely considered a luxury. I know there are cheaper wine varieties that aren't considered as "classy", but I still think overall with wine tasting events and things of that nature, wine is a delicacy in this country.

However, if you look back in history, it does show that wine was not always a delicacy, and that it was more of a norm back and Europe, and probably still is. It's hard to say whether it would be considered a delicacy or not. I guess it depends on the brand? What are your thoughts?
 
There's wine and there's wine...

If NT and I get a bottle to share, we try and pay £5 - £6. But it's very easy to spend twice or three times that, even in a supermarket, and much more at a proper wine shop.

We don't have sophisticated palates - we know the sort of wine we like, and we're happy at that price point. Others would scoff at it and find more flavours in much more expensive wine, which might be wasted on us!

(and then some others might scoff at cheap wine, and pay loads, but not really be able to taste the difference!)
 
It must really depend on where you live. There aren't many European countries where it would be considered a delicacy... in fact here we drink it a lot with regular meals. Normally not too much with dinner due to the alcohol content but certainly with dinner it's completely normal to have a couple of glasses.
 
Wine is a staple, but I'm from Spain :wink:

I think there is a tendency in beer-drinking countries (which England and the US predominantly are) to see wine as a luxury, but that has changed a lot.

Historically both beer and wine were often used as general liquids, for one thing they were safer than water. But the Romans, for instance, also has a huge range of wine strengths from diluted to the point of being grape juice, to head spinners. So I don't think that really compares to the way we drink them now.
 
I spend a lot of time in Spain, and for me wine is essential - especially cava! I don't drink much beer at all, and neither does my husband, but we do enjoy a nice wine - although we don't start on it at breakfast time.
 
For some reason l have never looked at wine as a delicacy, I think because its available in droves and you can buy it anywhere that makes it just a bottle wine. I know the difference between cheap and pricey but it still is a bottle of wine.
 
It must really depend on where you live. There aren't many European countries where it would be considered a delicacy... in fact here we drink it a lot with regular meals. Normally not too much with dinner due to the alcohol content but certainly with dinner it's completely normal to have a couple of glasses.

Besides location, drinking wine with meals can also be part of a family tradition or a whole country culture. Here is certainly a delicacy, not exactly a luxury though despite some wines are really costly.

However I know of many families that keep the tradition that serve wine with food as opposed to the commonly adopted custom of accompanying meals with soft drinks instead.
 
Besides location, drinking wine with meals can also be part of a family tradition or a whole country culture. Here is certainly a delicacy, not exactly a luxury though despite some wines are really costly.

However I know of many families that keep the tradition that serve wine with food as opposed to the commonly adopted custom of accompanying meals with soft drinks instead.

Yes it's a culture thing, which is often tied to location. In a lot of countries it's customary to have wine, whereas in others it's only reserved for special occasions. I often find myself having wine with dinner (even if I'm alone) now that I live in France... I rarely did that before! And when I go to visit my relatives back home it's normally beer that is served during meals, though we do have wine once in a while too.
 
Yes it's a culture thing, which is often tied to location. In a lot of countries it's customary to have wine, whereas in others it's only reserved for special occasions. I often find myself having wine with dinner (even if I'm alone) now that I live in France... I rarely did that before! And when I go to visit my relatives back home it's normally beer that is served during meals, though we do have wine once in a while too.

So true. I've been trying to find myself a cocktail family to marry into :wink:
 
A delicacy? No chance. A luxury? No, I consider it a necessity!

I got hooked about 20 years ago and would struggle to live without it. But UK government is certainly trying to make life difficult with its taxing policies. It is now necessary to pay more than £6 per bottle for the government to take less than 50% in tax!
 
I don't consider wine a delicacy although it could be considered a luxury item. At least in New Zealand you can pick up a quality wine that's inexpensive. I think the closer you live to a wine growing region, the easier access you'll have to high quality yet affordable wine. :) I also think someone's background influences whether or not they perceive wine as a delicacy, as my grandparents on the European side of my family will always have a glass of wine with dinner each night. My granny even uses watching her favorite tennis players play a grand slam as an occasion to celebrate with a glass of wine ha ha.
 
My fiance's friend and I were arguing the other day about whether or not wine is considered a delicacy. I feel as though here in America, wine is definitely considered a luxury. I know there are cheaper wine varieties that aren't considered as "classy", but I still think overall with wine tasting events and things of that nature, wine is a delicacy in this country.

However, if you look back in history, it does show that wine was not always a delicacy, and that it was more of a norm back and Europe, and probably still is. It's hard to say whether it would be considered a delicacy or not. I guess it depends on the brand? What are your thoughts?

I would. But then again, I wouldn't consider every brand to be. When you really know wine, you know that there are very, very expensive wine out there. Those would be the delicacies.
 
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