The popular American view of European wine lovers is that they are all snobs. Equally, many Europeans think that Americans, wine lovers or not, are hicks. Of course, neither typification is true, but there are just enough people who fit either category to give life to the stereotypes. It does no one any good to show a European that Americans can be wine snobs also.
In our experience, those Americans who try to show themselves as superior in their wine knowledge compared with their friends are a bit more restrained when they are in European sectors of Wine Country. For one thing, many don’t speak the languages and so are somewhat intimidated themselves. (English-speaking countries in Europe don’t have wine worth discussion. Beer they do have and the folks there can be pretty snobbish about their bitters.)
Cartoon courtesy of the drinksbusiness.com
For another thing, most Americans probably don’t have the familiarity with the wines of Italy, France or Spain than they do with those of Napa Valley. So there’s only so much lording it over others that they can get away with. Nonetheless, you don’t want to be one of those people who gives Americans a bad name overseas.
- Don’t try to speak like a local. Unless you are truly multi-lingual, don’t fake it. Most of the servers speak English, as do a great many Europeans today. It’s okay to use terms like bianco and rosso, or blanc (don’t pronounce the “c”) and rouge but full sentences aren’t required.
- But do learn a little of the local language. Contrary to the previous tip, it’s still a good idea to be polite and ask if the server speaks English before launching into a request for a tasting. It’s not that difficult to learn “Parla inglese?” or “Parlez-vous anglais?” Imagine if a foreigner came up to you and started spouting away in Italian or French. You would probably just walk away. So if they reply that they don’t know English, you’ve at least established the ground rules for some pidgin communications abetted by hand signals.
- Don’t compare what you’re tasting with American wines you’re familiar with. Even in France, where the grapes are the same as in California, Washington and New York they just don’t taste the same. And in Italy, Spain or Germany you may be tasting wines from totally unfamiliar grapes. You can’t win. If you say that the wines you’re tasting aren’t as good as he ones back home, you will have instantly proven that you ARE a snob. And if you say that the American wines are worse, they’ll wonder why you’re comparing at all. After all, they had all those grapes first.
- Be appreciative. In the States, if you don’t like a wine, you (should) pour it out quietly and move on. In Italy, for example, you may be tasting very unfamiliar wine. It might take you a little while to become accustomed enough to a wine to know if you like it or not. So even if you don’t immediately like what’s you’re sipping, show that you appreciate the opportunity to taste it.