Wine was and still is classist
Photography by Amelia Radley
Going out for a drink this weekend? Care about what people think about you? If you answered yes to both of these questions (which I know you did), keep your distance from the golden beverage we know and love. Those who drink beer have been condemned as pissheads, drunks, slobs - the list goes on. But, for those choosing to indulge in the “classier” alternative that is wine, they are getting away with nothing but a sore head.
Society has told us to shame people from drinking beer (and bourbon-based RTDs), but why do wine drinkers get off scot-free?
To answer this question we have to rewind and take a look back at the origins of wine. The answers probably won't shock you. The consumption of wine dates back to 6000 BC. Since then, it has long been held as one of the world’s most important commodities. It holds significant societal, cultural, commercial, symbolic, and aesthetic value of note. Poets and scholars alike write odes to it, and a love song would not be complete without a passing nod to this favoured beverage. It is an elitist commodity, and yet at the same time, consumed and enjoyed at all levels. If it were up to me, Tui would hold this space. But unfortunately, it’s not up to me, and I get roasted constantly for drinking Tui.
Last night watching Tik Tok I learnt that Lords and all the other royal peeps drank wine for an unexpected reason. Apparently back in the rā, wine tasted like shit. There were no fancy wineries or flavour notes, instead wine was similar to today’s vodka, highly alcoholic and innately sterile. Because of its high alcohol percentage, wine was the only safe beverage to consume. Everything else, beer included, was ladened with disease and bacteria. Wine acted like an antibacterial mouthwash and was reserved for the classiest of people.
Wine is a classist act, and the first place to look to ‘prove’ this is to French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu, in his book Distinction, theorises that each class teaches aesthetic approach to their young, passing along the dictates of the class to a new generation and ensuring a system of classism is maintained. This fractionalization of class is made of “symbolic goods, especially those regarded as the attributes of excellence”. The things worth having, so to speak, are chosen and determined by those of the elite class, who thereby ensure their “cultural capital” is distinctive and exclusive. Wine, as to itself, is a marker of class and classism, and in true Bourdieuian style, a separation of the classes. Take, for instance, the act of wine tasting. Participation alone requires a certain entry level of skill and knowledge, along with sociality and the ability to converse in terms which enable a high level of discourse. As such, even among the elite, wine takes a certain level of skill and learning to be able to master. In simple, non Bourdieuian style, wine is fancier and more complex than other forms of alcohol, therefore parts of its drinking culture are inaccessible for your average joe.
“I never drink wine because I don’t feel fancy enough,” says James, a second-year Massey student.
“The crazy thing is, there’s nothing fancy about an $11 bottle of wine… if anything, it’s more trashy than any $25 box of beer.”
“It sucks to be put in a box when we all have the common goal of getting trashed.”
James makes an interesting point, and one that proves that wine's elitist status has somehow trickled down into our drinking culture today. It’s got nothing to do with the complex tastes, or makeups of wine anymore, it’s purely a subconscious status thing.
On a surface level it is completely fine for someone's mother to finish a whole bottle of red over dinner. Or for the chica’s to slam a Chardonnay at Red Mount. And while I don’t condone shaming people for drinking, this energy needs to be consistent with all types of alcohol.
“Students' are going to get drunk, that's the nature of university. It would be cool to see a more inclusive drinking culture where you can drink what you want and not be judged,” says Caitlin, a third-year Massey student.
“Wine snobs are few and far between at our age, but when you meet one it really dampens the mood. You can feel those beady eye’s peering into your class, judging what you are drinking.”
Wine and its classist roots has created a culture that effectively looks down upon those who consume other forms of alcohol, even though wine is one of the easiest beverages to get drunk off of.
“It’s human nature to complain when you’re treated one way, and someone doing effectively the same thing isn’t treated the same. That’s part of the reason I hate wine drinkers, snobs, the lot of them.” Too true, Caitlin, too true.
Next time you’re out for a drink with your mates. Don’t be afraid to choose your drink of choice. Stick your middle finger up and say “fuck the bourgeoisie” because wine is classist and it probably will be for generations to come.