(Masslive) - For God knows what reason, many wines have been all gussied up and made to seem like the ultimate status symbol.

That if you drink wine, you will automatically become sophisticated and elegant and the envy of everyone in the room.

Hogwash.

Wine's a beverage just like anything else. If you love wine like me, that's great. If you don't, that's fine too. And it doesn't mean you're any less sophisticated or worldly than anyone else.

So how did this happen?

Some attention-seeking wine drinkers are to blame. For them, owning the right, thousand-dollar bottle seems to be more important than actually drinking the wine. I have people who brag about the decades old wines they have in their cellars and part of me is always thinking, when are you actually going to drink these wines? They're not going to last forever.