I’ve said this before but the problem with this idea and everything similar is that it makes the mistake of assuming the status quo experts are correct in their frameworks and works backwards to translate those frameworks to normie

this is dumb bc the frameworks are bad already https://twitter.com/quantian1/status/1310022301719592965

wine people - on average - are really collectors of novel experience, not people who are driven to find the most pure and accessible expression of a single experience

same is true for food people, coffee people, likely cigar people etc etc

easy way to distinguish between whether you’re a “connoisseur” or a “consumer” (no judgement of actual knowledge implied) in a given category is that connoisseurs are interested in the full spectrum of a characteristic while consumers have preferences for a point on the spectrum

I.e. beer connoisseurs will do shit like drink a paddle of 5 IPAs differentiated by hop variety and method (dry hopped, fresh, pre- post whatever) whereas consumers have a preference: they like a lightly hopped ipa, or, if they’re normal, a lager waved in the direction of a hop

wine connoisseurs will comment on the quality and level of tannin like “this has the characteristic grippy tannins of young Bordeaux” or w/e whereas normal wine drinkers like a soft white with no tannin or big Aussie reds that make your tongue feel funny

the twist is that one does not imply better taste than the other, they’re just different modes of engaging with product

this is why for example beer nerds are bad people to bring beer to a party, they will fuck it up

my gift to venture people in these spaces is that connoisseurs are bad at selling to consumers

this is self evident and if you’ve ever had a hilarious wine experience you know why

you can btw see these dynamics spilling over into differentiated products that have less history of experience-collector connoisseurship like watches

normal watch people are like “I have 3 subs” and connoisseurs are like “royal oak, seiko 5, dominoes air king”

the post-script on @quantian1’s wine quiz joke is that ironically the MIT grad’s problem is that they’re trying too hard to be the somm

they would build a much better wine quiz, measured in marginal impact on purchase decision + churn, if they embodied the normie