No Snobs Allowed: Elizabeth Schneider on Wine BS, Bargain Bottles, and Why "I Don't Know" Is the Smartest Thing You Can Say

The Wine for Normal People host gets candid about Master titles, non-alcoholic "wine," and the grape that desperately needs a better PR team.

Elizabeth Schneider has spent more than 20 years trying to make wine less intimidating and more fun. As the voice behind Wine for Normal People,

she's known for cutting through pretension with facts, humor, and a healthy dose of honesty.

I asked her about the wine rules she'd toss, the opinions she'll defend to the end, and where to find the best bottles for $25 or less, so here we go!

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LRS: What’s one wine “rule” you wish people would stop worrying about?

ES: Not really a rule, but I wish people understood that it’s totally fine — and actually makes you seem smarter — to say you don’t know something in wine. A producer someone mentions, a region or wine type, a grape, etc. It’s better to say, “I’m not familiar with that,” than to pretend.

Snobs love to catch people up in feigned knowledge, even though they have plenty of feigned knowledge themselves, BTW. The smartest people I know in wine know they know nothing about wine. We may as well all admit that Dionysus has all the cards and we can’t ever know it all!

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LRS: What wine opinion will you defend even if the entire wine internet comes after you?

ES: Non-alcoholic wine is fruit juice, not wine. Wine is an alcoholic, fermented fruit beverage. Anything else is not wine.

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LRS: What’s the biggest piece of wine BS that somehow refuses to die?

ES: That a wine pro with “Master” in their title should be treated like a god or given some extra level of deference. You studied, took a test, and joined a club. The Master certifications have such low pass rates that I don’t really see them as professional credentials so much as fancy clubs.

Lots of us have big educations from big fancy schools, but we don’t ask anyone for deference the way some MSs and MWs do. The idea that someone who sacrificed years of their life, got into the right circles, and passed a hard test is somehow superior is insanity.

So many non-credentialed wine people are more experienced, better traveled, and more knowledgeable than someone with a “Master” title. You can read more about her thoughts here.

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LRS: Do you think wine has actually become less snobby, or have we just found new ways to be snobby about it?

ES: When I first started in wine, more than 20 years ago, there was a significant anti-snob movement. I was one of many voices trying to make wine more accessible for people.

There were lots of people doing great writing that was factual, funny, and smart. But eventually that died down, and the snobs took over again.

Going into a wine shop today is often reminiscent of my experiences in the early 2000s: condescension and snobbery. It’s either that or “influencers” making silly videos that teach people little to nothing about wine. So sad, and such a bad thing for wine.

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LRS: Is there a grape or region you think deserves a much better PR team?

ES: Fiano di Avellino. Hands down.

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LRS: If someone has $20–$25 to spend and wants to start exploring wine, where would you send them first?

ES: Well, it would depend on whether they wanted red, pink, sparkling, or white wine. For the best bang for your buck: Spain, Portugal, Chile, and places like the Rhône Valley and Alsace in France.

And I know this is going to sound crazy — Bordeaux! You can get stunning reds and whites from the Côtes de Bordeaux and parts of the Right Bank for less than $25.

There are some amazing Italian wines, but the best values in Italy are whites: Soave, Grillo, Vermentino, Pecorino. Italian reds are more “you get what you pay for.”

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LRS: What’s your best advice for someone standing in a wine shop staring at 200 bottles and having absolutely no idea what to buy?

ES: Don’t go into a wine shop without a purpose. Make sure you know why you’re going in there. Do you want wine to sip? Are you there for a gift? Do you want something for a weekend party? A weeknight sipper?

Once you’re clear about what you’re looking for and have that purpose set in your head, it takes those 200 bottles down to about 20. If you have a budget in mind, that takes it down to five or 10 wines.

Way more manageable.

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LRS: Are there any wine trends right now that make you roll your eyes?

ES: The fact that people don’t appreciate high-quality sweet wines like Madeira, vins doux naturels, Tokaji, Vin Santo, the sweet Rieslings of the world, etc. is nuts.

Sugar is only bad if they put it in wine to cover flaws. When done right, there is no better dessert than a balanced sweet wine.

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LRS: Finish this sentence: “You do not need to know ______ to enjoy wine.”

ES: How to describe it in the way everyone else does.

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LRS: And the reverse: “If you learn just one thing about wine, learn ______.”

ES: About European wine. It will teach you about history, politics, geology, geography, climate, food, and culture in ways you never imagined.

Once you understand the places and the history, you’ll drink well for less money and have all sorts of new reasons to travel, even just from your couch.

Probably the best gift you can give yourself is the gift of knowledge, but in wine it comes with the added benefit of a sensory experience that is pretty awesome: you can taste a place and a people in wine.

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LRS: What’s coming up in your wine world right now — new episodes, projects, events, anything you’re excited about?

ES: Come Over October!

I’ve partnered with this amazing group to give people a reason to get together during the month, with free wine education in the form of weekly classes.

We need to find occasions to get together in person, and wine comes in big bottles to share!

I wanted to provide some motivation for people to get together — a set time when they could have a neighbor, friend, or relative over and have some wine and fun.

These classes will be entertaining, give you a few things you can use immediately about wine, and create a fun bonding experience for people attending from all over the U.S. and all over the world. All are welcome!

Of course, as a wine dork and educator, I also hope to give people a reason to want to learn more about this amazing, historic beverage that can be life-changing once you fall down the rabbit hole.

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Join Elizabeth for Come Over October: Four free live wine classes on October 8, 14, 21, and 28. Register here.

Check out more Wine for Normal People with Elizabeth:

💻 Website

📖 Book

🎙️Patreon

📱Instagram

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