Culinary Programs

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Don't Whine, Beer Drinkers--Wine is Number One

Beer drinkers may call it snobbery, but California culinary schools are rejoicing. The state is one of the country's top wine producers and now wine has surpassed beer as the nation's favorite drink. An education at a California culinary school, or any culinary school in the country includes the study of the art of selecting the correct wine for a meal. Beer? Perhaps in culinary schools in Germany.

A culinary preferences study conducted by Gallup shows that more Americans choose wine as their beverage of choice rather than beer. Drinking wine was often viewed as a snobbish affectation with European overtones while beer was supposedly the more democratic beverage of the masses.

The Impression is Changing

The survey doesn't explain the reason for the change, but you don't have to go to culinary school to be able to guess. American wines have become much more available and far less mysterious. The prices have also dropped to the point that wine with dinner is about as inexpensive as beer with dinner.

Of course, California culinary schools still hold wine tastings and wine pairings--demonstrations of which foods go best with which wines--but the wine makers are allowing people to be daring. Almost every state in America has at least one winery and many go out of their way to create wines that pair with a wide variety of foods. Other wine makers put the wine paring information right on their labels. It may be a long time before vendors walk through baseball stadiums shouting "Get your white wine here," but we seem to be moving in that direction.