While having good taste qualifies us for normal status, we can aim for higher status by developing great taste. We can “cultivate” ourselves over time to make more advanced choices that will garner more respect. To develop a sophisticated taste for wine, the oenophile Allan Sichel says, the student should first “trust his own palate.” But after that point, there must be a conscious desire to learn more. Then, “as experience grows and perception becomes keener, his taste is certain to change and wines which at first pleased may now bore or actively displease.” To gain status from great taste
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