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My Dad's well-off, and he regularly drinks $100/bottle wine at restaurants. He was having dinner with another well-off man in a category above him who regularly drank $400/bottle wine. Dad asked him, what's the difference, really? Between $100 wine and $400 wine? The man held his thumb and finger together about an inch and a half apart.

Myself, I won't drink anything above $20/bottle. There is just too much good wine out there at below that price point. Wine has really entered a golden age, with science making winemaking better than it's ever been. A $11 bottle is better than what the kings of Europe drank 100 years ago. But it's also that I'm a commonseur and can't tell you if there are notes of berry, or oak, or strontium in wine. I just know what I like (anything with low tannins, basically). Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Malbec, Pinot Noir, all good. Cabernet Sauvignon gives me heartburn. But if I'm having a big steak, bring out the big cabs. They work together.

As far as Coke vs. Pepsi, Pepsi is sweeter and people will choose it in a head to head test because of the sweetness. But people like me don't like the cloying taste of Pepsi and actually prefer Coke's acid bite. There's also alcoholic beverage mixers - ever had a Jack and Pepsi? You haven't, because it's awful. Without the phosphoric acid kick, Coke doesn't work.

The man held his thumb and finger together about an inch and a half apart.

Sorry, could you explain how I'm supposed to interpret this? It seems like a strange way to respond to the question being asked.

That's a fairly common gesture to indicate a very small difference between two things in my experience.

Maybe it's a generational thing. I don't recall ever seeing a friend answer a question contrasting two entities using that gesture. Or maybe it's cultural. I think people I like to talk to would never answer that particular question with a hand gesture. Instead, they'd be far more likely to earnestly explain the nuances or the lack thereof with actual verbal commentary.