Why does wine make people doubt their instincts more than other drinks?

Wine seems to make people second guess themselves in a way other drinks don’t. If you like a cocktail, beer or coffee that’s usually the end of the conversation with wine liking it somehow feels like it’s not enough on its own.
I think part of it is how wine is framed as something you’re supposed to understand. There’s this quiet expectation that enjoyment should be backed up by knowledge grape, region, price, tasting notes and if you can’t explain why you like it maybe you’re missing something. That pressure doesn’t really exist with most other drinks.

Wine also carries a lot of social weight. It shows up at dates, work dinners, celebrations and group settings where choices feel visible. Suddenly it’s not just about taste it’s about what your choice might signal to other people. That makes it easy to distrust your instincts and look for external validation instead.

What’s strange is that taste is still personal, your palate didn’t suddenly become unreliable just because the label looks fancy. But wine culture often trains people to outsource their judgment instead of trusting what they actually enjoy and that’s where the doubt creeps in.