Siu, Kit Wah Lydia. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-207). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Aim of the Study --- p.1 / Background --- p.3 / Literature Review --- p.10 / """Conspicuous"" Wine Consumption" --- p.14 / Taste as a Combination of Symbols of Class Distinction --- p.17 / "Hong Kong, a City of Consumption" --- p.19 / Methodology --- p.21 / Challenges and Limitations --- p.25 / Summary of the Thesis --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- The Wine Market in Hong Kong --- p.28 / Introduction --- p.28 / Consumption and Identity --- p.29 / The Beginning of Wine Consumption in Hong Kong --- p.33 / The Beginning of the Mass Consumption of Wine in the 1960s --- p.36 / Popularization in the 1980s to the Early 1990s --- p.39 / The Years of Turbulence 1997-2002 --- p.40 / The Current Wine Market --- p.44 / General Market Features --- p.46 / Conclusion --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- The Wine-Tasting Community in Hong Kong --- p.51 / Introduction --- p.51 / The Meaning of Taste --- p.52 / Who are the People in the Wine Tasting Community? --- p.58 / Gender --- p.59 / Age --- p.60 / Level of Economic Capital --- p.61 / Education level --- p.62 / Four Types of Wine-Tasting Events --- p.64 / Large-scale Public Tasting Events --- p.64 / Medium-scale Tasting Events --- p.67 / Private Wine-tasting Events --- p.69 / Wine dinners --- p.70 / Conclusion --- p.72 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- The Rituals of Wine Tasting as Expressions of Identity --- p.75 / Introduction --- p.75 / "Sight, Aroma and Flavor" --- p.77 / The Practices of Tasting Rituals in Large-Scale Public Wine-Tasting Events. --- p.80 / Assessment of Sight --- p.84 / Assessment of Aroma --- p.85 / Assessment of Flavor --- p.87 / The Final Step: Spitting --- p.88 / Beyond Tasting: Wine Talk --- p.91 / Conclusion --- p.94 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- The Symbols of Social Distinction in Wine Consumption --- p.99 / Introduction --- p.99 / The Relationship of Wine and Social Distinction --- p.100 / Westernness --- p.102 / Uniqueness --- p.105 / Wealth --- p.107 / Knowledge --- p.112 / Leisure --- p.118 / Art and Aestheticism --- p.121 / Health Consciousness --- p.123 / Conclusion --- p.127 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Wine as Individual Identity --- p.131 / Introduction --- p.131 / Brief Description of YC and its wine group --- p.133 / Setting --- p.133 / Becoming a member of YC --- p.137 / The structure of the YC wine group --- p.139 / The Core Value: Tasting vs Drinking --- p.143 / Taboos in the YC Wine Group --- p.144 / The Role of Alcohol and Intoxication --- p.145 / Demeaning Wine's Taste --- p.149 / Learning about Taste: Hierarchical or Equal? --- p.154 / Objective Evaluation.. --- p.157 / Subjective Appreciation --- p.160 / Searching for Oneself: a Favorite Wine and a Preferred Taste --- p.165 / Conclusion --- p.171 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Comparing San Francisco and Hong Kong as to Wine --- p.174 / Introduction --- p.174 / Fieldwork in San Francisco --- p.175 / Drinkers´ة society vs Tasters' society --- p.176 / "Drinkers, Tasters and Producers" --- p.179 / Learning to Taste Wine in San Francisco --- p.182 / The Understanding of Wine and Taste in San Francicso --- p.185 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Conclusion --- p.192 / Chapter Appendix: --- Reference --- p.201