I am glad that this was your experience when you first came to this board, that was not at all mine. I found a lot of trolls just waiting for the chance to pounce. To be fair I have also found plenty of others who have been great and have even DMed me to give advice on who to ignore. I have come to appreciate the lovely and thoughtful people and depth of experience in this space but I can see it being a bit hard for young people when the trolls strike early.
7 Likes
I started on Parkerās forum when I was 35 years old - if you think THIS place is intimidating, imagine what it was like in wine collectingās heyday during the prime power of Robert Parker! I started WB at 38 years old, and most of the OG crew were of similar age, so āyounger membersā is literally a core aspect of Wine Berserkers, and hopefully always will be.
12 Likes
Thank you for expressing these thoughts. Unfortunately, they seem to fall on deaf ears, but thatās okay.
I meet a tremendous number of ālurkersā who choose to stay that way due to the issues youāve mentioned.
But what others have said is true - this really can be a welcoming place with tons of truly fantastic people - you may just have to have āthick skinā to get past those who are more judgemental.
Welcome and please keep posting!!!
Cheers.
2 Likes
Hey, I post about Mexican and natural wines now. Talk about limited appeal!
I have often felt not giving a shit about what others think is a key aspect of mental health.
11 Likes
I am about your age and Iād love to see more folks in our bracket posting. There are definitely a lot of folks our age who read the forum but donāt post much - we actually just had a great berserker offline last night here in Houston where I was probably above the average age at the table. So maybe one thing to do would be to toss up a post in the event planner forum re: your city and see if anyone bites.
As far as participating on the forumā¦ you said this in another post but donāt get too in your head on this. There are folks who drink wine at pretty much every price point on here, and while thereās always someone who will scoff at cheap stuff or side-eye expensive stuff as extravagant or whatever, thatās just sort of an intrinsic bummer of the wine hobby and you canāt let it bug you. (Actually itās just human nature: everyone who drives faster than me is a maniac, everyone who drives slower is a grandma; everyone who drinks more than me is an alcoholic, everyone who drinks less is a wet blanket square; everyone who buys more expensive wine than me is a wastrel who is surely living on credit card debt, everyone who buys less expensive wine is a skinflint miser, etc. etc.)
As far as how to go about engaging and participating more on the forumā¦ the old line about eating an elephant - āone bite at a timeā - comes to mind. The way to start interacting more on the forum is just kinda start posting one post at a time whenever youāve got something to say about a wine youāve tasted, questions about a producer, whatever.
I think some of my first posts were on cheapie auction flyer bordeaux and people were friendly and enthusiastic. (And if they arenāt, well, itās literally strangers on the internet.) It feels a bit odd to write notes as a nobody noob at first, but likeā¦ Bob Parker was a nobody noob at some point too!
10 Likes
Have you visited any of the Mexican wine regions? Somewhat of a long story, but a trip to the Valle de Parras was the origin for me getting truly interested in learning about wine (though I admittedly donāt come across a ton of Mexican wine these days).
I was just reflecting on the irony of this thread a bit.
When WB first started, those who doubted its legitimacy would do so stating āitās all dick and fart jokesā, likely due to the āyoungerā membership that dominated it at the time. Now that weāre apparently past that, thereās a thread urging for more ādick and fart jokeā aged members 
8 Likes
Not yet but I have been drinking from Valle de Parras lately.
Come visit! This was all umami and not sweet at all.
Iāve visited Don Leo! Ultra high-altitude, so their wines always have nice acidity and donāt drink flabby. Very pretty winery, too, and really nice people who get excited when foreigners visit.
1 Like
Mid 30s here, lurked in the shadows for about a year and then decided to join in the conversations last year.
Such a great decision, so much wine knowledge around here.
It can be overwhelming at times. Iāve now become the wine nerd amongst my friends. Cheers everyone!
12 Likes
Thatās really all it takes, just start interacting. I was kind of lost in this community until I took it upon myself to start hosting offlines. That has developed into personal relationships/friendships with lots of people I never wouldāve known nor interacted with. Itās been awesome.
8 Likes
Still in my late 20s here. I only felt emboldened to start posting because I had been in the industry for a a year or 2 and was confident in my knowledge. Seeing my recent Davis Prof. (shoutout Larry Schaffer) posting everywhere helped as well.
Internet forums have a reputation for attracting the nerdy āum actuallyā¦ā let me correct you types. Many are familiar with the redditor stereotype. Thatās all fine, we come on here because we are wine nerds, but it absolutely creates an atmosphere where one can feel scared to make a post in fear of the responses. On top of that there is a certain type of wine enthusiast, we all know one, who use wine solely as a ādick measuringā tool. They just want you to know that they know more about wine than you, and they have more wine then you, and they drink better wine than you, and they spend more on wine than you. Wine has always made it very difficult to be a newbie in a room full of professionals.
I think we can do better in the way we correct people when they get a fact wrong, and we can be more gentle with people who are merely expressing an opinion.
11 Likes
The best analogy I can come up with is the neighborhood bar.
Yes, it can be intimidating to walk through the door and wonder if you are going to be vibed out.
Yes, there are older dudes who āownā the elbow of the bar and have a sense of ownership and BDE mentality.
Yes, there are regulars who talk too loud and much too often, drowning out other voices.
No, there are no such things as stupid questions or stupid impressions/notes about what you think of a given wine, so long as they are sincere.
No, I wouldnāt rather hear the same old same old from the usual suspects here than fresh thinking from a relative newbie.
No, the best wine connoisseurs are not the ones who drink the most expensive wines or have the most dogmatic and āinformedā opinions.
Yes, the best wine folks are the ones who drink within their means, share their wines and opinions generously, discuss with curiosity and mutual respect, and understand thatās it usually better to be happy than āright.ā
Keep coming back. We need your oxygen and energy.
Find a little corner at the bar. 
34 Likes
Brilliant, buddy
1 Like
That is also a pro tipā¦.
Iām 40 and I feel like Iāve been participating for a while now. I still notice that my natural preference is to lurk more than it is to post, which is also totally fine too. I donāt think there is necessarily a right or wrong amount of participation. To the point made up thread, the forum is what you make of it.
IDK, I think of this place as very much the spiritual and tonal successor to ebob. A big broad tent with lots of people from all over drinking all sorts of wines. I started ebob in 2002 when I was in my mid-20s, and it didnāt feel very intimidating.
I always enjoyed the snark of Therapy/Disorder, but I think Dressner and his various Sock Puppets were always much more intimidating to newbies. Which was of course a feature not a bug.
This is the part with which you and I disagree.
Have we considered a Hinge profile? Or what app does our target demographic currently use?
One other thought about all this:
Iām an aging surfer. Iāve seen it all in the crowded lineups of LA. If you think this board can be intimidating and nasty, try paddling out at Malibu during a good summer swell!
To that point, itās up to the old timers on the board to monitor the energy here and hold di*ks accountable for bad behavior from their peers. They call that regulating the lineup in surfing. We need to do a better job of regulating here.
Similarly, newbies in the water do need to respect the older dudes and mind the rules of the road. I would say the younger posters here do a remarkable job of that. Unlike in Malibu! 
3 Likes
Kooks!
1 Like