Prestige Earns the First Purchase - Only

I recently visited a winery where the architecture, artworks, equipment, famous winemakers, and critical accolades had already told me the wines were exceptional before I tasted a drop.

One $300 library wine gave me a nebula. Most of the others left me wondering whether I was tasting the wine—or the prestige surrounding it.

What stayed with me even more were the worn brochures, spiderwebs, unfinished glasses, and an experience that never quite matched the promise.

This is about what happens when the signal becomes more convincing than the thing it is supposed to represent.