I’m right there with you lol I can’t tell the difference, maybe marginally. I think a lot of the pleasure is derived from knowing it is expensive and drinking it slow and with great ceremony. As always though the company and conversation matters more than the wine. 

 This 
100% conversation! 
My low brow take is that those involved pay more attention to it because they know the price point for being a part of it.  

 i think you get less of a headache with better quality, that is what i assume 

 This is also true 

 No you’re not, between 20$ and 200$ they all taste the same with very minimal differences that only super tongue people notice.

Then when you get up to the really expensive level they just start tasting like shit again, but no one says anything because it’s more about just spending a ton of money and showing off your pocketbook. 

 It all just tastes like communion to me. 😀 

 Wine tasting is a skill that can be developed by almost anyone. 

It comes eaiser to some, but is attainable.

There are fantastic cheap wines and horrible expensive wines, but price does mean something. It's not just status. 

Vineyards that try to pass off crap for crazy prices get found out.

Stage one is trying to identify WHAT you like about the wines you do like. 

 So my wine trading uncle, always used to say there's no good wine only a wine you like. I have a pretty good nose for wine, but I love a "cotes du rhone" and the cheap stuff is better than wine several tiers higher.  

 Most of the first $10 goes on bottling, distribution, retail margin etc. so when you pay $20 you're spending twice as much on the wine itself as when you pay $15. After that the returns diminish rapidly IMHO. 

 Has to do with the "donut hole" of wine. Wine die-hards sell the notion that all wines between $20-$200 are indeed indistinguishable and one should focus on either sub-$20 or north of $200 - $21--$200 are the battlefields of hype and marketing