What is an anorak?

This page is primarily intended as a courtesy for non-UK readers who may not be aware what exactly an anorak is.

An anorak is a form of outer coat that is the garment of choice of the sort of people who spend their leisure time on station platforms taking down the details of railway trains (i.e. 'trainspotters'). The use of the term has been extended to describe anyone with an obsessive, slightly extreme and possibly unhealthy interest in the fine details of any particular hobby or pursuit. The idea of naming this site the 'wine anorak' came to me at a tasting I was conducting in Portsmouth some years ago when a charming but brutally honest lady said to me, 'I know what you are, you are a wine anorak!' I admit it...