For the wine uninitiated, few things are more quietly panic-inducing than choosing wine at a fine dining establishment. While the tasting menu is mercifully concise, the wine list arrives like a phone book filled with obscure regions, unpronounceable producers and prices that escalate alarmingly. Overwhelmed and confused, you hope someone – anyone – can save you from indecision, or worse, the wrong decision.Sometimes there is no rescue at all, and you are left gambling on a region you vaguely recognise. Sometimes there is a waiter whose expertise begins and ends with “red, white or sparkling”. But occasionally, there is a sommelier – a calm, curious presence ready to guide diners through the complexities of wine.But the sommelier now has company. There is another guide – one that lives in your pocket and is available at all hours, armed with encyclopedic knowledge of producers, grapes and pairings. AI can scan wine lists and labels, suggest bottles, learn your palate and offer options across different price points in seconds. Perhaps its biggest appeal is that users do not have to admit ignorance to another person. So should sommeliers be worried? Not quite. Because whether we realise it yet or not, we still want them.
AI can recommend wine. But can it replace a sommelier?
As AI becomes increasingly adept at recommending wines and pairings, sommeliers argue that great wine service involves far more than technical knowledge alone.
1,720 words~8 min read
