\n<\/p>\n
On a strictly economic front, it weakens the value proposition of dining out. \u201cIf you\u2019re in a place where the wine list is extensive, and there\u2019s a sommelier, that\u2019s part of what you\u2019re paying for,\u201d says Urbina. \u201cIt\u2019s included in the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talking about wine with an expert who hasn\u2019t been trained on your speech and thought patterns is an investment that pays dividends too. The practice not only helps you develop your own sense of taste, but can also make it easier to find glasses and bottles you\u2019ll enjoy in the future.<\/p>\n
If you think about wine as another language, enlisting AI to decide what to order\u2014quick, before the somm comes over!\u2014is like cramming for an exam that no one is making you take. But what if you try having a conversation with a native speaker? As anyone who\u2019s ever shopped in a Parisian market using their middle school French can attest, you tend to acquire a lot more fluency from those real-time exchanges, even (or especially<\/em>) if they\u2019re clumsy.<\/p>\n Good hospitality professionals aren\u2019t judging you, either. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with not knowing anything about wine or not knowing what to order,\u201d says Annie Shi, the co-owner and beverage director of King and Jupiter, and owner of Lei in New York City. \u201cThat\u2019s literally what the staff is there for.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike any AI app, a qualified somm has tasted each bottle on their list and can guide you through its nuances. For instance, maybe you\u2019re eyeing a Georgian Saperavi to pair with your roast lamb. An AI tool can inform you that Saperavi is a tannic red. But the somm can explain why that particular, qvevri-aged bottle is softer and rounder than others.<\/p>\n Gradually, and then suddenly, you\u2019ve learned about the grape variety, Georgia\u2019s winemaking heritage, and how tannins interact with food\u2014all without even realizing you needed to ask.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the whole point of all of this,\u201d says Chasity Cooper, author of The Wine Conversation Generator<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to put our phones down and actually connect with each other and learn from one another.\u201d<\/p>\n After all, we could all stay at home and drink wine by the blue light of our phones. One reason we put on hard pants (MAYBE) and brave the world outside is to soak up the intangible magic of restaurants. When we give AI the night off, we get to have the sorts of experiences that no algorithm can predict. The robots in our phones could never.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n