Double R: Pros – convenience? and alcoholic anonymity. Cons – A sommelier is a wine coach and an artist who points me in the right direction, it’s about the relationship and the education and a the stories. No machine can dispense that. (And, evidently no machine can edit me while I’m typing either…)
Amanda: Wine is personal, not mechanical. I don’t want wine from a glorified vending machine.
Mark: Huh?
Chef Mike: Relax. It has been used in Europe for years (Not that I am always a fan of becoming Europe)… I presently visit a Tapas Bar – Wine Shop that uses this system and it is excellent. Temp and atmosphere control of the wines reduces spoilage and permits day to day changing of wines depending on inventory and planned special events! You also get a … choice of more wines to try and can pick 1, 3, or 5 oz pours.. That means you can decide to have a tasting night rather than be stuck on one or two wines! I will admit that the one “bad” effect of this system is that you cannot count on that over pour from your favorite wine server for your glass of vino!!!
BTW – I have seen that it actually allows wine staff more time to talk to people about the wines as they are not tied up constantly being hounded to pour tastes or glasses of wine… Yes IT COULD be cold and impersonal in the wrong hands BUT people that’s not the fault of the machine it is the fault of the machine’s owner… 🙂
Susie: We had it at a wine store in Bellagio Italy and it was really quite nice. However, it will never replace Victor at ACU!
