The Wine List Goes Digital: Kara Newman Explores High-Tech Wine Lists in the November Issue of Sommelier Journal

From projected wine lists to wireless handheld devices to tablet PCs, the digital revolution has hit the restaurant wine industry, as Kara Newman reports in her cover story, "The Wired Wine List," in the November 2008 issue of Sommelier Journal, the Essential Guide for Wine Professionals.

Denver, CO (PRWEB) October 12, 2008 -- From projected wine lists to wireless handheld devices to tablet PCs, the digital revolution has hit the restaurant wine industry, as Kara Newman reports in her cover story, The Wired Wine List (http://www.sommelierjournal.com/articles/article.aspx?year=2008&month=11&articlenum=58), in the November 2008 issue of Sommelier Journal (http://www.sommelierjournal.com).

The most eye-catching of these wired wine lists are digitally projected onto the table or bar, using motion and light-sensor technology. New York wine bars Adour and Clo both use systems created by Potion Designs, allowing guests to move through the lists with their fingers. Each system provides information on the origin, varietal, details, producer, and tasting notes for any wine selected by the customer, though the systems have different interfaces.

None of the high-tech systems profiled in the article allows the customer to place an order. At Charlie Palmer's Aureole Las Vegas, for example, waiters bring a tablet PC to each table, and customers are encouraged to use the system to read descriptions of the wines and regions. But Neil Palmer, director of information technology for the Charlie Palmer group, explains that the restaurant doesn't want customers to order wines by mistake.

There is another reason to keep ordering out of the digital realm: the interaction with the sommelier. George Miliotes, whose Seasons 52 chain uses wireless handheld devices strictly for the servers' benefit and for inventory control, believes that the human element sells wine and that the technology is there to leverage the collective knowledge of the staff, not to supplant it. "I want to put the responsibility on my servers and managers to sell the wine, not a computer," he says.

Andrew Bradbury, owner of Clo, views his digital list as an opportunity for sommeliers to go deep: "It's a layer thing -- it doesn't replace the sommelier. I look at it as adding new responsibilities they never had before. Now it's about what stories do you want to tell? What images do you want to show? We all know winemakers we've met and like. Now we can tell stories about them."

The high-tech systems also benefit restaurants by allowing closer tracking of customer behavior related to the wine lists, keeping inventory, and maintaining up-to-date lists without the need for constant reprinting.

The National Restaurant Association's 2008 Restaurant Industry Forecast indicates that younger consumers are more than happy to embrace this trend, beyond its obvious "cool" appeal. According to the study, 74% of consumers between the ages of 25 and 34 say they would like to use electronic payment systems at the table, and 65% would use electronic ordering. The future will clearly be a high-tech one, but as Miliotes notes, the expert touch will always be critical: "No amount of technology can help a poorly chosen list. You've got to put the same amount of time into finding the wine that's fabulous and appropriate for your concept. In the end, for the guest, it's all about enjoying the glass of wine that's in front of them."

Sommelier Journal is a monthly wine publication based in Denver, from a company with more than 40 years of experience in the magazine industry. Kara Newman's article can also be read in its entirety at: http://www.sommelierjournal.com/articles/article.aspx?year=2008&month=11&articlenum=58

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