For centuries, wine appreciation has been considered an art form, as much a product of the winemaker's hard work as it is of the taster's palate. But winemaking is not immune to a completely different kind of creativity: the application of artificial intelligence.
According to information just released, Wine Industry Status Report 2024 Global wine consumption began to decline in 2017, according to a study by Silicon Valley Bank. “The downward trend has continued, with the exception of a brief respite during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020,” wrote Rob McMillan, author of the report.
Can AI help us offer wines that uplift trends and appeal to more customers, at least according to taste preferences? Wine is too complex, diverse, and traditional to distill into data points. Some may argue that is too rich. But companies like Winespace and Tastry are proving there is room for AI technology in the world of wine, too.
Winespace's Tastee AI
French startup Winespace leverages AI to generate accurate data about the flavor profiles of wines on the market. Winespace's Tastee AI is an innovative tool that can extract information from textual tasting notes and convert them into a digital format that enables analysis. This advancement not only digitizes traditional tasting and judging practices, but also increases the understanding of wine profiles to new levels of accuracy.
Among Winespace's customers is the prestigious Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB). As an early adopter, CMB adopted Tastee AI to facilitate the competition judging process. By integrating data from CMB tasting sessions, Winespace generates a comprehensive overview sheet for each wine her entry. This sheet reflects an average of five expert tasting notes recorded by a diverse panel of multilingual judges.
Judges submit their evaluations via tablet and multilingual notes selected from eight languages are analyzed by Winespace. The result is a series of summary sheets that give participating producers a glimpse of the judges' perceptions.
The use of tablets allows for a streamlined and efficient assessment process and permanently eliminates the need for paper, which can be easily lost or damaged. All tablets are also equipped with the same note template, ensuring consistency and accuracy when recording tasting notes.
Feedback detailing the wine's quality, including strengths and weaknesses highlighted along with the wine's aroma and taste profile, is illustrated on the aroma wheel, providing a data-driven, easy-to-understand representation of each wine. Vinters can use this information to inform future winemaking efforts if they wish.
In addition to this, judges also provide comments and suggestions for improvement, giving producers a deeper understanding of how their wines are perceived by judges with different backgrounds and language preferences. You will be able to understand. This feedback is critical for wineries looking to improve and grow their brands in an increasingly competitive market.
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Another pioneer in this field is Tastry, a technology company based in San Luis Obispo, California. Founded in 2016 and officially launched in 2021, Tastry leverages artificial intelligence and sensory science to objectively analyze and evaluate wine.
According to Katerina Axelsson, the company's founder and CEO, the years of research and development from 2016 to 2021 were formative. She said the company was able to connect with many wineries because of the “nightmare problem.”
When wildfires hit wine country starting with the 2017 vintage, Tastley's lab was one of the few facilities in North America able to analyze smoke stains. Axelsson says Tastry has been able to “build a recipe to improve” the risky grape harvest. This experience earned Tastry the trust of its clients, many of whom asked Axelsson's company to assist with other releases as well as those depicting smoke-related history. .
The company's platform runs advanced algorithms to assess the chemical composition of wine and provide recommendations. Tastry's technology aims to help wineries optimize their production processes and create wines that resonate with their target audience.
When wine is submitted to Tastry for testing, it undergoes advanced liquid analysis, which provides a deep chemical profile of its taste and aroma. This data is cross-referenced with consumer feedback to provide a market-oriented score. Wineries can use this score to assess how well their releases are received by the public.
Taste stories provide wine brands with a nuanced understanding of products that resonate with specific consumer tastes. This enables the use of accurate sensory data that can feed directly into product development, targeted marketing strategies, and effective geographic distribution.
Axelsson explains that Tastry works with two datasets, so it prepares you for the science. The first is a chemical measurement platform like her DNA in wine. Unleash complex data from a database of cross-referenced compounds to predict consumer preferences and sensory experiences.
The second is a real database of consumer preferences, which is being expanded to achieve national reach. “This is a live virtual focus group,” Axelsson said.
Human evaluations, while valuable for their authenticity and approach to traditional wine culture, are prone to contradictions. A person's insight and judgment can vary widely depending on many factors, such as mood, health status, palate fatigue, etc., and it is impossible to completely control these. Tastry's technology provides insights that are independent of human interpretation, scores, language differences, prices, awards, and more.
AI has the potential to enable winemakers to create wines tailored to the tastes of consumers in their target market. This process unlocks some of the mysteries behind our beloved bottles. Still, rather than asking wine enthusiasts to develop an acquired taste for which wine lovers are well-known, they may invite new enthusiasts to join the wine community where they are.
“Wine is still an agricultural product,” Axelsson says of wine. But producers now have a tool that can reduce risk, provide consistency in an industry that deals with constant challenges from vintage to vintage, and hopefully help more people find the wines they like. I'm looking forward to it. drink.