There is always an element of showmanship (or “cinema” as the French would call it), involved when a professional sommelier opens a bottle of wine at your table – and long may it continue, is my own opinion. It would appear that, over time, we are becoming more and more impatient, and want everything to happen in an instant, but I’m afraid to admit that the screwcap just doesn’t do it for me, especially in a restaurant scenario. If I’m paying decent money for a decent bottle then I want to savour the experience, and the opening ‘ceremony’ forms an integral part of the whole performance. Perhaps I am just old-fashioned?

Anyway, that is not the reason for my story……

It appears that scientists at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona have now developed a kind of robo-sommelier, or electronic tongue, which can distinguish between different Cavas. Well, actually, only three to be precise – brut nature, brut and medium dry. As a human being is capable of detecting over 10,000 different scents and aromas, as well as being able to distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter, acidic and savoury flavours, my guess is that sommeliers won’t exactly be rushing to the job centres just yet. Besides, they would still need to develop a further machine to pull the cork and serve!

Other wine related electronic noses have already been developed in France and Sweden, but all have very limited capabilities, so far.

There is always an element of showmanship (or “cinema” as the French would call it), involved when a professional sommelier opens a bottle of wine at your table – and long may it continue, is my own opinion. It would appear that, over time, we are becoming more and more impatient, and want everything to happen in an instant, but I’m afraid to admit that the screwcap just doesn’t do it for me, especially in a restaurant scenario. If I’m paying decent money for a decent bottle then I want to savour the experience, and the opening ‘ceremony’ forms an integral part of the whole performance. Perhaps I am just old-fashioned?

Anyway, that is not the reason for my story……

It appears that scientists at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona have now developed a kind of robo-sommelier, or electronic tongue, which can distinguish between different Cavas. Well, actually, only three to be precise – brut nature, brut and medium dry. As a human being is capable of detecting over 10,000 different scents and aromas, as well as being able to distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter, acidic and savoury flavours, my guess is that sommeliers won’t exactly be rushing to the job centres just yet. Besides, they would still need to develop a further machine to pull the cork and serve!

Other wine related electronic noses have already been developed in France and Sweden, but all have very limited capabilities, so far.