The Wine Knows

I ran across this automated tasting bar in use at a Chicago wine shop. It provides tastes of up to 24 wines at any time, and the person wanting to try a wine simply uses a "smart card" to buy tastes. Tastes cost anywhere from 50 cents to $5, depending on the wine. The wines stay fresh, thanks to the nitrogen gas system.

I'm trying to think of a situation where I would want to encounter one of these devices. I doubt it would be in a winery tasting room, since it is so impersonal.

It does make sense in a wine shop, where you can try a wine before you buy it, without having to wait for staff to help (this would be in bigger wine shops vs. small merchants).

Perhaps this would work at barrel-tasting events, with crowds that just want to taste wine without worrying about what's in the glass. This also handles the nasty business of collecting tasting fees, since the cards are prepurchased, just like phone cards. With huge crowds, most of these events are so impersonal anyways.

I'd love to have this at a big wine party (without the smart cards) in which you have a lot of wine-savvy folks who are there to taste rather than drink. That would allow wine lovers to try different wines, then gather around and share their thoughts with others.

Read more about these machines:

-- Wired magazine

-- See a video of one in action (with Rachael Ray)