Verve Wine Raises the Bar on Smart Algorithms

Raise the bar: Smart algorithm helps you pick your new favorite wine

By Luke Dormehl November 14, 2016

wine recommending algorithm scent — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Like a lot of people, we enjoy a good glass of wine from time to time, but — boy — is it an intimidating world to enter into; full of serious-sounding people who use phrases like ‘long finish’ and ‘tobacco flavoring’ with scant regard for newbies.

Fortunately, you have got a new BFF to be your guide — and it is a smart algorithm.

The algorithm is part of a new, soon-to-debut ecommerce platform called Verve Wine. Launching in December, the website will offer around 1,000 bottles of hand-picked wine for sale, with the promise of using machine intelligence to help you find the perfect bottle for any occasion.

“The aim is to get wine consumers to start trusting their own palettes,” a spokesperson for Verve Wine told Digital Trends. “A lot of the time, people drink what they’re told to drink because they know that it’s supposed to be good, rather than because they trust their own tastes. The goal here is to empower clients to feel confident in choosing wines that they actually like — not based on some rating or other, but what they genuinely enjoy.”

The company was founded by master sommelier Dustin Wilson and veteran wine merchant Derrick Mize. Both were looking for the respective next step in their careers and shared an interest in shaking up the wine retail space.

If you are in the New York area, your Verve Wine journey can start by visiting Wilson’s Manhattan store — which opened Monday– and sitting down with him or another of his certified sommeliers to answer questions about the kind of wine you like. This information (which can also be given via an online questionnaire) will then form the basis of your personal wine-recommendation system.

As users rate more and more bottles, the accuracy of the profile will subsequently grow, and suggestions will be increasingly tailored to their tastes: ranging from acidity and tannin level to the presence of oak, herbs, flowers, and fruits.

You will also be able to use a comprehensive search function which not only lets you search by regular criteria like grapes and country, but also accompanying dishes and others. The majority of bottles will cost between $25 and $50 and will ship to anywhere in the U.S.

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