AI is picking wine
- Increasing numbers of diners are consulting AI tools to choose wine while dining out. - WBUR reported growing AI use for restaurant wine selection, raising questions about the sommelier's evolving role. - As factual recommendations become commoditised, human reading of mood and occasion gains comparative value. (wbur.org)
Diners are pulling out ChatGPT at the table to choose wine, and sommeliers say the habit is changing service in real time. (wbur.org) WBUR reported on April 22 that guests are using artificial intelligence tools during meals to sort wine lists and ask for pairings. The outlet interviewed Christian Urbina, a sommelier at The Dabney, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Washington, D.C. (wbur.org) A sommelier’s job is to recommend bottles based on taste, budget, and what a table orders. WBUR said diners now sometimes arrive with chatbot suggestions before that conversation starts. (wbur.org) The shift is showing up beyond one radio segment. VinePair reported in March that sommeliers have noticed customers consulting ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and that some beverage directors are coaching staff on how to handle chatbot-generated questions. (vinepair.com) Restaurant technology companies are also building artificial intelligence into dining decisions before guests even sit down. OpenTable launched a generative artificial intelligence assistant called Concierge on July 15, 2025, saying it gives diners instant insights on more than 60,000 restaurants in its network. (opentable.com) OpenTable said dining was up 8% year over year in 2025 and said Americans expect to dine out 10 times per month on average in 2026. The company’s 2026 Dining Trends Report also said 55% of Americans expect to spend more on restaurants in 2026. (opentable.com) Wine platforms are adding similar tools. CellarTracker says its service contains more than 13 million community and professional tasting notes, giving artificial intelligence systems a large pool of wine descriptions and user preferences to work from. (cellartracker.com) That leaves sommeliers competing less on raw facts like grape, region, or vintage, which a chatbot can summarize quickly. The human advantage in WBUR’s report was reading the table itself: the mood, the occasion, and how much guidance a guest actually wants. (wbur.org) The likely result is not the end of the sommelier, but a narrower job. As diners bring algorithmic suggestions to dinner, the person on the floor becomes the one who turns a recommendation into hospitality. (wbur.org)
