it is just grapejuice

that the Champagne region of France has the hightest yielding AOC vines?

Apparently, a wine-tasting robot has been developed by researchers in Japan.
The so-called robot-sommelier, or “wine-bot”, can “taste” and identify types of wine, and also has the ability to discern and analyze foods.

The 2ft-tall (0.6m) robot, developed by NEC System Technologies and Mie University, uses infrared light to identify different tastes.

The Associated Press says the robot could become personalised to recommend wines to suit its owner.

The green and white robot was initially developed to taste and identify foods, analyzing the different kinds and quantities of ingredients within them.

But now it’s tasting technology has moved into the world of wine and the robot is capable of distinguishing several different types or blends of grapes.

Hideo Shimazu, director of the NEC System Technology Research Laboratory in Japan, told AP: “There are all kinds of robots out there doing many different things…but we decided to focus on wine because that seemed like a real challenge.”

Limited palate?

The tasting robot analyses wines and foods through a sensor on its arm.

Infrared light is fired through the sample, and the robot can differentiate between different types of food and drink by determining the different wavelengths of light that are absorbed.

By using its built-in voice function, the robot can convey exactly what it has found out.

Mr Shimazu said the robot could also be personalised to alert a customer to the wines they prefer, and to recommend to new varieties that they might like to try.

However, the researchers accept that the tasting power of the robot is limited. The global wine market boasts thousands of wines, but the prototype robot can distinguish between just a few dozen varieties.

Atsushi Hashimoto, one of the researchers on the project from Mie University, Japan, said in the future the robot could be used by the wine industry to help in quality control.

Dan Coward, from Bibendum Wine Limited, said: “I love new ideas in wine, but this one seems like technology for the sake of it.

“The human wine taster will always have the upper hand in terms of flavour, smell and texture, and can make qualitative judgements based on the combination of these factors.

“We are trying to get more people to taste wine as often as possible, so it would be a real shame if they decided a robot should do that for them.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5312220.stm

In 1152, the marriage alliance between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England not only provided for a stable peace, and fair sunday afternoon period drama for TV, but also would have a huge impact on the future of wine. Part of Eleanor’s domain included Bordeaux, which at the time was only a minor player in the wine export trade, but handily located near a convenient port. By the time John, her son, was crowned and began his infamous reign, Bordeaux began to flow more frequently up to England… partnerships were made on both sides of the channel against greater France and England enjoyed a friendly discount on the Bordelais juice in return for military support. Throughout the rest of the 13th century, the wine of western France (Gascon) would become a staple of the English wine market, which would create the demand for much increased planting of vines to feed the Anglo-Saxon craze for what would later be called ‘claret’, in order to distinguish itself from the darker and heavier wines of the times.

RF

“A hard drinker, being at a table, was offered grapes as dessert. ‘Thank you,’ said he, pushing the dish away from him, ‘but I am not in the habit of taking my wine in pills.”

-Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

Perhaps leaving the best job on earth, Pierre Rovani has decided to retire from the Wine Advocate. Rovani has been with Robert Parker for over 10 years and was in charge of reviewing the wines from Oregon, Washington and, of course, Burgundy. Here are a couple of quotes from Rovani from a recent posting on Mark Squires Bulletin Board.
http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/
(more…)

“Sherry is associated with the British people, and they have had a passion for the wine since 1587, when the Spanish Armada was crippled, its stores were sacked, and Sir Francis Drake’s fleet made off with the equivalent of 180,000 cases of Sherry. Shortly, thereafter, Shakespeare’s Falstaff was toasting the wine as ’sherris sack’.”
-Doug Frost, MW; Wines from Spain

…that hip hop legend Jay-Z is leading a boycott against Cristal? The boycott is in response to comments made by the president of Champagne Louis Roederer in Economist magazine. When asked if association with rap’s upper echelon if could mar the brands reputation, Mr. Rouzaud responded ‘That’s a good question, but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it.” In a phone interview, Jay-Z said “Surely he meant to say, thanks, right?”

“There was another unexpected consequence of the (french) Revolution, more permanent in it’s effects than the replacement of a hereditary King and landed aristocracy with self-crowned Emporer and his cronies. Famous chefs and their armies of assistants, the cooks of the great aristocratic households, were thrown unemployed on to the streeets of Paris. They started restaurants and thereby changed the eating habits of a nation, which had previously known little better by way of public catering than cookshps and taverns. And these revolutionary restaurants created an entirely new market for the finest wines of France.”

-Simon Loftus
“Puligny-Montrachet”