Wine lists on iPads

I think what encouraged the buying was the access to information about points (if information is the right word). They didn't trust the sommelier, but did trust Parker. As with Parker in the first instance, the system is an improvement because it encourages people to try wine, but a constraint in the long run because it discourages restaurants from buying anything but pointsy wine and discourages trust in the advice of the sommelier, who at least in principle, knows the list and the wines and can make contexts specific recommendations (even if, in practice, that isn't always what happens).
 
Aside from the unfortunate "used car shyster/better to buy from Parker" theme, I love the idea, and I'd think so would the better wine directors, because they can provide all the information they'd like rather than just what will work in the space they're allotted. There could be descriptions of every single wine, and pairing suggestions updated daily (and just once, rather than having to reprint a bunch of menus). Typos might actually get fixed. Price changes would be easy.

I think the fear (expressed in the piece) of diners tuning out to stare at their devices is unfounded. I already tune out when I get the bound tome, and anyone who's actually going to read the list does as well; those who don't are either going to trust the wine director or their favorite brands anyway, so the format of the list doesn't matter to them.

And it doesn't affect the job prospects of wine directors at all unless they themselves introduce the outside gurus. If anything, it makes their jobs easier once the initial data transfer is accomplished. I'm assuming "Parker points" is a feature that can be turned off; if not, then there's a problem.

There are some interesting implications of accurate inventory vis--vis the Spectator Awards on which some rely, but that's the cynical outlook.
 
If the IPad connects to the internet, Parker points couldn't be turned off, though I think that danger is no more than already exists with customers with Palm Pilots (or just good memories, I suppose). I was responding to what the article described and the motives it gave for the example of why someone spent up on the wine. I have nothing against presenting a list with more information in a format that is easier to access.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
If the IPad connects to the internet, Parker points couldn't be turned off, though I think that danger is no more than already exists with customers with Palm Pilots (or just good memories, I suppose). I was responding to what the article described and the motives it gave for the example of why someone spent up on the wine. I have nothing against presenting a list with more information in a format that is easier to access.
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I wish I were young enough to wonder what a Palm Pilot was.
 
Though in truth, I'd be just as happy with a sortable excel sheet. If you could sort by region, producer, vintage, price, you could cut your way through a big list pretty fast.
 
Not helpful to the masses, though. The ideal app (and I haven't seen this one) would help both groups.
 
originally posted by Thor:
I was going to say something, but figured I'd leave Jonathan to his Maude marathon.
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They appear in Stieg Larsson, so they can only be around 6 years old. Does no one have them anymore? It's true that I have no interest in being connected at every moment of my waking existence and so have never owned any version of these things.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Thor:
I was going to say something, but figured I'd leave Jonathan to his Maude marathon.
Click to expand...

They appear in Stieg Larsson, so they can only be around 6 years old. Does no one have them anymore? It's true that I have no interest in being connected at every moment of my waking existence and so have never owned any version of these things.
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Palm pilot is supposedly vernacular for a PDA. In 1998 Pilot dropped the Pilot part of the name due to a trademark infringement suit brought by Pilot Pen.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Thor:
I was going to say something, but figured I'd leave Jonathan to his Maude marathon.
Click to expand...

They appear in Stieg Larsson, so they can only be around 6 years old. Does no one have them anymore? It's true that I have no interest in being connected at every moment of my waking existence and so have never owned any version of these things.
Click to expand...
Palm pilot is supposedly vernacular for a PDA. In 1998 Pilot dropped the Pilot part of the name due to a trademark infringement suit brought by Pilot Pen.
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Indeed I checked and it was called a Palm Tungsten.
 
I would like to have a Sommelier with the 6th sense so he knows what I like (ie never bring a wine from Alsace) and I could spare my fiance that 30 mins of browsing through the wine list...
 
originally posted by Filippo Mattia Ginanni:
Bruce Willis did a movie about this...I would like to have a Sommelier with the 6th sense so he knows what I like (ie never bring a wine from Alsace) and I could spare my fiance that 30 mins of browsing through the wine list...
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The extended browing period is why lists should be online. And current.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
I would like sommeliers to be curators rather than docents.

Fuck the masses.
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Yeah - I hate the encyclopedias. I suppose they're fine if one can download and study them ahead of time, but I'm not visiting a restaurant to read a wine list and ignore my companions.

Fuck the bourgeoisie!

(OH @ Bar Agricole this statement by a patron at the bar to his would-be pick up: The best wines are the ones with the highest alcohol levels.)
 
They appear in Stieg Larsson
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ABBA's manager?

I'm not visiting a restaurant to read a wine list and ignore my companions.
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Let's not be too hasty. Who are the companions?

patron at the bar to his would-be pick up: The best wines are the ones with the highest alcohol levels
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Did it work? Because there's a certain naked purity of intention to it.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by Filippo Mattia Ginanni:
Bruce Willis did a movie about this...I would like to have a Sommelier with the 6th sense so he knows what I like (ie never bring a wine from Alsace) and I could spare my fiance that 30 mins of browsing through the wine list...
Click to expand...
The extended browing period is why lists should be online. And current.
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You mean live INVENTORY on the web...
 
originally posted by Thor:

I'm not visiting a restaurant to read a wine list and ignore my companions.
Click to expand...
Let's not be too hasty. Who are the companions?

patron at the bar to his would-be pick up: The best wines are the ones with the highest alcohol levels
Click to expand...
Did it work? Because there's a certain naked purity of intention to it.
Click to expand...

- On the first comment: I try pretty hard not to find myself in disagreeable company but I still visit this bored for example.

- On the second: She did opt for the 15+ zinfandel. But if he really wanted to go for it, he should have pushed the cocktails, right?
 
Once, at a restaurant with a novel-length list, I just handed it to Yixin to peruse in detail while we chatted with his girlfriend. It pretty much rescued the evening, as you can imagine.
 
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