Kristi Mayfield (00:00)

Wine is one of the most ancient traditions in the world. 2,000 years, 3,000 years, 6,000 years. it's agriculture, it's craftsmanship. It relates to the earth, to terroir, to family heritages, and sometimes the knowledge has been passed down for generations.

So when someone says AI is changing the wine industry, it can sound kind of sacrilegious, kind of sci-fi.

And if it worries you and sounds confusing, that's totally okay. But here's the thing, whether or not we personally like it, AI is already playing a significant role in how wine is grown, how wine is produced, and definitely in how it is marketed and sold. It's stirring up big opinions, big fears, but at the end of the day, also some big possibilities.

I am a wine educator and I know how much time, effort, energy, hours upon hours of studying, tasting wines, reading, rereading, creating study cards, researching, it takes to successfully pass any of the formal wine certification exams. But here's something totally wild. Back in 2023, a chat GBT

AI platform aced the theory, which is the written sections of Court of Master Sommelier exams. In fact, this AI model got a 92, which is in the top of class for the Court of Master Sommelier intro class,

which is crazy. Now remember this was only on the written exam format because AI computers can definitely not taste wines and AI and computers

can definitely not execute the service side of an exam. Yet. for those of us who are wine lovers, including yourself, that's where the magic still lives. AI will never be able to replace that human touch or in the case of wine, that human taste. So in today's episode, we're gonna unlock what's really happening.

with AI in wine, why it can feel so uncomfortable and so threatening to you or to me, what mistakes we're making, not just us as wine lovers, but say wineries and other parts of the wine industry in trying to jump on the AI bandwagon. But first and foremost, why does AI feel completely out of place in the world of wine? Now,

You as a wine enthusiast want wine to feel romantic, handcrafted, nuanced, completely untouched by high technology. Because at the end of the day, you want that feeling of authenticity. You want to know where the wine came from, how it was made, that human touch element. And you do not.

want it to be sterile or feel commoditized But will AI ever really replace winemakers or instead should we just look at it as a tool winemakers can use? There are so many aspects of winemaking where technology has already become

significant enhancement to ensure that the wine that's in your glass or in your bottle is high quality and is void of any potential faults.

Kristi Mayfield (03:58)

So where are a few areas where AI is truly showing up in the wine world? Well, let's get out to the vineyards and talk about how AI tools are truly changing the game for farmers and winemakers.

Vineyard monitoring and precision agriculture are changing the game when it comes to growing grapes. We now have drones, sensors, and predictive modeling tools that can help identify when a storm is coming. So vineyard managers can protect from frost or hail. you can't control mother nature, you can control how they impact your vineyard. And these can truly save an entire

harvest from being destroyed. Predictive modeling can help better canopy management to determine whether you need to prune more green matter or less green matter in order to ensure full ripeness of your grapes. And then when it comes to things like managing yields and especially irrigation,

And these drones and these sensors and this AI technology can help identify areas of vineyards that might need more water or less water. So instead of just setting the sprinklers and watering the entire vineyard, wasting tons of water unnecessarily, not only do these tools help make better decisions and address issues where they need to be addressed,

They are also enhancing the sustainability of farming grapes and vineyard management. Now you take those beautiful harvests that we just created, you pull those grapes off the vine, take them into the wine making facility, and we again can use AI technologies for things like sorting grapes. Typically that is a slow and manual process.

process, but with AI tools, not replacing sorting, but enhancing sorting, we can get better separation of the best of the best grapes to the grapes that could potentially diminish the quality of the resulting wine.

in those cases, I see nothing but positive benefits of using AI technology in the winemaking process. Now on the consumer side, we're seeing AI everywhere in marketing, in social media, product designs, it's everywhere. It is prolific. But when it comes to wine,

We're seeing it in label designs. We're seeing it in marketing materials. when we look at some of the marketing, it can be pretty easy to see what bland and predictive statements are created by some AI generator back in someone's office.

versus those that are really built on real life experiences of real life people who have either made the wine, tasted the wine and are sharing that personalized experience through those marketing materials.

Kristi Mayfield (06:59)

there are some areas where AI is actually interfacing on the flip side of things, not on the winemaking side or the wine growing side, but on the consumer side with AI powered wine recommendations and engines. Now, these can be great. In fact, at WINE WIZE, we are launching

menu mapping right now. our native and proprietary wine pairing application for food and wine.

Now, I will be candid in saying there can be some negative experiences and connotations around trusting AI to pick your wine.

Can AI truly find wines you are going to love based upon your own personal preferences? And I will definitely say, yes, there are some amazing ways that AI can truly transform your wine experience. AI should never, eliminate the human touch of that food and wine pairing to determine exactly.

what it is that you love. So what negative experiences or fears do producers and consumers have when it comes to AI and wine?

Wine is all about the human touch and craftsmanship. From a winemaker's perspective or anyone in the wine industry, all the way from the farming to sales and distribution, there's a real fear of job displacement, concerns that all of these algorithms can create wines and take the place of people truly embedded in each step of winemaking from vineyard to bottle, bottle to glass.

or for predicting market trends that are not embedded in what consumer tastes may be. So these worries that you may have that we're going to end up with a wine industry that's generic and soulless and everything is going to be depersonalized because we're relying too much on AI, those fears are real. But the good news, my friend, is that AI is not about replacing

it's about enhancing and leveraging some of the tools that are available today to create better wine experiences and better wine journeys. So what mistakes could you possibly be making when you're trying to use AI Reliance on AI generated tasting notes and scores, just like any Google search.

can create a mismatch. A lot of the tools are not personalized. And as I mentioned, WINE WIZE's menu match option is built upon not only your personal wine preferences, but also on layer upon layer of wine pairing scenarios so that it can teach itself how to present you the best wines.

From a marketing perspective,

people are using AI tools to churn out these hodgepodgey bland cookie cutter content. And that can cause confusion for you as a wine consumer because you are not getting real tasting notes from winemakers or wine experts.

What this does is it neglects to put the human factor or the human story behind the wine. Stories about the vineyard, stories about the winemaking, stories about real people experiencing that wine So AI can enhance and it can be a really great tool, but it never can replace what's happening inside your mouth.

So how does this all impact you as a wine lover personally? Do you feel overwhelmed by so much information? Do you worry that trying to find a wine in this world of AI and overload of Google searches is going to result in you losing the pleasure of discovering wines for yourself?

Does this make you feel concerned about being disconnected with wine or being skeptical about the bottle that you're pulling off that shelf? Can you or can you not trust the information that you're getting from simple AI searches on your mobile device? And how should we instead look to leverage AI in the wine world instead? So let's shift our perspective altogether.

as a tool, not a replacement for any part of the wine experience. Let it help you discover, let it help you learn, but definitely do not let it dictate what it is that you love about wine. Tools like WINE WIZE Menu Match can help you make smarter choices, but at the end of the day, you always should come back.

to your very own palette to identify exactly what is going to make you happy in that moment. And what you put in your glass is definitely your own personal perspective. But there are so many ways that you can truly leverage AI tools to get you one step closer, to get you down that funnel of 10,000 wines to three or four wines that are likely to be the perfect match.

for whatever your experiences or whatever dish is going to be on your plate. So let's wrap up some of the topics we've discussed around AI and wine. First and foremost, AI can be a significantly beneficial tool for farmers and winemakers in vineyards.

It can help predict weather patterns that could otherwise destroy crops. It can predict where winemakers and farmers need to put their attention, to protect the grapes and to protect the vines from pests or fungus or rot or other diseases.

but it cannot replace the passion around being a farmer, being a winemaker, and the craftsmanship that goes into making each and every bottle. On the consumer side, don't let algorithms 100 % make your wine selection decision for you. Use them as a guide.

find tools that you trust that can help you take some of the fear and the overwhelm out of wine making decisions to allow you to leverage your curiosity, to allow you to potentially try new wines that you've discovered through technology and through these AI tools. But at the end of the day, never lose your trust in your own judgment over any applications recommendation because wine is about connection. It's about pleasure.

It's about the story and AI is simply another way to allow you to explore it, to have those experiences transformed at your fingertips. And if you do feel intimidated, you aren't alone. Take it one sip at a time and don't lose sight of why you love wine in the first place.

At WINE WIZE, we are leveraging technology in new ways to transform your wine journey from OK to amazing. Now, I live it every single day through this manifesto, which states, I'm building something new, something better, a digital home for modern wine lovers who want to learn wine their way without the fluff, the fear, or elitism. Now, through my podcast here at Everyday Sommelier,

my classes and WINE WIZE online apps, I'm reshaping how people connect with Wine, making it approachable, intelligent, but still deeply human. I use technology not to replace the experience, but to enhance it, to make learning faster, to make access easier, to make Wine knowledge personal, searchable, and always at your fingertips.

AI doesn't have to be scary or impersonal when it comes to wine. It's all about the way you approach it. And if this episode sparked questions or ideas, I would love to hear from you. What do you think about the use of AI in the wine industry or in your wine experience? Are you excited? Are you skeptical? A little bit of both. Send me a direct message on my Instagram, Kristi K-R-I-S-T-I.

everyday sommelier or leave a review on your Apple podcast platform and share your thoughts with me. I'd love to hear them. especially if you'd like to be on the front end of testing one of these new technologies I've developed to see how they

can help you transform your wine journey. Now, I know you don't drink wine alone and you have a ton of friends out there who just like you want to expand their wine journey. And if you think they can relate to the content of this episode, please share this episode with them today. Click pause and send them a text right now.

piqued your curiosity about how you can continue to explore wine more confidently, or no tech, stick around because in next week's episode, I am taking a tactile approach and bringing the conversation to food and wine pairings with a local restaurateur and sommelier to explore acidity.

and how acidity impacts your food pairings. And you're not going to want to miss it. So until then, grab your favorite glass of while you learn wine your way.