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Web 2.0 Technology is Powering the Wine Industry

Finally, it's Netflix for Wine!

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If you're like me, the first thing you do after a long day is browse Netflix, where the power of recommendation technology makes it effortless for you to find your next show. "Because you watched Breaking Bad," you'll see recommended titles like Better Call Saul, Prison Break, Scarface, and Californication." Your Amazon account uses a similar recommendation feature: "Looking for new tennis shoes? Here are 10 recommended for you." That's how many of us find our favorite TV shows, products, and now, our favorite wines.

Tasting Room is the first wine service to harness the same algorithmic powers of our other favorite web brands, and it's no coincidence it's now the fastest-growing wine club in the nation. Tasting Room's wine recommendation technology makes informed selections for you based on your experience with the six mini-bottles in their exclusive tasting kit, and ships tailored bottles to your door—bottles they back with a guarantee you'll enjoy them.

Here's how it works. After receiving your tasting kit, logon to the site and you're guided through your interactive tasting. Each bottle has different sugar, tannin, alcohol and acid levels, and your taste buds' perception of each of these elements will help determine which types of wine you're most likely to enjoy. Tasting Room already mapped out the data points of wine. So all you have to do is simply taste and rate. Based on your responses, Tasting Room generates your Wine Profile, which acts as a guide that explains the types and qualities of wine you prefer (in both red and white categories), your preferred wine regions and best food pairings. The guide also recommends varietals to try next, what to look for in wine shops and restaurants, and displays fun wine charts that point out where your tastes fall on the spectrum.

Soon thereafter, Tasting Room ships you a 12-bottle variety case of wines, each one matching your personal taste preferences. You can easily edit your shipment date, and select your shipping frequency when you logon. You can also customize the size or contents (all red, all white or mix of both), or swap out bottles if you so choose. You can also rate subsequent shipments, and Tasting Room will send you wines even more attuned to your palate.

Recommendation technology is the most efficient way to find the best wines for you. You'll never pay for wine you don't enjoy again. It's well worth it at less than 10 bucks to join (that gets you your tasting kit), and you can cancel at anytime.

Update: The folks at Tasting Room are extending a special offer for our readers. Follow this link to get your wine tasting kit for only $6.95 (originally $39.95)!

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