AI enters the wine cellar: Vinolin suggests wines and pairings like a real-life expert.
The news
Would you trust wine advice from someone who has never smelled, studied, or tasted it? Many would say no, yet artificial intelligence is becoming a new ally for both producers and consumers, revolutionizing the way we choose and taste wines. Confirmation comes from Heilbronn Wine Village, Germany's historic wine festival, where brothers Simon and David Blank presented their creation: an app that, simply by scanning the QR codes on the stands, suggests in real time the most suitable wine to try and the perfect pairing with the dishes on offer at the fair, whether it's a gourmet burger, bread ravioli or a steaming currywurst. Raised in the Tauberfranken wine region and always fascinated by the world of wine, Simon and David came up with Vinolin while studying business informatics at the University of Mannheim, inspired by a project that involved digital consulting for several wineries. Today, the app provides a database fed by both professional sommeliers and the producers themselves, offering sensory descriptions and targeted pairing suggestions. Success was not long in coming: by early 2025, fifteen wineries had already adopted Vinolin, with users recording up to fifteen interactions per day with this “digital sommelier.”
The Blank brothers are keen to point out that Vinolin does not aim to replace real-life sommeliers and oenologists, but rather to offer valuable support, especially at a time when the sector is suffering from a shortage of qualified personnel. Backed by a grant and €200,000 in pre-seed funding from Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg, the project is now preparing to grow, targeting the German, European, and even overseas markets. In the meantime, the team is expanding, with new hires and a new office opening by the end of the year, while further developments are being explored: from interactive visualization of vineyards in the app to collaborations with supermarket chains and increasingly personalized forms of consulting. A taste of the future, then, that promises to change the way we are guided in our choice of wine.
