Nantes, September 15, 2014, tasting of muscadet wine in a Nantes restaurant - Frederic Brenon / 20 Minutes

  • The start-up Winespace has created a free digital sommelier service that advises which appellations to turn to based on the dishes that are to be tasted.
  • Artificial intelligence already knows 130,000 recipes and is able to learn new ones by making links.
  • A professional version is being developed by the start-up and will be ready in the spring.

Are you unable to choose among the many references of wine on the supermarket shelves or indecisive about the bottles in your own cellar? The Bordeaux start-up Winespace, created by three young local engineers, has been offering a free online service “What do we drink with?” Since the end of 2019. Which allows recommendations to the general public, depending on the dishes that users are preparing to taste.

The start-up was created in January 2017 with the aim of “changing the way of approaching wine and recommending it. The leitmotif was to try to change this slightly scary side of wine when you have to choose, ”explains Sylvain Thibaud, one of the co-founders of Winespace. The idea is to offer personalized sommelier advice to wine consumers.

AI already knows more than 130,000 recipes

"You write your recipe [in the search bar] and we have created an artificial intelligence which will understand the title of the dish and break down what is inside. For example for bourguigon beef, she is able to understand that it is beef, that it is a dish simmered in red wine and originating in Burgundy. Once she has identified the sauce, the seasoning, she is able to identify the profile of the wine that will go best with this dish because we have taught her the rules of sommellerie ”.

The user indicates his budget and we recommend several names (all French for the moment) based on all these data. The user is offered the choice of sommelier but also each time white and rosé, in this consumer version. "We taught her 130,000 recipes and she is able to make connections and understand others that we have not taught her," explains Sylvain Thibaud. For example, asparagus pie, she understands what a pie is and what asparagus is. "

A showcase for a pro version

Winespace started by carrying out direct online sales with a network of producers, using recommendation tools and, at the end of 2018, it joined the Bordeaux Technowest incubator on the Bouscat site dedicated to e-commerce.

"To differentiate ourselves, we decided to develop recommendation solutions to mimic wine experts with artificial intelligence", specifies Sylvain Thibaud. The free version must train the algorithm intended for a professional version which recommends specific bottles.

"We are in discussion with a few players in the wine market, these are solutions that we will sell to supermarkets, chains of wine merchants and restaurateurs interested in this type of advice," explains the co-founder of Winespace. The consumer version plays a showcase role and the professional version, which is being finalized, will be finished in the spring.

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  • Aquitaine
  • Bordeaux
  • Start-up
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Gastronomy
  • New technologies
  • Wine