Robots becoming wine aficionado’s!?

(I know I said this blog was going to be about Italy and/or Italian wine, but Italian wineries could be affected by this new technology and personally, I don't think they'll agree.)

Robots can be programmed to do anything, but wine tasting…who knew?

In Japan, Hideo Shimazu, Director of the NEC System Technology Research Laboratory said he wanted to create a robot that could distinguish wines and make recommendations about which cheeses and hors d'oeuvres go best with that specific wine because it seemed like a “real challenge.”

By using real time technology, the researchers in Japan equipped this robot with an infrared spectrometer that uses a beam of infrared light to determine the chemical composition of any object. Apparently the robot has already identified someone’s hand as prosciutto, an Italian ham. (haha)

Shimazu said wineries could start using the robot to taste wines without having to uncork any bottles.

Hmmm, sounds like this robot could be sucking the fun right out of a wine connoisseur’s mouth…literally!

Check out this bizarre article
"New Robot Can Identify Wines, Cheeses"
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4283339
By: Eric Talmadge
The Associated Press