It appears that the restaurants scooping up all the best prizes and getting an awful lot of recognition are the ones associated with molecular gastronomy, and they certainly seem to be succeeding in all areas of the business. This latest development isn't necessarily to do with the eccentric style of cooking, it's giving congratulations to Europe's best sommelier who happens to work at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in the UK.
Best Sommelier in Europe
Turkish-born Head Sommelier Isa Bal was named as Best Sommelier in Europe by the Association de la sommellerie international in Sofia, Bulgaria on 19th May, beating off competition from sommeliers from 30 European countries to scoop the prize.
The finalists had to complete a series of tests to prove their skill including decanting red wine, indentifying mystery drinks in clear and black glasses, and matching food with different wines – perhaps the most important job for a sommelier.
Wine-bot to overthrow sommelier profession
As the age-old profession celebrates Europe's finest talent, elsewhere in the world real sommeliers may be in danger of being replaces by automated versions of themselves. The 2ft tall robo-sommelier or the wine-bot is being developed in Japan and is said to be able to taste and identify types of wine, matching them to different foods, and could be a huge phenomenon in the future.
NEC System Technologies and Mie University apparently used infra-red technology to be able to identify different tastes. An infra-red light is installed on the robot's arm which beams light through the liquid. The intelligent bot can determine what kind of wine it is depending on the absorption of different light wavelengths.
No alternative to the human palate
Although the researchers were optimistic about the robot's potential to enhance quality control for the wine-industry, sceptics pointed out that there's no alternative to the human palate.
Dan Coward of from Bibendum Wine Limited, said: "I love new ideas in wine, but this one seems like technology for the sake of it. The human wine taster will always have the upper hand in terms of flavour, smell and texture, and can make qualitative judgements based on the combination of these factors.