Le Sommelier is a recommendation system aiming to help users choose wines that pairs nicely with their meal. Recommendations come from a predefined wine database that is given by the business that is hosting the system. The recommendations are based on subjective criteria, which nevertheless follow empirical rules of oenological knowledge that take into consideration the characteristics of the selected dish, such as the main ingredient, the way it was prepared and whether it has a specific flavour, for example if it is spicy or if it has sweet-and-sour sauce. We also take into account wine characteristics like its type, acidity, body, tannins, the grape varieties that were used in its production, as well as the wine aromas.

Wine recommendations are affected by the availability of wines in the system’s database. Non-appearance of a wine must not be considered intentional by the system designers or hosts.