How to Use AI to Identify Any Wine Bottle in Seconds
Learn how AI-powered wine scanning works, what information it reveals, and how Sommo's label scanner turns every bottle into an instant learning opportunity.
You’re at a wine shop, a friend’s dinner party, or browsing a cellar. A bottle catches your eye, but the label is in French, the font is ornate, and you have no idea where to start. Ten years ago, your only options were to ask someone or move on. Today, you just scan it.
AI-powered wine label scanning has transformed how we interact with wine. Here’s how it works, what it can tell you, and how to get the most out of it.
How AI Wine Scanning Works
Modern wine scanners use a combination of computer vision and large language models to analyze wine labels. Here’s what happens when you scan a bottle with Sommo:
- Image capture: Your phone’s camera captures the label
- Visual analysis: The AI identifies text, logos, imagery, and layout patterns on the label
- Wine identification: Using its training data, the AI determines the wine’s name, producer, region, vintage, and grape variety
- Knowledge enrichment: The AI connects this information to its knowledge base about wine regions, grape varieties, winemaking styles, and tasting profiles
- Instant results: You receive a comprehensive educational briefing about the wine — in seconds
Sommo uses Google Gemini 2.0 Flash for this process, which means fast, accurate results even with complex or foreign-language labels.
What You Learn From a Single Scan
A wine scan isn’t just identification — it’s education. Here’s what Sommo reveals about every bottle:
The Basics
- Wine name and producer: Who made it and what they call it
- Vintage year: When the grapes were harvested and what that means for the wine
- Region of origin: Where it comes from and why that region matters
The Education
- Grape variety: What grapes are used and their typical characteristics
- Flavor profile: What aromas and flavors to expect in the glass
- Food pairings: What to eat with this wine and why
- Serving suggestions: Ideal temperature and whether it benefits from decanting
- Regional context: How this wine fits into the broader winemaking tradition of its area
The Growth
Every scan is recorded in your wine journal, contributing to your XP and level progression. After enough scans, Sommo’s AI generates a wine character analysis revealing patterns in what you’re drawn to.
Beyond Basic Identification
The difference between a basic wine scanner and Sommo’s approach is what happens after identification:
Learning, Not Just Looking
Most wine scanners show you a rating or a price. Sommo teaches you about the wine. Scan a Barolo and you’ll learn about Nebbiolo’s notoriously late ripening, Piedmont’s fog-shrouded hills, and why the wine needs years of aging to reveal its best.
Building Pattern Recognition
Over time, scanning wines trains your brain. You start noticing that you’ve scanned three Rieslings from Alsace and they’re all different from the Rieslings you scanned from Germany. You’re learning about regional expression without sitting in a classroom.
Your Personal Wine Map
Every scan adds to your interactive wine map, showing which regions and countries you’ve explored. It’s a visual record of your wine journey that motivates further exploration.
Practical Scanning Tips
In a Wine Shop
- Scan bottles you’re considering buying to learn about them before deciding
- Scan wines you’ve never heard of — the most interesting discoveries come from unfamiliar labels
- Compare two similar wines by scanning both and reading the educational details
At a Restaurant
- Sommo Premium’s menu scoring lets you scan the entire wine list for AI-powered value and quality insights
- Scan individual wines on the list that intrigue you to learn more before ordering
At Home
- Scan a bottle before opening it to set expectations for the tasting
- Use the scan as a starting point for writing structured tasting notes
- Scan wines from your collection to learn about what you already own
At Social Events
- Scan the wine being poured to have something knowledgeable to say
- Scan a host’s wine selection to understand what’s been chosen and why
- Share what you’ve learned — wine knowledge is always welcome at the table
From Scanning to Understanding
The real power of AI wine scanning isn’t the technology — it’s the habit it creates. When every bottle becomes a learning opportunity, your wine knowledge grows organically through everyday experiences.
You don’t need to set aside study time. You don’t need to enroll in a course (though Sommo offers WSET exam prep when you’re ready for that). You just need to be curious enough to point your phone at the next interesting label you see.
Thousands of wines. One tap each. A world of knowledge.
Download Sommo and turn your next bottle into a lesson.
