Wireless Wine List Comes to Aureole New York

Diners at Aureole's flagship restaurant in Manhattan will soon benefit from the same technology that the Las Vegas restaurant's patrons enjoy. No, there won't be nearby video-poker machines, separating tourists from their money; this invention is a sure winner.

Andrew Vadjinia Bradbury, wine director at Aureole, is launching his eWine Book -- a handheld, wireless "Web pad" that enables diners to access the wine list electronically -- in New York today. Rather than perusing the list page by page, patrons will now be able to customize their navigation with various search features.

The 550-selection wine list -- which holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence -- can be sorted by color, varietal, winery, country or appellation simply by touching the screen. Also incorporated in the data are winery and vintner profiles, as well as some of Bradbury's tasting notes. He believes that this format encourages exploration and exposes people to wines that they might not have ordered from the traditional list.

"If you empower consumers with information via scores, tasting notes, etc.," he said, "consumers will ultimately benefit."

By the end of April, Bradbury expects that diners will be able to create their own accounts that will store personal tasting notes. The list will also be accessible via the Internet, allowing diners to research wines ahead of time.

Bradbury noted that when he launched the eWine Books last year at Aureole Las Vegas, whose 3,500-wine list holds a Wine Spectator Grand Award, only a select group of restaurants could have afforded such an undertaking. However, he said, "In a year, I can see 25 percent of the restaurant world being able to do a system like this."

He estimates that, a year from now, the Web pads will cost between $700 and $900 each. A wireless access point is also required, along with a server (from which the wine list can be instantly updated),which, combined, cost about $1,600.

For Bradbury, that's a small price to pay. "The impact of what you can do changes how you can sell wine," he said. "The potential is unreal."

Bradbury dreamed up the idea for eWine Book at an earlier job, while he was working at the Salish Lodge, a Best of Award of Excellence winner in Snoqualmie, Wash. He observed someone retrieve a name and phone number from a pocket organizer, and thought that the same could be done with a wine list. "I had to wait for technology to catch up to do what I wanted to do," said the self-proclaimed "tech geek."

Now that it has, he sees no end to its growth potential. "This thing wears many hats other than being a wine list," he said. "It's a promotional tool, a marketing tool and a sales tool."

Bradbury added that the eWine Books have received an extremely favorable response from customers in Las Vegas, and that even those who initially resist are quickly converted. "Now you can't get it out of their hands."

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