The Digital Menu Fast Becoming Industry Standard for Wine List3 min read
The digital menu is quickly becoming the industry standard for restaurant wine lists.
From membership-based wine clubs, to wine bars, to restaurants, the digital menu is fast becoming the industry standard for the in-house wine list. Though still a notable feature, establishments in Hong Kong and Shanghai and across the U.S. are no longer making breaking headline news just for offering their wine list on a digital menu. Presenting the wine list on a digital menu is becoming so common-place in those areas, clientele are coming to expect it. Having the in-house wine list catalogued on a digital menu is quickly becoming seen in the same way as having a presence on the internet or worldwide web. No website? “You’re vapor.” Still using a paper wine list? Well, you get the idea.
That expectation is reflected in the following press pieces – each of which lavish praises on the respective establishment. In each case, the fact that the establishment has its wine list on a digital menu is presented in the most positive of terms, but as a matter-of-fact, not news, and, certainly, without any fanfare.
The in-depth review of The Central Wine Club in Hong Kong – a new membership-only club for wine enthusiasts which opened last October contains a single sentence mentioning that the more than 600 labels on the clubs wine list are presented on a digital menu which is handed to each member upon arrival, at which point, the writer says, “it dawns on you that you’ve entered a wine lover’s paradise.” (Where else would you be when you’ve just “stroll[ed] past the vast wine cellars to arrive at your table?”)
This information-filled announcement, heralding the opening of Cuivre — Chef Michael Wendling’s new French bistro and wine bar in the heart of Shanghai’s premier dining precinct, the French Concession, states matter-of-factly that both the food selections and wine list are presented on a digital menu. This, the writer notes, is “a growing trend around town [read: becoming the custom in Shanghai] with a lot of advantages, one of which is the ability to constantly change the menu”; which is quite convenient for Chef Wendling, of course, since he intends to change the offerings weekly.
And this article, which appeared in the Houston Chronicle two months ago, on Brasserie 19, a new French bistro in River Oaks, asks: “Wine? Did you have to ask?” The tone of the question makes it perfectly clear that the dual answer below — that, of course, the bistro has wine (a French bistro without wine — unimaginable), and, of course, its wine list is on a digital menu (What else would it be on?) — should be so obvious as to not require an answer. Nonetheless, the writer does accommodate with the following three-sentence description:
More than 400 bottles reside on a list presented on iPad digital menus that display featured wines with prices, scores and tasting notes. With a few taps, customers can search by grape varietal, region, vintage, wine name and even bottle size. It’s a nifty and terrifically informative way to select the evening’s vino.
There is also a caption beneath a photo of the bistro’s three proprietors which says they are “offering Brasserie 19 patrons a cool, high-tech way to order wine, using a touch-screen iPad digital menu.”
Further attesting to the expectation: none of the three establishments above make any mention on their website of the fact that their wine list is offered on a digital menu. They know that their clients will assume that is the case.
Disclaimer: This is an independent report sourced from one or more news articles and or press releases; none of the company’s, entities or technologies digressed in this report are affiliated with or a client of Open.
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