Wine is slowly becoming popular booze in Japan — it’s even closing in on sake in terms of consumption. So Amazon Japan’s starting a new service to meet the need: On-demand sommeliers who booze hounds can call for wine-buying tips.
For free, Japanese Amazon users can now phone the tech giant, which will connect them with certified booze experts who recommend which wine goes with what. The site says the pairings can be especially be geared toward matching the still-somewhat-exotic alcohol with Japanese food, like yakitori (delicious chicken parts on skewers). Then Amazon Japan ships one of its 8000 wines straight to the customer’s home.
The service is only available in Japan and in Japanese, and Amazon’s sommeliers are only on standby between the traditionally non-boozy hours of noon and 5 pm. Guess Amazon wants people to be sober enough to make sure they don’t order the wrong bottle.
[Amazon Japan via Wall Street Journal]
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