Sourcetop analyses
Todd Coleman

PairCraft

Subscription food and wine pairing site by the world's top sommeliers with extensive tasting profiles for thousands of wines.

The Challenge

Pairing wine with food is an age old endeavor with multiple theories, methods and philosophies. PairCraft decided to hire the world’s top sommeliers and have them blind-taste 40 to 50 bottles with popular recipes to find the best pairing and then reverse engineer a more scientific approach based on machine learning.

The site had to be supported through paid subscriptions with various paid ad campaigns that needed to be tracked, tested and modified using A/B testing.

Sourcetop's Solution

Tastings needed to start months in advance so we built the pairing database first in order to capture all the data and modify how tastings were conducted.

We built the wine profile using the WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) classification system as a starting point. For recipes, we created a custom eight axis flavor profile from whole cloth based on our previous work with multiple recipe focused sites.

For each tasting the sommelier will blind taste each wine entering their ratings in the system with a custom tasting screen that only shows the bottle number. Once the first round is complete the guest chef will prepare and “type”, with the sommelier, the dish on the flavor profile. The sommelier re-tastes each wine along with the dish entering additional pairing information in the database to complete the pairing profile.

When the pairing is complete the editorial team will craft an article revisiting the journey with accompanying video and pairing information. Pairings are published weekly for paid subscribers. The detailed wine results can be printed, emailed or sent to a phone via text to bring to the wine merchant for purchase or use the detailed profile to find something similar.

PairCraft wine details

Every bottle typed by world class sommeliers with detailed information about the specific dish pairing.

Recipe chart

Each recipe is plotted on an eight axis flavor profile. Machine Learning will parse through the data matching the wine and recipe characteristics for additional pairings,

Wine profiles can be printed, emailed or sent to the phone for use in wine stores for an informed conversation.

The Results

A targeted ad campaign has attracted foodies and wine enthusiasts to the site and the reaction has been overwhelming positive. Online and in-person wine pairing events are next and PairCraft is making a name for themselves in a crowded field.

Paircraft really showcases what a great pairing can do! You can learn about great wines, and the results are so delicious, it will invite you to have your friends over and cook.
Katja Scharnagl
Chef Sommelier, Le Bernardin
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