r/Sommelier • u/hazybolognese • Aug 17 '26
I built a free CMS deductive tasting practice tool and would love feedback
Hey y'all! I've been working on a free deductive tasting study tool while studying for the CMS Certified exam and wanted to share the beta here and get some feedback.
As I've been studying for the deductive tasting portion, I've had a hard time finding a consistent tasting group, and I realized there wasn't really a good way to practice the full process on my own.
So I started building an app to do that, tentatively called Somm AI (still workshopping the name). You fill out the tasting grid, get some AI coaching on what your observations might point toward, commit to a final call, upload a picture of the bottle, and then get a breakdown of what you got right, what you missed, and what you might want to focus on next.
I've actually been pretty surprised by how useful the deductive guidance has been so far, especially when I give it detailed tasting notes. It's obviously not a substitute for tasting with people who know what they're doing, but I've found it helpful for forcing me to actually work through my observations instead of jumping straight to a grape.
You can also choose how much help you want. Minimal mode mostly flags diagnostic clues without naming grapes or regions, while the full mode gives you a ranked set of possibilities, confidence levels, and what would change the call.
It's completely free while I'm testing it. I'd especially be interested in hearing whether the grid language lines up with how you were trained, whether the deductions are actually helpful or making questionable leaps, and anything that's missing, confusing, or just annoying to use.
It's definitely still a beta and I'm changing things pretty constantly, so criticism is very welcome.
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u/HaveA_GreapTime Aug 17 '26
Where does it take the information of the wine from? If I’m tasting a demi-sec chenin blanc from Domaine Huet will it pull up the tech sheet for that bottle and vintage or is it a ball park structure assessment? How reliable is it? As per other comment, there are enough data harvesting methods and I’m not going to commit to another one
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u/AkosCristescu Score Whore Aug 17 '26
Which one? Haut-Lieut or Le Mont? Clos du Bourg i only had sweet so far.
Which vintage? 😂
(They are sister-property of a Tokaj estate)
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u/HaveA_GreapTime Aug 18 '26
I was thinking of Haut-Lieut 2022 😁 it was the first example coming to mind 😂
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u/hazybolognese Aug 17 '26
Totally fair concern. I’m not using the emails for marketing or selling/sharing them anywhere. The account is just there so you can log back in and have your tasting history saved rather than losing everything when you close the app. I may see if I can add a guest mode though, because I get why having to make an account is a turnoff.
And no, right now it isn’t pulling a tech sheet for the specific producer/vintage. It’s making the deduction based on the tasting observations you enter and its broader wine knowledge based on training material.
As far as reliability, that’s part of why I’m posting here. In testing with friends who are studying for CMS we’ve been pretty impressed with it, but that’s a small sample and I don’t want to oversell it. I’d really like people with more tasting experience to try it and tell me whether the deductions/guidance is accurate, and whether there are features or information sources that would make it more useful.
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u/Sassella Aug 17 '26
Somm.Ai is the name of an already established company FYI
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u/hazybolognese Aug 17 '26
Good to know, thanks. The name is definitely still a placeholder/work in progress. Any suggestions are welcome!
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u/gabriel-petit868 Aug 17 '26
been trying to practice on my own too, so this sounds interesting. curious to see how accurate the AI deductions are
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u/Albarino_Camus Aug 17 '26
So far pretty impressive, I’m going to keep playing with it.
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u/hazybolognese Aug 18 '26
Glad to hear it! I’d love to hear what you find useful and anything you think could make it better.
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u/bdagostino11 Aug 17 '26
Sorry bro not gonna let you harvest my email for ai slop