Patent ID: 8364545

Claim:
A system for pairing food from a food menu with wine from a wine menu, the system comprising: a host machine having: a first database describing, via a first plurality of numerically-scored categories, each of a plurality of different food items in the food menu; and a second database describing, via a second plurality of numerically-scored categories, each of a plurality of different wines in the wine menu; wherein the host machine is configured to receive a set of configuration signals from an administrator for populating or updating the first and second databases; and a computing device in networked communication with the host machine, wherein the computing device has access to information in the first and second databases, and includes a display screen, wherein the computing device is configured to: receive, via the display screen, a food selection signal corresponding to at least one food item in the food menu; calculate, via the computing device only after receiving the food selection signal, a set of solutions to a plurality of absolute value comparison functions for each wine in the wine menu, with each of the absolute value comparison functions calculating the absolute value of the difference between one of the first plurality of numerically-scored categories for the at least one food item and a corresponding one of the second plurality of numerically-scored categories for each wine, including a plurality of: Weight Comparison, Course Type/Weight Comparison, Acidity Comparison, Sugar Comparison, Spice/Sugar Comparison, Fat/Tannin Comparison, Price Comparison, Savory/Fruity Comparison, Flavor Intensity/Residual Sugar Comparison, and Fat/Acidity Comparison; calculate a numeric Pairing Compatibility Score (PCS) value for each wine in the wine list with the food selection indicated via the food selection signal as a function of the set of solutions, wherein the function includes the sum of the absolute values of a plurality of the absolute value comparison functions; rank-order the numeric PCS values; and display, via the display screen of the computing device, a wine from the wine menu having a threshold PCS value.