Wine Tasting Goes High-Tech in New York

Bradbury says that while he's happy with Clo's launch, he has far more ambitious ideas, including expanding to different parts of the U.S. and the world. "We want to try to develop the world's first global upscale wine lifestyle retail experience," he says. "We think there's a lot of great markets out there for us to go into with our great group of sommeliers and our technology."

First up, though, is the introduction of Clo's small New York-style wine bar kitchen, which will enable Bradbury to offer visitors meats, cheeses, pate and smoke fish. Clo will also open a separate wine shop where guests can purchase bottles of wine they've tried already. For Bradbury, it's merely an extension of Clo's ability to empower tasters and keep novices from fearing wine.

"I believe in that the end it's up to the customer," Bradbury says. "They don't care how many points a critic gave it. At the end of the day, it's what they like and that's the most important thing. The best way to do that is just by tasting."