In the story, wine is one of the topics of conversation between Carrie and Zima. The first mention of it - and the question - "Red or white?"

    Zima indicated that I should take one of the seats. His hand dithered over two bottles of wine.

    ‘Red or white, Carrie?’

    I opened my mouth as if to answer him, but nothing came. Normally, in that instant between the question and the response, the AM would have silently directed my choice to one of the two options. Not having the AM’s prompt felt like a mental stall in my thoughts.

    ‘Red, I think,’ Zima said. ‘Unless you have strong objections.’

    ‘It’s not that I can’t decide these things for myself,’ I said.

    Zima poured me a glass of red, then held it up to the sky to inspect its clarity. ‘Of course not,’ he said.

The use of wine and the decision is one that goes through the entire story and plays a role at the conclusion.

The "AM" is the Aide Memoire. It is a small robot resembling a hummingbird in size that accompanies people and is an assistant for remembering things for humans who have a lifespan of hundreds of years.

I strongly recommend the story - it is so different from the animated version.