Lousy sommeliers can let D-Vine pour the perfect glass of wine
This isn't one for the two-buck chuck crowd.
Wine -- what's not to like? Well, plenty if you serve it wrong or -- gasp -- with the wrong food. No one wants to be the guy who turns up with a warm Chardonnay for a fancy chuck steak dinner. Enter D-Vine, a smart wine dispenser that not only serves up a perfectly chilled tipple but also helps you pair it with food and even order more vino when you're running low. This is the future, and we like it.
D-Vine isn't new to the game. The company already showed an early version of its smart wine dispenser at CES last year. Over the past 12 months, though, there have been some useful upgrades, especially for the wine-dumb among us. These include a large touchscreen with easy-to-navigate menus (perfect for once you've gotten a little rosy-cheeked). The main options are for the aforementioned food pairing, but there are added details such as the history of the wine and video clips from 10-Vins' (the company behind D-Vine, pronounced "dix vins" -- it's confusing) in-house oenologist.
You might be thinking that you've gotten this far in life serving red at room temperature and chilling white. That's fair, but 10-Vins' goal is simple: to help you enjoy a glass of wine anytime you want, served how a sommelier would in a restaurant.
I fell on my sword and tried a glass of Shiraz at room temperature and then one that had passed through D-Vine's cooling and airing mechanism (it's a long, fancy pipe). The difference between the two was immediately clear. The untreated wine was warmer (obviously), heavier in taste and more alcoholic smelling. The wine that had gone through the machine was fragrant, much easier on the palate and generally more quaffable.
There are a few things to consider before you get one for your next dinner party, though. The price of the screenless machine starts at around $1,000 -- enough to stock up your cellar instead. The version with the panel and companion app will be considerably more. Then there's the price of each 10CL tube of wine (one glass' worth): $5. Not pricey for a glass of wine in a bar, but that adds up when you have friends over (which will happen if you have one of these).
While the process of chilling and pouring the wine takes less than a minute, if your party is full of thirsty resellers, it's not the ideal setup. 10-Vins says it's more suitable for a party of about four.
So it's not entirely practical, then, and not the most affordable either, but if you love wine and technology this should be singing to you pretty hard right now. At the least, you can expect to see a few of these popping up behind the bar at certain establishments. 10-Vins says there are orders from multiple bistros right now, and pre-orders are open to the public. You'll just have to wait until after summer before it lands in your kitchen.
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