Good wine goes bad fast. That's why restaurants only serve a dozen or so wines by the glass - whatever patrons don't finish tonight ends up in tomorrow's marinara. San Francisco's VinoVenue - part tasting room, part retailer - uses a more flexible system: It offers 104 wines through a self-serve vending machine made by Enomatic. Using a smart card, patrons pay $1 (a 2002 Chilean Carmenére) to $28 (the 1997 Chéteau d'Yquem Sauternes) per 1-ounce serving. After each pour, a blast of argon - a tasteless, odorless gas - enters the bottle, preserving the rest for weeks. "We're introducing people to varietals they've never heard of, and they're buying right away," says cofounder Mary Lynn Slattery, who aims to open two more VinoVenues on the West Coast in 2006. The concept is catching on fast: Enomatic has already installed argon systems in Austin and Chicago, and plans to do the same in Dallas, LA, Reno, and Vegas later this year. Bottoms up!
- Jeffrey M. O'Brien
credit Robyn Twomey
credit Robyn Twomey
Pinot, please. For a 1-oz. pour, slip a smart card into the dispenser ...
credit Robyn Twomey
... and press a button to choose the vintage.
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Wine on Tap
