Ageing Faster: A Good Thing When You’re Talking About Wine?
Posted on Sat 21st Feb 2015 at 11:44
Some clever boffins have invented a handheld gadget which speeds up the ageing process of red wine, making it more approachable at a younger age.
The gadget is called ‘the Wine Grenade’ and cuts down two years of ageing to just six months, through the process of micro-oxygenation. This simple device was created by five Auckland University students: Hamish Elmslie, Jonathan Boswell, Philip Cockrell, Jorg Kampschreur and Mike Moore. They were able to develop their idea thanks to a Dragon’s Den-style competition run by their university, which delivered them NZ$100,000 in funding last year. The idea behind the device is to make the process of aging by micro-oxygenation cheaper and easier for winemakers. “Studies have shown that the cost of ageing wine in a barrel is in the dollars-per-litre while the Wine Grenade will cost just cents-per-litre”, remarked Hamish Elmslie to Stuff.co.nz. Although the device has been designed to work only in tanks, there is also potential for the technology to be tweaked and used in barrels. The Wine Grenade is currently being trailed in one New Zealand winery with Merlot and Pinot Noir, although the winemakers are uncertain as to how it will affect the taste of their produce. Although the device clearly is unlikely to have a place in the manufacture of fine wines, it may well appeal to smaller wineries who cannot afford the more expensive technologies. As such, the creators are due to demonstrate their Wine Grenade in Bordeaux and California, and we look forward to reading about their progress.