The invention of glass blowing in the first century BC, an event that coincided with the rise of the Roman empire, brought the Western world one very important thing: wine bottles. More than 2,000 years later, another important innovation in wine consumption and packaging threatens to revolutionize the world of wine once again.
A new wine contraption, dubbed the world’s first “smart” bottle, is set to hit the market in the fall. It promises to keep wines fresh for up to a month. This will allow consumers and aficionados to have a bottle of white, red, and rose open at the same time.
The product, called Kuvee, operates using a patented valve system, which prevents oxygen from entering the bottle. This extends the wine’s shelf life to up to 30 days.
Users insert a bottle of wine into an outer shell, which is connected to a WiFi-connected touch screen. The screen identifies the wine and offers serving tips, as well as food pairing ideas. It also informs the user of the number of glasses remaining, and the wine’s provenance.
The one problem is that the system can only work using Kuvee patented wine bottles. On the bright side, Kuvee wines offer a range of choice from California’s Bonny Doon Vineyard, Schug, B.R.Chohn, and Pine Ridge. Bottle cost from between $15 and $50 dollars a bottle.
Gizmag likens the new product to the Keurig coffee machine’s K-cups because of its ability to mete out single servings and eliminating the need to choose only one or two bottles of wine on any given night.
For those winos who are concerned about sanitation, the spout of the smart bottle is removable and washable. It is also worth noting that while Kuvee can keep bottles fresh for up to 30 dyas, it does not address some wine’s reactivity with the aluminum canister; some wine’s taste may change over time.
Right now, Kuvee is funding on Indiegogo. It has already raised 131% of its $50,000 goal in a day, so with another 30 days left to go, we should be seeing these smart bottles in distribution (in select states) in no time at all.