Monday, October 10, 2005

Aging wine in seconds?

We recently ran across, for the first time, references to devices that purport to "age" wine in the bottle quickly using a powerful magnet. (This is the specific one we encountered; here's a skeptical take on others of this ilk.)

Now comes word of a device that may be able to quickly age entire barrels of wine before bottling, and that seems, at first glance, anyway, to have a more scientific rationale:

Squirrelled away in his chemical engineering laboratory in rural Shizuoka, Hiroshi Tanaka has spent 15 years developing an electrolysis device that simulates, he claims, the effect of ageing in wines. In 15 seconds it can transform the cheapest, youngest plonks into fine old draughts as fruit flavours are enhanced and rough edges are mellowed, he says.

Among those keeping tabs on the research: the Robert Mondavi winery.

Is the wine cellar about to become obsolete? Stay tuned...

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