Sommeliers raise a glass to device that extracts top-price wine through the cork
INNOVATIONS in the wine trade are dr iv i ng a boom in t he i ndust r y in London, according to leading bar and restaurant bosses.
The development of high- tech devices that allow wine to be extracted without removing the cork means customers can now buy toppriced wines by the glass rather than paying for a whole bottle.
Guido Cenciotti-Alterocca, head sommelier at Enoteca Rabezzana in Farringdon, said: “We can offer over 200 varieties by the glass — if we didn’t have the technology we’d only be able to offer about 10. We can promote micro-producers and give better choice. That is a massive incentive for customers to come back.”
Smaller locations like Mr CenciottiAl te rocca’s favour single-bottle devices like the Coravin, which uses argon gas to replace air in the bottle as wine is extracted via a needle through the cork.
More costly multi-bottle cabinets like the Enomatic and By The Glass machines have been inst alled in larger premises including M restaurant in the City.
Boss Martin Williams said: “People find it a very accessible way of trying wine. A lot of guests do a wine tasting instead of having a cocktail.
“If you open a bottle now you can keep it for months. Restaurateurs are getting used to opening bottles that traditionally they wouldn’t.”
Miles MacInnes, sales director at Jascots, which supplies about 100 restaurants and bars in the capital, said: “It’s early days, but we’re starting to see more demand for it.” The larger machines cost around £1,000 per bottle space, Mr MacInnes said, but he added: “What’s been proven is that places that have this system sell a lot more wine.
“It’s going hand-in-hand with the growth of the wine industry in this country.”
The smaller devices are under £300, Mr Cenciotti-Alterocca said. “Doing it this way demystifies all the pompousness surrounding wine. As a re sult , people are di scovering wines they wouldn’t have thought about ordering before.”