Our prayers have been answered: There is now a “micro winery” that continuously produces wine
It's the invention many of us have been waiting for.
An American professor has teamed up with a university in Switzerland to develop a miniature device that will continuously produce wine – albeit at a rate of one millilitre per hour.
Although many would probably want to own a device for recreational use, it has been primarily designed for a higher purpose.
Wine experts and producers will be able to use the device to identify the best yeast and the right fermentation temperature.
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The fermentation process plays a key role in how wine flavours develop, creating the difference between a sweet, tannic, dry or fruity wine. But climate change is also disrupting this process.
Professor Attinger (right) and his non-stop wine-making machine (Source: EPFL/Alain Herzog)
"Climate change is having an impact on the quality of grape crops around the world," Professor Daniel Attinger, who is now working in collaboration with a team at the the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, said.
"Due to the heat, some crops ripen too quickly, the harvest takes place sooner and the wines end up with a higher alcohol content or a different taste.
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"We need to find ways to analyze and adapt how the wine is made."
The fermentation process, which produces alcohol, takes place very quickly in the machine as it confines the sugar and yeast needed to mix with grape juice in a small, confined space.
"At a traditional winery, it takes weeks to separate the yeast from the wine, because they’re mixed together. That’s not a problem here," Attinger added.