Vending the Vine

More and more American wine bars are adding the Enomatic vending technology

March 2007 By Stephen Silver

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America’s wine connoisseurs now finally have a way to sample many wines without waiting for the waiter.

More and more bars and tasting rooms nationwide have begun offering various wine flavors... from a vending machine. The machines, which work much like soda fountains, are produced by the Italian company Enomatic, and made their U.S. debut in 2004 at VinoVenue, a San Francisco tasting room.

They also appear at Vinum Populi, in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, and in another, similar wine bar is situated in at a Whole Foods location in Fairfax, Va., The machines are also available for sampling purposes at several liquor stores and wine bars throughout the U.S.

The setup at the Fairfax bar, according to the Washington Post, includes 80 separate bottles of wine, connected to taps. Users sample glasses of the wine by purchasing a pre-paid debit card, swiping it, and selecting their desired bottle. Customers pay by the ounce, depending on the wine’s quality.

As vending machine technology has steadily improved, such non-traditional items as beers, wines, electronic devices and even prescription drugs have become available in such machines. A British company called Intervend, in fact, specializes in beer and wine-dispensing vending machines.