Your Wine Has Body, But Does It Have Balls?

It does if it comes in a wine globe:

The screwtop has already challenged the tradition and snobbery behind the cork. But are you ready to order wine from a dispenser?

N2Wine, makers of 'wine globes' believe that yes, yes you are ready to buy wines distributed from big vats. They argue that the aging process is overrated and that 90% of wines are as good when bottled as they'll ever be. (Sommeliers in the audience are welcome to affirm or refute that point in the comments while we move on.)

Wine globes are glass containers capable of holding 33 or 70 bottles of wine (depending on the size) that are specifically designed to thwart oxidization, the chemical reaction that ages wine, by preventing any air from entering the system. Instead, the globes vino-filled spheres constantly topped off by "food-grade" nitrogen when liquid levels deplete, essentially freezing wine's flavor in time.

The wine is also under constant water-cooled temperature regulation so that it's served perfectly every time and, obviously, the system can offer more wines by the glass than most restaurants currently offer. A $20,000 wine globe system holds 24 varietals of wine—or 168 bottles in all—putting each wine globe at about a $1000 price but eliminating the need for a cellar.

A quick search of this site will reveal that I can be a bit snobbish about my vino and my first, knee-jerk reaction to this system (I would indeed dispute their claims about the in-bottle aging process) is one of abhoration but I have to remind myself that I love new technologies so I'll admit that I'd consider trying out these globes, had I the discretionary income to afford them of course. Hey, synthetic cork and screw caps have already replaced the old standby. If better tech keeps wine lasting longer and tasting better, who am I to reject progress?

(via)