Fredericton's Prospect Road ANBL demonstrates Enomatic machine.
Oxygen is the enemy of wine. All wine drinkers experience the effects of this evil chemical when we buy wine by the glass at restaurants that don't keep good tabs on the state of their open wine. Although a little oxygen can bring out the best aromatics in a wine, and soften harsh tannins over time, wine is eventually ruined by air. Initially the wine loses its aromatics, then it starts to smell of dried out fruit, or like wet cardboard. The longer-term effect is a completely Maderized (baked, bad sherry-like) nose, followed by VA (volatile acidity), a combination of ethyl acetate (nail polish remover) and acetic acid (vinegar).
Enlarge Photo Courtsy of the ANBLThe ANBL’s Chris MacDonald tests the Enomatic. Some restaurants, such as happinez in Saint John, who use a vacuum system, and Lil' Louis in Moncton, who pump inert gas into open bottles then cork them, try to keep oxygen at bay in order to keep their wines fresh, but most just try not to keep wine too long. In other words, they serve bad wine occasionally. Sometimes more than occasionally. Do customers notice? Not always, but enough do that this is a pretty stupid practice for someone wanting to do well in the hospitality industry. Yet it's very prevalent.
Enomatic systems prevent oxidation for weeks, or longer. This machine basically puts the wine on tap from the bottle, with no air contact, pushed by inert gas, with a tight seal.
The ANBL has an Enomatic machine currently on display at their Prospect Road store in Fredericton. Well, it isn't on display, so much, as on dispense! They have the eight-bottle unit filled with four whites and four reds, kept at perfect temperature (between 8 C and 20 C) and dispensed in 15 ml samples. You can buy a $4 "wine debit" card that allows you to sample wines from the Enomatic. Customers are only allowed four tastes (a total of two ounces, or less than half a glass of wine) maximum per visit, and I suspect if you tried to walk out the door and come back in again for more, you'd be politely refused.
As you can imagine, there's a reason why we don't see these things in every restaurant. They're expensive. Eno(latin for wine)matic dispensers range in price from approximately $4,000 for the smallest unit (four bottles, non-refrigerated), to $16,000 for an eight bottle unit like the one at the ANBL, to Bacchus knows how much for a huge temperature controlled system with all the bells and whistles (debit card rigged, volume control, etc.). See more information on the Canadian distributor here: www.enomatic.ca
I was at a restaurant in Capetown, South Africa that had 196 bottles connected via a whole whack of these things (I'm not sure if they were Enomatic units, but they were the same technology), which had to be an investment of several hundred thousand dollars.
Is it worth it? Well, if you were a restaurant owner who is serious about wine, then it sure would be nice to be able to guarantee customers defect free wine (this assumes, of course, that the staff know how to check for corked wines before connecting the bottle to the system). Also, it allows you to sell premium wines by the glass without worrying about dumping away potential revenue.
The most important thing, though, is a return customer. When I go to a new restaurant and am served oxidized wine, I'll probably never go back. Especially if they argue with me about the wine quality, which surprisingly still happens in this "the customer is always right, especially if he's a sommelier" market. I'm kidding. I don't really expect special treatment, and I seldom complain. I usually just leave the glass un-drunk and may never come back. That's hard to do in New Brunswick, as there are only so many decent restaurants...The ANBL own their Enomatic unit, and, if this pilot project works out, we'll see them at the other major stores in the province. They choose the wines.
"The products put into the machine will be those that would not normally be sampled as part of our regular "in-store" public tasting program," explains Chris MacDonald, wine category manager and certified sommelier. "We will take customer suggestions as well as supplier suggestions." The initial lineup (which changes as bottles empty and they rotate brands) was as follows:
Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc $1
Henry of Pelham Reserve Riesling $1
Oyster Bay Chardonnay $1.50
Chateau Isenbourg Le Clos Gewurztraminer $2
Broquel Cabernet Sauvignon $0.50
Yalumba Barossa Shiraz Viognier $1
Cono Sur 20 Barrels Merlot $1.50
Ruffino Reserva Ducale Oro Chianti Classico $2
Hmm. That's a pretty darned good by-the-glass menu, and better than most restaurants. Some may wonder about the ethics of liquor sales at an ANBL store. But, in truth, they already have public tastings on a regular basis, and the Enomatic machine has much better control on serving size than a human pourer.
"We follow our established policies regarding public tastings in our stores," offers MacDonald, "We limit the amount served to a precise amount and once they've reached their limit, the customer's 'Enomatic card' is disabled." I wonder if any licensees are complaining about the competition? Probably not, since you can't eat at the ANBL, and you can only buy two ounces of wine. I can just picture crowds of people there on a Friday night, all dressed up, hanging around the Enomatic, with funky lounge music playing in the background under those interrogation-bright store lights.
Cheers!
Craig Pinhey has a personal Enomatic (yes, there are home installation options) on his Xmas list. Contact him at frogspad@nb.aibn.com.