The Wine Dispenser.

I go to a very nice 5 star restaurant that has one of these. No "civilized" wine drinker will dare drink a glass from that thing. Of course these people will complain about ice shavings in there martini, but wine on tap is blasphemy. While I can understand that there is a need for an item like this in the restaurant industry, I firmly believe that if you like wine then you should understand that you should have to buy the whole bottle.

There is a small cafe-restaurant near me (Cafe Sano) that uses one of these when customers order a glass of wine with their meal. Guess it works out for them - no idea how much it costs.

They have 2 of these at a Food Market near me. I've never tried it, but I think it's a good idea if you want to try a wine before shelling out for a whole bottle.

Thanks Eric! I've corrected the post.

"Vin au verre" actually translates to "Wine by the glass".

This system allows you to keep an opened bottle of wine for up to three weeks, by filling the space in the bottle with nitrogen (a neutral gas). Such systems have been in use for years in wine bars.