If you enjoy a glass of wine at home, at a bbq, dinner party, or a special occasion, you deserve to have the very best quality wine, dispensed easily.
For those who are in the hospitality industry such as hoteliers, restaurant owners, large event arenas, and other places where your guests will want to enjoy a perfectly stored and poured glass of wine, it’s crucial that your customers get great quality wine every time!
In this article, we are going to find out what a wine dispenser is and how it can help to perfectly preserve and store your wine for home and your business.
Let’s start with the mini takeaway before we head into the details.
What is a wine dispenser? A wine dispenser is a device designed to serve and store wine. A wine dispenser stops oxygen from getting into wine and spoiling its flavor. There are many types such as single bottle taps, double bottle units, and much larger temperature-controlled types designed specifically for commercial use.
With the brief answer nailed, so that we can more easily understand what a wine dispenser is, let’s start by looking at why you might need a wine dispenser.
We all understand the image of a knowledgeable waiter with a crisply laundered towel over his arm pouring you a quality glass of wine, but you might have heard about wine dispensers and wondering how they can help keep the quality of your wine at its best.
Why do I need a wine dispenser?
Most opened bottles of wine aren’t really drinkable after three days in the refrigerator.
As soon as the air comes into contact with the wine and the bottle is uncorked. The wine begins to deteriorate as the oxygen in the air around us comes into contact with the wine.
As soon as the oxygen hits the delicate wine composition, the flavor immediately begins to change.
Many of us might understand and have heard that letting the wine “breathe” is a good thing, this is certainly the case with red wines, as according to experts, younger reds which contain more tannic acid need around 1 to 2 hours and more mature reds will need around half an hour.
So Initially, this “breathing” process can be a good thing, but after the first couple of days, the wine will lose most of its flavor, and the oxygen in the air has reacted with the wine and destroyed it.
Wine dispensers – what are they used for?
There is a wealth of types of wine dispensers on the market to help you sell wine at the best profit margin, by the glass.
Prevent wine from being spoiled
Although they all vary greatly in terms of size and structure, as a general overview, a wine dispenser’s main function is to prevent wine from being spoiled.
So that means whether you are serving your guests a nice glass of your favorite red wine at a dinner party, or dispensing wine to guests in a hotel lobby, the wine is kept stored to perfection, with each glass served at the correct temperature.
Benefits of a Wine dispenser
The best commercial wine dispensers can offer benefits such as:
- Wine is served at the correct temperature
- Controlled the amount of wine dispensed
- Self-serve option (RFID, barcode / QR code…)
- Glass protected touch screens
- Drain free refrigeration
- LCD graphic touch screen interactive display to monitor the dispenser’s functions
- a junction box to perform a check on all external environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity
- 30 days plus preservation
- Holds between 2 and 16 bottles of wine
- Key card system
- Integration with third party app (POS, key card…)
How do wine preservation systems work?
A wine dispenser works to preserve the wine by preventing it from coming into contact with the air. Often, this involves placing a layer of non-reactive nitrogen over the surface of the wine, effectively resealing the bottle for you.
There are many different wine dispenser designs on the market. Depending on your needs and budget, one may be perfect for you.
What kinds of wine dispensers are there for commercial use?
There are many beautifully designed wine dispensers on the market for use in:
- Hotel lobbies
- Airport lounges
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Large event arenas
- Back bar area
Some are designed specifically for customers to use themselves, where you won’t have waiting staff, such as a hotel lobby, or where you would like your customers to have the chance to serve themselves in your restaurant.
Others are for your waiting staff to showcase the wines, store at the correct temperature and offer your customers a high-quality wine preservation experience without the wastage of spoiled wine.
What finishes do wine dispensers come in?
Many of the quality wine dispensers are available in stainless steel or a wide choice of colors and wood finishes.
Some will also allow you to add a logo and branding to truly create a unique and eye-catching dispenser to leave a lasting impression on your customers.
If you would like more information on how wine dispensers can help you maximize your profits, don’t forget to check out our other article ‘are wine dispensers worth it’.
What kinds of wine dispensers are there for home use?
If you’ve ever experienced the frustration of having to throw out an opened bottle of wine that’s been sitting in the refrigerator for a few days, you know how quickly air exposure can turn a great wine into spoiled vinegar!
Fortunately, there are several different types of wine dispensers that can help extend the shelf life of your best bottles.
Tap dispenser
If you entertain occasionally or are starting to get more involved with wine as a collector or hobbyist, then you might think about starting off your wine dispenser journey with a single tap dispenser kind.
These systems feature a dispenser nozzle or tap, which is attached to a nitrogen canister.
After you open the bottle of wine, you insert the nozzle into the bottle. This pumps nitrogen gas into the bottle, and you can use the dispenser to pour the wine one glass at a time.
When you’ve finished pouring and want to put the wine away, you simply disconnect the nitrogen canister and place the bottle in your refrigerator.
Needle system
Some home preservation wine systems have a small, hollow needle that pierces through the cork. Which goes on to inject Argon gas into the bottle.
Once the bottle is pressurized, it allows you to siphon the wine out of the bottle into your glass
After removing the needle, the cork reseals itself so you can take out as little or as much wine as you choose.
The downside of the needle systems is that they only work on a real cork, so unfortunately they won’t work on the synthetic corks some wines have.
And finally…
We hope we have answered all your questions about what a wine dispenser is and given some great reasons why anyone from a home wine buff through to a commercial organization selling wine by the glass, needs to make sure they have the best way to store, preserve and store their wine.
Enomatic Wine Dispensers use a patented Argon/Nitrogen gas (food grade) preservation system to protect your wine from oxidation and ensure the organoleptic integrity, taste, aroma, body, and color. If you would like to check out our superb range of wine preservation units and talk to one of our knowledgeable and expert staff, get in touch to book your virtual demo.
