In India, wine-by-the-glass is the most preferred way restaurant guests order still and sparkling wines. Wine by the bottle has become rare, as by-the-glass, the guests can choose their preferred wines to their own budget.

Restaurants across the country have invested in wines-by-the-glass menu, but have been limited due to space and cost of equipment. For many restaurants and hotels in India, wine-by-the-glass has worked poorly because while a bottle is kept at the right temperature and fresh, the open bottles are either at wrong temperatures or had reduced in quality by 50%.

Restaurants serving wines in India have faced two options: either a refrigerated wine dispenser of two to eight bottles, or a system that fits into every bottle, which causes high maintenance, lost parts and often found unused in a drawer.

Wine-by-the-glass, while lucrative and so profitable, has been marred by high cost of operation and high maintenance, forcing restaurants to offer only a limited range of local wines that finish quickly.

Winefit Srl of Italy recently launched a new generation technology that covers both those problems, allowing restaurants in India, as in Italy and Europe, to invest heavily in wines by the glass. It has launched two styles of options covering every expectation from restaurants.

The Winefit EVO modular system with a patented wine cap lets the restaurant use at one time as many still wines as required from one system (not two to eight). Each EVO machine has four spouts for four wines with options to allow two red and two white still wines.

Winefit EVO is programmable with options for up to a hundred bottles. If a customer requests for one of the open 50 bottles on the menu, the operator (wine waiter) slides out an existing bottle, and replaces it with the requested one. The EVO system pulls up the menu to select the bottle added, and the bartender serves the new wine to the customer.

For the half-used bottle Winefit EVO secures the remaining wine with a wine cap. The bottle is thus preserved and placed into a wine cooler, standing. The process repeats itself if this wine is needed once again.

All through the time, the Winefit EVO machine records the wines sold, and maintains bottle inventory. EVO is a boon for restaurant chains (hotel or independent) giving access of its use to a central cloud platform.

The Duravin+ is a solution for hotels, restaurants and cafes (HoReCa) that desire a similar wide menu of wines by the glass, at an affordable price and very simple-to-use format. There is no portion control or temperature control, only perfect vacuum preservation.

Wine bottles are kept in a refrigerator to maintain optimum temperature. The Duravin+ allows preservation of both sparkling and still wines. The action is with the bartender opening a new bottle; removing one Seal Duravin+ cork, pouring a glass for the guest, and plugging back the rubber Seal Cork.

The Seal Cork lets the server now vacuum the wine bottle near any Duravin+ preservation counter (service station or back bar), and place it back in a refrigerator, fresh as new till 30 days of opening.

Winefit products are available in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. Hilknightly India is offering the India market these solutions, along with wine cellars and wine display walls and customised wine rooms. Special contract rates are provided for repeat customers such as luxury hotels.

To learn about Hilknightly portfolio, write to info@hilknightly.com.