Two years ago, I started down a crazy journey. I was really frustrated by today’s wine experience.
Too often, I was pouring oxidized wine down the drain, or skipped opening a bottle because I only wanted a glass, and didn’t want the rest to go to waste. I also didn’t want to wait an hour for a bottle to warm up, or throw it in an ice bucket to cool it down.
Most importantly, I didn’t want another wine gadget. I wanted a fully automated appliance, that would serve the perfect glass of wine at the touch of a button.
Like many of us, I start every morning by hitting a button on my super-automatic espresso machine to get the perfect cup of coffee (or three!). Why settle for an old pot of coffee when you can have a freshly brewed cappuccino or Americano instantly?
I wondered why we couldn’t have the same experience in the evening, with wine: a single, perfect glass of wine on demand.
I love pulling corks as much as anyone, but unfortunately, most of my nights are not spent at a restaurant with a group of friends. Instead, I’m usually sitting at my kitchen counter catching up on email, relaxing on the couch, or enjoying dinner at home, and just want a glass or two of wine.
For most of us, the 750ml bottle size no longer matches our lifestyle. Some nights we want a glass of chardonnay on the deck, but want to switch to a glass of cab for dinner. Some nights one of us wants white and the other wants red, but we don’t want to open two bottles. Sometimes we just want to be a great host and offer our guests the choice of red or white. Perhaps most importantly, sometimes we want to indulge with that special bottle of wine one glass at a time over the course of a week.
Today, we are announcing Plum, an appliance that will solve some of the problems with wine that have been frustrating us for years.
Plum is the first super-automatic wine appliance that automatically identifies, chills, preserves, and serves wine, so it can be enjoyed one glass at a time.
Perhaps the most sophisticated household appliance ever made, Plum automatically identifies the vintage, varietal, region, winery, and wine, displaying the label on a gorgeous seven-inch touchscreen that lights up as you approach and turns off when you walk away. It sets the perfect serving temperature for each of the 220 commercially-available varietals and blends. It silently chills your wine, and it automatically pierces the foil and closure and pressurizes the bottle with argon gas, keeping your wine preserved for up to 90 days. It even employs stainless steel tubing to deliver your wine from the bottle to the glass, just like the fermentation tanks in a winery.
Plum solves all of the things that have frustrated people with gadgets. It pours a single glass of wine in less than 10 seconds. It uses a custom-designed argon canister that lasts for more than 200 bottles and refills cost less than $0.05 per glass. It works with any closure: natural cork, engineered cork, artificial cork, and even metal screw caps.
Plum is beautifully crafted from a single piece of molded #4 brushed stainless steel that curves around the body, and sporting a high-gloss black front with finely polished pouring spouts. It fits perfectly on a kitchen counter, living room or wet bar.
I hope you are as excited as we are to have your wine collection on your terms. One glass at a time.
You can always reach me by email at david@plum.wine or on Twitter @dkoretz.
For love of wine,
David.
David Koretz
Founder & CEO
Plum
