Avrilpuleg 1.4 is a revolutionary wine bottle closure that is self-opening. No corkscrew or other gadget is required since, as soon as a wine glass is waved in front of it – as if it were a magic wand – the wine bottle opens itself without the need to even touch it.
Unveiling the wine to much excitement at a press conference, the company’s CEO, Hugo Ebrill, showed the first case of wine bottles sealed with the new stopper.
He said the new closure is “powered by an imploding mechanism hidden in the bottle’s punt or base” – think opposite of explosion. “It proposes a ground-breaking trigger mechanism” as an alternative to corks which needs pulling and screwcaps that need twisting.
Manufacturer Avrilpuleg has been talking about its self-opening bottle closure for over two years and has been working on this technology for 10 years.
The ultramodern bottle plug, which surprisingly looks like a natural cork, allegedly uses an inductive charge system and magnetic cup which is powered by minute solar panels and sensors hidden in the capsule covering it. It would take about three hours for a full charge.
This made me raise the question: what if the wine bottle has been stored in a dark cellar or cupboard? Would the battery have died by the time you are ready to open the botte? A spokesperson for Avrilpuleg rebutted that you can still easily pull out the ‘self-opening cork’ yourself.
Winemakers seem hesitant to switch to this innovative closure. Yet production is under way and Avrilpuleg 1.4 is expected to come in various sizes for various types of bottles, from the claret-shaped to the low-shouldered burgundy bottle as well as for bocksbeutel and hock. The double magnum which I, your intrepid wine reporter, was asked to open at the unveiling released easily with a regular sigh, even though the glasses lined up nearby were – rather unprofessionally, I point out – of the Paris goblet type.
At the launch, the company also presented the accompanying smartphone app that can project a virtual image of a suitable wine glass should none be available when the bottle needs to be opened ahead of time as in the case of decanting. Details and a demo can be found online at http://bit.do/01042016 .