The Kitchen Winery

This is what they'll think of next...

clipped from money.cnn.com A winery? In your kitchen? If that sounds like a pitch from a late-night infomercial, then imagine the obstacles Greg Snell had to overcome to get his 10-person startup off the ground. Snell is CEO of Provina, the San Jose-based company behind an elegant new product called the WinePod. A digitally networked, 4-foot-tall machine that ferments, presses, and ages wine in one self-contained device, the $3,500 WinePod can produce varietals in batches of up to 60 bottles, controlling temperature via a wireless connection to the owner's personal computer. Wine experts who've tried the first batch from a WinePod--a light pinot noir--give it a thumbs-up, but to get upscale oenophiles to take him seriously, Snell tapped product designer Loren Sterling to create a brushed-stainless-steel and white-oak cask that looks right at home next to a Viking range.