Grape leap forward for wine lovers

Fortunately, there is a technological alternative: the Enomatic wine machine. An Italian invention, the Enomatic looks like an open stainless-steel chiller cabinet with eight bottles in it, each with a spout above. Push a button and it dispenses wine; immediately afterwards, the machine tops up the empty space in the bottle with a blanket of nitrogen, preventing the wine from going off but not in any way altering its taste.

It can keep even delicate wines fresh for three weeks after opening — longer for more robust bottles. At around £8,000 each, the machines are not cheap but the results are a joy, especially when drinkers are allowed to buy a card to serve themselves.

The latest and best Enomatic-equipped bar is Kensington Wine Rooms, which opened last month. It offers a selection of 40 wines in the machines from its 100-strong list. Charge up a smartcard with at least £10, pick up a glass, and away you go. Wines range from an Italian white at £2.70 for a 125ml glass to Château Margaux 1999 at £63.65 a glass. I particularly enjoyed the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2007 (£11.65 a glass) and the Quinta das Cerejeiras Reserva 2003 — as fine a Portuguese red as you could wish to find, and at £6.35 a glass, a bargain.

At present, Kensington Wine Rooms is one of just three bars in London where you can fill your glass yourself in this way (the others are Selfridges Wonder Bar and the private East Room). Several more have an Enomatic behind the bar. Either way, this is surely a drinking trend whose time has come. Who knows? If Enomatics multiply, I might even order wine at my local before long.

GOOD FOR A GLASS

KENSINGTON WINE ROOMS
127-129 Kensington Church Street, 020 7727 8142
WONDER BAR AT SELFRIDGES
52 wines by the glass, from £4.25/125ml. 400 Oxford Street, W1, 0800 123 400, www.selfridges.com
EAST ROOM (PRIVATE MEMBERS)
32 wines by the glass, from £5/175ml. 2a Tabernacle Street, EC2, 020 7374 9570, www.thstrm.com
THE MERCER BAR AND RESTAURANT
32 wines by the glass or carafe, from £4.25/175ml. 34 Threadneedle Street, EC2, 020 7628 0001, www.themercer.co.uk
THE SAMPLER
Not a shop, a wine merchant. 80 wines, 35p for a 25ml sample. 266 Upper Street, N1, 020 7226 9500, www.thesampler.co.uk
REFINERY
12 wines by the glass, from £3.45/125ml. 110 Southwark Street, SE1, 0845 468 0186, www.therefinery.co.uk