Nectars in a high-tech cellar
A monolith? No — a wine cellar blending aesthetics and electronics, conceived in the footsteps of EPFL. When cutting-edge technology flirts with cabinet-making.
Text: Didier Bonvin
In an age of total connectivity, the handwritten cellar notebooks in which every vintage's arrival and departure was carefully recorded feel like relics of another era. That very observation was one of the sparks behind a remarkable object: "Mémoire du vin." It is a kind of solid oak monolith, topped by an elegant touchscreen, for managing your cellar in the style of Steve Jobs. This intelligent piece of furniture is the result of three years of research and development. It can identify a wine or give you the full contents of your personal wine library.
Antoine Lorotte, an EPFL graduate, is one of the minds behind the idea. "We wanted to reinvent the cellar notebook for the 21st century," he explains, standing next to a monolith about to be shipped to New York. Beneath the raw wood lie technological jewels. The furniture comes with transponder rings to slip over bottle necks. A quick interaction with the touchscreen enters the wine's data, which is then transmitted via radio frequency identification (RFID) to the ring. For added security, everything is also backed up on an external server and on a USB key embedded in oak at the base of the unit. You can never be too careful!
A wine library can thus be recorded without limit. An interface on the touchscreen lets you browse your cellar to select the right bottle. And in this age of mobility, all data can be consulted remotely from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. "We are targeting people who travel and who want to check their stock remotely to know what to buy," Antoine Lorotte explains.
51,000 hours of research
On screen, wines are displayed in a table and sorted by colour, domain, producer, appellation, region, and country. The programme allows searches by wine type — whether to choose the right bottle for dinner or, more likely, to speculate on its value. The object is clearly not aimed at the casual wine lover. Its price places it firmly in the realm of financial elites: CHF 28,000 for the oak model, CHF 32,000 for the semi-carbon edition. Expensive? Undeniably. Antoine Lorotte justifies this stratospheric price by the research hours invested in its creation. FiveCo's engineers spent a total of 51,000 hours developing the commercial version. The remarkable gadget has already sold eleven units worldwide — some in Switzerland, others in New York, Los Angeles, and Dubai.
The monolith is entirely manufactured in Switzerland. The cabinet-maker works the oak in Bussigny, the engineering firm is based in Renens, and designer Philippe Vallaz works in Vevey. In short, the crafts needed to make this marvel are all homegrown. And internationally, the Swiss Made label is seen as a guarantee of seriousness and reliability.
Engineer Antoine Lorotte admits to a passion for fine vintages rooted in childhood. He recalls moments spent with his father in the family cellar, searching for the right bottle for guests. Does the high-tech object spoil that simple pleasure? "I don't think so," says this technology enthusiast. "The two approaches are highly complementary, and Mémoire du vin integrates perfectly into a traditional cellar."
The furniture — in its materials and screen colours — was conceived as a sculpture of clean, raw lines. Its physical presence was designed to fit naturally into a living room. This blend of tradition and technology is also present in another FiveCo project: "Art of Secrets" — a reimagining of the secret-drawer furniture of the 17th and 18th centuries. The result is a solid cherry wood bedside table with a sober design that harnesses the latest in digital recognition technology. Running a finger across a discreet spot causes one of the legs to open, revealing lit compartments serving as hiding places for watches or jewellery. In the same vein, a desk with confidential drawers is currently in development. The kind of objects you only see in James Bond films.
