We will sell no wine

For at least a few seconds...

The true character of a good wine can take years, even decades, to emerge. Hiroshi Tanaka, a Japanese inventor, says he can trim the wait time — to just a few seconds.

As liquor ages, Tanaka explains, the water molecules slowly rearrange themselves more closely around the alcohol molecules, giving the alcohol its distinctive mature taste. Tanaka puts that process into overdrive. He pours the wine into a 70-pound container outfitted with an electrolysis chamber. A few-second electrical zap gives the wine a slight charge, which breaks up the water molecules and allows them to blend more completely with the alcohol. Voilà: Instantly-aged pinot noir, “smoother and more mellow than before,” Tanaka’s American partner, Edward Alexander, claims.

Wild.