Kuvée has unveiled the world's first smart wine bottle designed to keep wine fresh for 30 days.
Beginning today, Kuvée is available for pre-order via kuvee.com or Indiegogo, for a limited-time offer of $179. Pre-order purchases include a Kuvée Bottle and four hand-selected wines (a $349 value). Kuvée will ship to residents of California and Massachusetts in October 2016, and will expand to additional markets in December 2016 and early 2017.
Kuvée also announced today that the company has raised $6 million in venture funding to date from General Catalyst, Founder Collective, Bolt and several high-profile angel investors.
"The U.S. wine industry is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, and the demographics of wine lovers are changing rapidly. But despite these shifts, the industry has been slow to innovate beyond the glass bottle and cork," said Vijay Manwani, founder and CEO of Kuvée, Inc. "Much like a restaurant wine list, Kuvée lets drinkers enjoy a curated selection of wines, one glass at a time, adding a new level of choice, personalization and convenience to the at-home wine experience."
The Kuvée system is composed of a Kuvée Bottle and a curated collection of 750 ml Kuvée wines. To drink wine with Kuvée, users insert a wine into the Kuvée Bottle, and pour. The patented valve system prevents oxygen from touching the wine, so wine stays fresh for up to 30 days after opening. As a result, consumers can open multiple wines and enjoy them without fear that the leftovers will spoil. Kuvée wines are easily switched in and out to accommodate multiple users' preferences.
The Kuvée Bottle features a Wi-Fi connected touch screen that shares food pairings and serving tips, details the number of glasses remaining within each wine and describes how and where the wine was made. The Bottle allows users to rank wines, and then makes personalized recommendations which can be purchased directly from the screen.
The Kuvée wine collection features a varied and hand-picked selection of premium quality wines from California's best wineries, including Bonny Doon Vineyard, Schug, B. R. Cohn, Pine Ridge and more. Kuvée wines are priced consistently with wine retailers, and range from $15-50 per wine.
"Connected devices are continuing to transform our homes, from the living room to the kitchen and now, the dining table," said Founder Collective managing partner Eric Paley. "Kuvée has assembled a world-class team of entrepreneurs, engineers, and wine lovers to create an entirely new way to experience wine at home, as the winemaker intended, with freshness, personal discovery, and convenience at the core of the experience."
