Disney's Wine Bar George: Tech-Driven Wine Experience

The best wine bar in the world owes its success to a high-tech corkscrew invented by an M.I.T.-trained scientist. Yes, Wine Bar George, located at Disney Springs, the Disney-themed town center within Walt Disney World Resort, would just be another wine bar with a dozen or so wines by the glass and a handful of small plates featuring polenta and saffron without the Coravin Wine Preservation Opener. But, thanks to the system, Wine Bar George has over 200 wines available not just by the glass but by the ounce, including first-growth Bordeauxs like Lafite and Chateau Margaux. Buyer beware: an ounce of either is an eye-popping $150. However, if it were not for the democratizing force of the Coravin, making first-growth Bordeaux accessible to the masses, they would be out of reach for many with a $3,500 price tag.

This mechanical argon-pumping, seahorse-shaped device that pours wine through a hollowed needle allowing corks to reseal was invented by Greg Lambrecht. Greg is a serial entrepreneur with a focus on medical devices. He now leads a medical device company that produces implants to screw back together herniated discs. Given his successful screwing around with corkscrews, is this any surprise?

It would be remiss of me not to mention the wine-loving staff at Wine Bar George. While the robustness of the wine list owes itself to the technology behind the Coravin, you still need hardworking hospitality workers to serve the fermented grapes. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Adrian, aka "Mr. Caymus," who was managing the main bar when I visited. Why do they call him Mr. Caymus? He was nicknamed that by his co-workers because of all the Caymus he pours. He claims he does nothing special to pump Caymus sales, but that's just what his customers order. After some discussion on mass-produced Napa Valley Cabs, both Adrian and I agreed that they maintain an important place in the market, especially in response to demand. However, like me, Adrian is a fan of Italian wines like Super Tuscans. As expected, the Tignanello (Tig) that I shared with him was superb, even if it was only three ounces. But thanks to a leader in implants for herniated discs, three ounces of Tig is now affordable even on a wine blogger's budget ;).