"With acceptance, we can do well anywhere - produce good wine for Europe, good sake for Japan, good vodka for Russia, good baijiu (white spirit) for China," Tanaka said. "The possibilities are endless."
Gonzo.
*Edit*
The machine works by pumping wine and tap water through a specially designed electrolysis chamber equipped with wafer-thin platinum electrodes. The water and wine are separated by an ion exchange membrane -- the key component, for which Mr Tanaka holds the patent.
Without diluting the wine, the electrolysis causes a rapid rearrangement of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms around the alcohol molecules, which would normally take place over years if the wine were ageing naturally. The electrolyser converts about 4litres of wine a minute.
I'll stick a few acupuncture needles in my next brew. Actualy the copper in them might do something.
Electrolysis will have an effect on the chemistry of a brew but the explanations he offers are on a par with the crystal brigade. I might swipe a bit of platinum wire and have a play.
Who knows, he may be on to something. I would like to taste his product to see if his claims have merit.
It seems to me that all he would have to do to legitimize his claim is to have a blind tasting with a panel of recognized wine experts. Then he could use the results to convince his skeptics.
That he apparently hasn't done that yet is a little suspicious.
The only wayI can see it accomplishing accelerated aging is that by pass a voltage between the plates in an aquious solution is the dissociation of the H2O into free hydrgen and oxygen. The free oxygen would then cause the product to oxidize, but I don't think it would have enough contact time to do a thourough job of it.
