Streaming services, on-demand wine — exactly why do we ever need to leave the house again!?

Do you ever find yourself sitting there on that broken futon of yours, wondering where all the wine went and how the hell you're going to get another glass? Delivery isn't always an option, there's no way in hell you're going to drive, and calling over Brad, or Brenda — or whatever other suburban friends of yours — to bring you a freshie isn't happening right now. It's just you, your cat, and three bone dry bottles of rosé …

Worry no more, you beautiful lush! Because a few science geeks from Iowa State University have created a machine that can actually brew wine in under an hour — a fermentation process that normally takes anywhere from 7 to 21 days. 

The catch!? This isn't a machine built to get people all 'woo-hoo 'n' shit' … yet. The current machine only brews one milliliter per hour, and is used in professor Daniel Attinger's lab as a way to study different yeasts from around the world. 

“Climate change is having an impact on the quality of grape crops around the world,” Attinger says in a press release. “Due to the heat, some crops ripen too quickly, the harvest takes place sooner and the wines end up with a higher alcohol content or a different taste. We need to find ways to analyze and adapt how the wine is made.”

But the technique and technology could be utilized in future, at-home machines, he continues. "Why not? But that’s more of a gimmick. It uses a simplified process and the result is currently not as good as normal wine.”

'Normal' wine, as if anyone really knows the difference?

So long as you're not a stickler for things like "taste" and "quality," we're guessing we'll be seeing these in homes within the next few years.

Streaming services, on-demand wine — exactly why do we ever need to leave the house again!?