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The days of in-store wine tastings as we know them—oenophiles and freeloaders making small talk with importers as they sip contemplatively from plastic cups—may be over. The future is upon us, in the form of a nifty new gizmo imported from Tuscany and installed in the recently relocated Union Square Wines & Spirits. The Enomatic wine system stores 48 open bottles, preserving them with argon gas, and dispensing 15-milliliter tastes at the swipe of a card. Points are deducted based on the wine's value, and added in a five-to-one ratio—spend $10 on wine, get 50 points. Getting Italian software to communicate with the shop's own was a bit of a challenge, though. When something goes wrong, says wine director Jesse Salazar, "it makes an Italian-sounding boing noise. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

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New York Magazine Reviews

• Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite's Full Review (6/12/06)