Your Next Glass of Wine Might Be a Fake—and You'll Love It | WIRED

Your Next Glass of Wine Might Be a Fake—and You'll Love It | WIRED
"...the vast majority of American wine drinkers... want wine that tastes good and doesn’t cost much.
...“The question we tried to answer was, how do we make these generic wines better?” Walker says.
...The breakthrough started with baby food.
In 2012, Hicks was about to become a father.
He started wondering what, exactly, was in the organic, premium-priced products that he and his wife were planning to feed their newborn, so he sent samples off for laboratory analysis.
“If you know Kevin,” Walker says, “you understand that that’s just totally something he would do.”
When the bills—as much as $1,500 for a single sample—started to add up, Hicks created a lab of his own, which he dubbed Ellipse Analytics.
He had a bigger plan.
He invested several million dollars in equipment and hired a team of scientists and technicians and before long, Ellipse had enticed paying clients to commission chemical breakdowns of entire consumer categories, like protein powders and sunscreens.
Walker saw the potential for wine..."
Fascinating, read all!