The Portuguese company WiseShape has announced the launch of the world’s first wine amphora made of high-performance concrete, inspired by the classical Greek and Roman design.
The new and innovative high-quality wine fermentation and storage tank developed by WiseShape has a capacity of 500 litres and measures 1.59 metres in height.
“The success of WiseShape’s innovative wine tanks inspired me to design an amphora that would bring the fermentation and storage of wine from antiquity into a contemporary formulation,” explained Tatiana Sá Marques, founder and CEO of WiseShape.
“The WiseAmphora is also a design object that seeks to honour Portugal’s long tradition of winemaking and its outstanding contemporary architecture.”
From antiquity to innovation
Amphorae are a very ancient way of storing wine and water. The earliest examples found by archaeologists date from 6000 to 4800 B.C.
Until today, most vats of this type used for wine storage were made of clay, as are the so-called qvevri, a similar version of amphorae.
However, until now, no producer had used the original and fundamental shapes of Greek and Roman amphorae combined with high-performance concrete.
The few existing examples introduce alterations to the ancient forms and do not adopt WiseShape’s single-core concrete formulation.
Simpler and more complex
The most complex exercise was to maintain the classical lines while meeting the technical requirements of this type of tank.
The truth is that the WiseAmphora minimises the use of accessories or design elements that would distort the shape of the ancient and original amphora.
“The greatest challenge of the WiseAmphora was to find a fine balance between design and functionality. This challenge demanded more than three years of research and development, between the initial sketch and the final prototype,” said Tatiana Sá Marques
The WiseAmphora weighs around 1000 kilograms and has hidden handles for easy transportation and movement.
There is also an optional metal stand developed to allow 360-degree rotation of the amphora, enabling it to integrate intelligently and practically into cellars or wine tourism spaces.
“We used internally developed technology to achieve the final shapes, allowing them to fit perfectly into the mould we had previously sculpted,” added Tatiana Sá Marques.
1,000 days of research and development
The WiseAmphora was designed and developed in secrecy in Coimbra over more than 1,000 days.
This new wine storage format will allow producers and oenologists to develop high-end wines in controlled and premium volumes, using special grape varieties.
Unlike stainless steel or wooden barrels, WiseShape’s unique concrete formula allows for stable and controlled micro-oxygenation of the must and/or wine.
Finally, the design of the WiseAmphora allows easy access to the interior of the vat, facilitating its maintenance and cleaning.
The WiseAmphora is the ideal amphora for those passionate about winemaking experimentation and the creation of exclusive, small-scale wine collections. “The future of wine lies in the ability of this kind of equipment to harmoniously align with producers and oenologists committed to creating natural wines of the highest quality,” concluded Tatiana Sá Marques.
