Could a computer enable any one of us to make good wine at home? One Californian entrepreneur is convinced it can.

Greg Snell, 47, is the designer and manufacturer of an automated wine-making device he has called a WinePod. It is a steel cylinder, 1.2m (4ft) high, designed to produce about 48 bottles of red or white wine at a time.

Aimed at wealthy wine-making enthusiasts, it is something like a bread-maker, only for wine. And one that costs an eye-watering $4,500 (£2,800).

Once grapes are added, the device is linked to a personal computer, and software guides the user through the wine-making process.

Said to be the first of its kind, the machine automatically presses the grapes, you then wait a few months, and your finished wine is ready to be poured out.