[troymc]

Home wine-making kits have been around since forever. Example sites:

http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/wine_kits.html

http://www.homebrewusa.com/

I guess the main innovation is the sensors and the microcontroller? Is that new? It seems unlikely, but I'm not sure.

[bunderbunder]

It's the convenience factor. Making good wine at home using traditional techniques requires a lot of skill and time. For some people that's fun, for others it isn't.

I think it's sort of like bread machines. There's definitely an allure to appliances that let you take most of the labor out of making things at home while still getting to call them homemade.