(WineSpectator) - Meet Genesis, an Italian-designed wine fermentor used for small-batch winemaking by Dr. Donato Lanati at his applied-research center Enosis in Fubine, Italy. From the outside, the tank looks, well, like a wine-loving cousin of R2D2, with a head, body and handles that look like ears. “The almost-human extraterrestrial has a superior mind, but especially a big heart,” a spokesperson for Lanati hopefully joked. Inside, Genesis hides “an entire cellar” of equipment designed to bring out the best in every grape, working in batches of 100 to 200 pounds.

Lanati designed Genesis to vinify grapes from his experimental vineyards as well as indigenous grapes from vineyards in many Italian regions, including Piedmont, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia and Tuscany.

To that end, Genesis’ sensors measure data like sugar potential, pH, total and extractable anthocyaninsand flavonoids, etc., and then its custom software adapts maceration and fermentation as well as technical functions like oxygenation or délestage based on how the unit has been programmed. The "head" and "body" operate as two separate but communicating tanks, and a Plexiglas hatch allows for observation. Just don't ask Genesis to open the pod bay doors.