Spanish magicians have invented a device that will have wine snobs crying in their glasses.

Brainiacs from the Barcelona Institute of Microelectronics, headed by Cecilia Jiménez-Jorquera, have developed a cheap, hand-held "electronic tongue," a device that can identify a wine's vintage and grape variety with the touch of a button.

Can't tell a 1974 Pinot Noir from your uncle's homebrew? The tongue's six sensors can measure attributes like acid, sugar and alcohol and then determine the wine's age and variety.

Industry experts wanted a fast way of assessing wine in the field to avoid the time needed to send samples to a central lab.

Like any good expert, the electronic tongue can be trained to recognize a new vintage.

But unlike the human kind, there's none of that swilling the drink around the mouth, then spitting into a cup.

And the fear that a talent will become a debilitating addiction seems slim.

The finding was reported in The Analyst, the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.