Grapevine: Navigating the App Stores for Digital Wine Experts
Have you recently encountered any of these situations?
“Waiter, may I see the wine list?”
Waiter: “Here you are sir/madam.”
He or she hands you an iPad. The iPad, or other brand of tablet/phablet, is slowly gaining traction in restaurants and wine bars as a replacement for wine lists produced on paper. In many cases the iPad wine list also offers a broader and deeper explanation of the producer, the grapes and the history of the wine. I’ve even seen sophisticated lists that offer suggestions for pairing a wine with the food menu offerings.
“Waiter, I enjoyed this bottle of wine. May I see the bottle so I can take a picture of it with my smartphone?”
Waiter: “Rather than a picture, why not simply scan the QR code on the rear of the bottle?”
You: “The what code?”
Waiter: “The Quick Response code.”
With a simple bar code app on your phone, you are able to scan the QR code, which is linked to a database containing specific informative data on the producer, the grapes and the history of the winery and the wine at hand.
“Waiter, I’d like to know more about this wine we’re enjoying.”
Waiter: “Okay, I’ll see if I can find the sommelier and send him over.”
Ten minutes later (or more, or not at all), the sommelier regales you with his or her personal knowledge and opinion of the wine, which may or may not be aligned with your personal perspectives on the vast world of wine.
More and more, consumers are moving from scenario three to scenarios one and two. This is the age of omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent electronic devices, supported by an army of virtual assistants and servants, always at the ready to guide us through life’s encounters.
In the last year or so, the expansion of ubiquitous smartphone apps has found its way into the world of wine appreciation. This has catapulted wine decision-making to an art form, replete with social media interfaces.
Here are several of the most expansive digital sommeliers available today. Each wine app can be easily downloaded from the Apple and Android app stores. Common denominators across each app: large databases and bottle scanning capabilities.
- The most popular wine magazines, Wine Enthusiast (free) and Wine Spectator (a monthly subscription fee), offer their vast databases of tastings and ratings to consumers.
- Wine-searcher. For years this has been one of my favorite websites for finding wine shops that carry a particular wine – and its price. It also offers a link to a wine shop’s website listing of each searched wine. It is now available as an app.
- Hello Vino. This app’s distinction is its ability to offer food and wine pairings, which it does fairly well. Beyond common pairings, it offers recommendations for pairing cheeses and chocolates.
- Drync. Want to share wine opinions with friends? Purchase wines that you are researching on a site? Look no further. A unique feature will learn your preferences as you rate wines and offer personalized recommendations.
- Vivino. Don’t have a QR scanner app? Research your bottle of wine the old-fashioned way: take a pic with this app. It will bring up everything it knows about the wine.
- Wine Quest. Can’t afford a personal sommelier to accompany you each time you venture out to a restaurant or wine shop? This app builds a database of your wine preferences, from grapes to tastes and aromas, to full-bodied or complex style. Scan a bottle label and Wine Quest will give it a numeric rating tailored to your profile.
The next time you are dining at a restaurant or roaming the aisles of a wine shop or simply surfing for wine information, open your favorite wine app. It will feel good to be in sole control of your wine decisions.
Or is this another example of your wine decisions being in the control of our pervasive smartphones?
Nick Antonaccio is a 35-year Pleasantville resident. For over 15 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.
