We have already created must-have lists for gadgets and books, so why not combine technology and literature for our next top ten?
If you own a smartphone or tablet, chances are you will have an untold amount of apps already installed, which can help you keep in touch with family and friends, be more productive at work, or simply provide some much-needed entertainment in times of boredom.
But the following top 10 wine apps range from incredibly useful resources, which will help you find that perfect bottle, to educational guides on grape varieties and their various traits.
- Delectable
Take a picture of a wine’s label and you will instantly be presented with ratings, reviews, and tasting notes. You can keep a journal of personal favourites with your very own tasting notes too. There is also a social element to Delectable, as it allows you to tag friends and locations so you never forget where you tasted that magical Merlot.
- Hello Vino
Think of Hello Vine as your personal wine assistant, which asks you interactive questions to find the best bottle for a particular meal or taste preference. Not only do you have the ability to take pictures of and add notes to your purchases, you can also access an extensive wine guide with information about different grapes and varieties too.
- Plonk
With its user-friendly interface featuring colour-coded tiles, Plonk is a very modern-looking app that manages to add substance to style. Features include insight into various grape and wine varieties, preferred food pairings, a pronunciation guide and even some wine-based trivia.
- Drync
Drync shares similarities with Delectable, as you can snap pictures of a wine label to bring up information about availability, price, tasting notes, descriptions, and user ratings. But on top of that, you can discover new varieties based on your friends’ recommendations or the app’s own discovery engine. Purchases can be made directly through the app too.
- The Squeeze Wine App: Mendoza
Did you know the Squeeze has its very own wine app? Well, we do and it would be a crying shame if our mobile guide to wine in Mendoza was omitted from this list. We have got Top 5 lists and suggested itineraries as featured on the Squeeze website as well as in-depth descriptions of our favourite wineries and a map of their locations.
- The Wine Coach
With her industry experience and knowledge, Laurie Forster is perfectly positioned to provide you with weekly wine picks, grape variety guides as well as audio and video podcasts. But perhaps the best aspect of the Wine Coach is an interactive feature, which allows users to submit questions and label pictures via email.
- Wine-Searcher
This no-nonsense app doesn’t have many social features or added gimmicks; it simply enables you to search for wines by name or a label photo. Information such as vintage ratings, grape varieties, critical ratings, and prices will appear, but you can also use GPS data to find the nearest store to you with the bottle in stock.
- Wine Maps
More of a reference tool than an entertaining app, Wine Maps has over 1,300 maps of the world’s most prominent wine regions. In addition to Argentina and Chile, you can also explore the cities, rivers, and landscapes of France, the USA, South Africa, and New Zealand among others. Topographical buffs can also print out the maps for offline study too.
- Corkz
This all-encompassing app has a wine search facility, cellar management advice, and a couple of nifty social features. Vintage information and tasting notes come from CellarTracker’s extensive database, while the cellar management tool enables you to log your collection. You can also find nearby wine bars, see what other users are tasting, and post about your own activity on Facebook or Twitter.
- Wine Simplified
If you want to increase your wine knowledge but don’t feel like reading a book, Wine Simplified could be the ideal solution. This app has more than 90 minutes of video tutorials as well as slideshows, articles, and infographics that all provide a comprehensive yet captivating beginner’s guide to wine.
