Jason Clarke: An app for that-wines
Published:Tuesday | August 25, 2015 | 12:00 AMJason Clarke
Recently, I was having a casual conversation with a colleague over a little vino at one of the wine bars in St Andrew. It so happens that he could not remember the name of a wine he had thoroughly enjoyed the week before. It became very apparent that what he needed was a wine app of sorts to help store and keep track of wines we enjoy.
A wine app is a great tool to have on your phone - Android or Apple - or tablet just to keep a running check of what you have had, some of the tasting notes, and certainly whether or not you liked it. There are a number of options worthy of consideration to help you catalogue your favourite wines, some a bit more helpful than others.
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Wine Notes is the perfect solution to my friend's problem. The app captures a fair amount of information so you will never find yourself forgetting what you had or how it tasted. You can upload a photo of the bottle, put in information about where it's from, the varietal, and add your own rating based on its impact on you. The app is free and very user-friendly.
For those looking to learn a few things and keep their wine knowledge up to date, the Wine Dictionary in the Google Play Store might be a perfect solution. It gives a fairly simple explanation for a number of key wine terms 'winos' use from time to time to explain or describe a particular wine.
Another great app is Vivino. By all indications, it seems to be fairly popular with more than 7.5 million users. You can scan the label of the wine and the app will give you the average pricing, albeit for the US market, ratings and reviews. This could be a useful app if you are thinking of getting a bottle, but want to ensure it will be something you will like before you commit.
As you explore and have your own wine adventure, consider using a few apps to help you on your journey to ensure you get the best out of every sip and experience.
• I am not an expert, merely a wine enthusiast sharing my thoughts and experiences. Feel free to share your own experiences at