6 Sommelier Apps for Wine Lovers

Whether preparing a fine meal for an evening with my wife, or while hosting friends and family for dinner, I like to have a bottle of wine on hand to pair with the main course. Admittedly the finer details of wine are still an unfolding mystery to me, and I often require a hand with the numerous rules and subtle details surrounding the culture of wine appreciation. Thankfully there are several sommelier and wine-themed apps I can use to catalog and keep notes about wines I've tried, use to help pair with specific meals, and refer to in hopes of discovering my next new favorite winery...

iOS

Left: Wine Enthusiast Tasting Guide - Right: Drync Wine

Wine Enthusiast Tasting Guide
Wine Enthusiast Magazine offers up several features that cater to both beginners and seasoned tasters, including "Wine 101", which walks users through the basics of French, German, and Italian wine terminology. Also how to cook with wine and the task of deciphering wine labels. Other features include a personal tasting database where users can scan the UPC code to pull up an entry about wines or create their own to add personalized notes. Free

Drync Wine
I highly suggest installing Drync if you're a regular on wine tours. Using image recognition technology coupled with a huge wine catalog, users can take notes on samples, snap a photo of the label to pull up an information sheet about specific wines, and even place an wine order from the app. There’s also a section where seasoned sommeliers recommend the latest and greatest wine (with the option to purchase in app, via Drync). Free

Android

Left: Swirl Pro- A Wine Guide - Right: Vivino Wine Scanner Pro

Swirl Pro - A Wine Guide
Who says wine drinking is only for the wealthy? Budget minded enthusiasts will get appreciate Swirl's two big features: excellent wine suggestions for under $20, and a price tracker connected to a user-created wishlist. Beyond that, Swirl can help match wine to specific dishes, and lets users tag wineries they love/hate to improve personal recommendations. $3

Vivino Wine Scanner Pro
Boasting a database of over a million bottles and types of wine, Vivino Scanner is especially helpful for more regular and avid wine drinkers with larger collections. Users can create their own digital wine cellar for personal inventory. Simply snap a picture of the label and Vivino Scanner will pull up information, such as year, type, rating, and price. If miraculously one doesn’t show up on file, Vivino will look it up manually and add it to their always growing system. $5 - Also available for iOS

Windows Phone

Left: VinoMatch: Mobile Sommelier - Right: WineTable

VinoMatch: Mobile Sommelier
The first thing you'll notice about VinoMatch is its stellar interface design. I found the app is easy to navigate with a clean design ideal for browsing through a wine recommendation app. VinoMatch caters to more advanced wine drinkers, with a search function that finds wine based on the finer details such as flavor or grape type. VinoMatch can also advise a bottle for dishes such as roasts, pastas, seafood, and more, making it ideal for someone like myself who likes to have the right bottle for each dinner served. $3

WineTable
Feeling blue? Cheerful? Bored? Just like apps, there’s a wine for that. I admit I did a double take when I noticed the Wine Table app suggests wine based upon mood, a unique wine recommendation system, but it's yet another way to discover a new bottle to enjoy. Wine Table's database of over 50,000 wines is extensive and wine enthusiasts can keep tabs on the stock and prices of their favorite chardonnays, pinots, summer whites, and more from the app while pairing mood with bottle. $2

(Images: Jason Rodway; as linked above)