People have been enjoying wine for over 8,000 years. And its influence on our culture and daily lives is obvious—from weddings and religious ceremonies to social events, we really can’t picture life as we know it without wine. Throughout history, poets have written lyrical verses about it and artists have been inspired by it. Even UNESCO has granted heritage status to certain winemaking regions in Europe.
And you don’t even have to be a big drinker to appreciate wine, you can just enjoy the occasional tasting. Thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to satisfy your hunger (or rather thirst) for wine-related knowledge. Whether you are simply curious about the science behind winemaking or already have a sommelier-level of expertise, we rounded up the best apps to help you expand your knowledge (and cellar).
Vivino
This is arguably the most popular wine app with tens of millions of users and detailed information for more than ten million different wines.
It’s basically like Yelp for wine—thanks to the millions of reviews by fellow wine aficionados, you can choose the right bottle for you and order it straight from the app. The marketplace section offers more than a hundred thousand wines from around the globe. Not sure what you’re the mood for? That’s ok. Vivino has plenty of lists to help you decide—you can browse wines by popularity in your state, origin, by the food they are best paired with, etc. If a particular vintage is not in the database, a Vivino wine expert can jump in and help you identify it in no time.
Click here to download the app.
Delectable
Dubbed the “Instagram of wine,” Delectable really feels like you are part of a community. The technology behind the app’s label recognition is quite impressive and probably the best in the field.
With Delectable, you can keep a journal of your favorite bottles, see the trending ones among other app users, explore curated lists, and read wine reviews by fellow oenophiles. But what makes Delectable truly unique is the social aspect of it—namely, you can follow the newsfeeds of top sommeliers and other wine pros where they share their thoughts on pretty much everything wine-related.
Click here to download the app.
Tipple
To fully enjoy wine, you first have to learn how to taste it properly and this is what makes Tipple such a great app. Instead of focusing on numbers or a scoring system, the app helps you rate wine in more emotive and critical terms: for example, the intensity of its color, aroma, or palette. There are also plenty of tips to guide you through the tasting experience. Simply, scan the label of a bottle and start recording your tasting notes with some visual cues from the app.
Click here to download the app.
Decanter’s Know Your Wine
Whether you’d like to know more about specific wine regions, grape varieties, or winemaking, Know Your Wine has all the information and you can easily learn it, too. The app uses the so-called “spaced repetition” as a study technique—think of it as flashcards. That way you are not bombarded with hundreds of facts and details all at once but instead in bite-sized chunks of information that you can memorize in a more effective way.
As you are learning from the app, the app is also learning from you by asking you questions. Then based on your answers, it can adapt the content it is showing you by focusing on subjects you are struggling with.
Click here to download the app.
Wine Events
As its name suggests, this app helps you discover all types of wine-related events by location and date, including recommendations for wine and food getaways in countries like France and Argentina.
Wine Events makes it really easy to find a last-minute tasting or tour a winery in your area. And the best thing about it is that the app’s database covers not just the US and Canada but also the world’s most famous wine regions.
Click here to download the app.
