Whether you're on your first trip to the liquor store or just want to expand your horizons beyond the world of Barefoot, there's no denying that buying wine can be a somewhat daunting experience to the untrained eye.
Thankfully — much like everything else in the world these days — there's an app that makes wine buying less intimidating while upping your knowledge at the same time.
Vivino, available for free on Apple and Android devices, aims to "empower people everywhere to enjoy wine to the fullest." The easy to use app allows the user to search, scan, and review any wine they come in contact with. With Vivino you can even scan a wine list in a restaurant and get an inside scoop on the bottles available.
Once you scan with Vivino you are brought to a page that gives a rating and average pricing. The average pricing feature is a great tool for college students who want to see if they're getting the best price. Along with the score and pricing, there's also a section that tells the user the taste profile of the wine.
If you try the wine that you scan you are able to give your own rating and review of the bottle. This review is then added to the curated ratings and reviews that Vivino provides for their 32 million users.
The search feature on Vivino has subsections where the user can search from type, pairing, and style. Under each subsection you can modify the price range and region where the wine comes from. Vivino even has a Vegetarian search option, which can be a great tool for vegans and vegetarians alike.
To further enhance user knowledge, Vivino has recently launched a feature called Taste Characteristics, "which aggregates the most commonly used words to describe wines to help you you understand the structure and flavor profile of the wines."
Trying Vivino Out
Vivino was a great tool to get a general knowledge of the wines at the new Wine Press location in Fenway. It was great to see what wines were thought of being too sweet or not worth the price.
Every bottle that you scan on Vivino is included into your "cellar," a saved album that you can add your own reviews and ratings to. When I went to try out the Vivino app at Wine Press, I was told that this feature is a great tool to use when looking for wines.
If you've always been intimidated and not sure what you're looking for in a wine, the saved album gives a great reference for salespeople to recommend similar wines or offer new and interesting options.
While Vivino is a great way to get a start into the world of wine, Wine Press owner Aaron Mehta made sure to add that the knowledge of your local wine store is a tool that everyone should make the most of.
Vivino can give you more confidence in your wine knowledge, but it's always best to ask for guidance from the experts in store if you really want to become a budding sommelier