Vivino - Wine scanner

Wine is a very personal thing, so when you find a wine you enjoy it's handy to be able to record it and what better to use than with your phone? Vivino is a great easy way to record wines you like and find out about them through professional and personal opinion.

First use is basic, the app asks if you want to sign in before using. Joining the network lets other people see your rankings and comments as well as giving recommendations based on what you like. This is valuable to me, especially for red wines, as I veer towards specific New Zealand pinot noir wines that are hard to find locally.

The idea is pretty simple, take a picture of the label and OCR will check the 1,000,000 item database and pull up information. Not only do you get the winery blurb but also food pairings It stays in your list with the scan. You can rank and comment on your tasting experience and later search your list or simply have it sorted by how your ratings. It also shows a crowd sourced average price of a wine if available.

If you purchase the Pro version you get text searching of the database, fast tracked addition if your selection is not in the database. You can add in 'own it' for improved sorting.

Pros - can be used without joining network and it doesn't keep nagging. Intuitive to use. Good database of available wines. Taps into Foursquare to get local recommendations.
Cons - the camera app is really poor so you must stabilize and have well lit pictures. If you don't want yet another log in you can only use Facebook. Not holo although close.

This is a really great idea for people who enjoy trying new wines, whether they 'special occasion' wine drinkers or have an extensive collection at their home. Making it even more useful, the Galaxy Gear app so you can be a little more discrete at getting help with your wine purchasing.