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TUAW's Daily App: Corkbin

I've been trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to become a smarter wine drinker for a while now, and Corkbin might just push me over the top. This elegantly designed app is set up to help you track and chart the wines that you drink, learn how to classify them, and share reviews with friends and fellow iPhone users around you.

The idea is that every time you try a new wine, you snap a picture of the label and leave a short note about what you had it with, how it tasted, or where you got it. Then, later on, at the liquor store or when out at a restaurant, you can pull up "that wine we tried last week," and you'll know exactly what it was. It's simple, but it's perfect for people like me who aren't wine experts and need a little help remembering exactly what that last bottle was called.

Unfortunately, the app isn't perfect; I don't like that you must log in on startup, and there are quite a few features (like a wine database or the ability to browse friends' wines rather than just "nearby" check-ins) that seem like they would be awesome but are still missing from the app. The basic functionality of tracking your own wines is well worth the 99 cent price, though. Maybe this will finally give me the method I need to start developing a more refined wine palate.

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iPhone

I've been trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to become a smarter wine drinker for a while now, and Corkbin might just push me over the top....
 

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refime

I use evernote to do the same thing. Cool thing about evernote is you can search text within the picture as well as labels. Best of all, its free, and also allows for voice memo's.

July 08 2010 at 3:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to refime's comment
dave

"I use evernote to do the same thing. Cool thing about evernote is you can search text within the picture as well as labels. Best of all, its free, and also allows for voice memo's."

Jesus, is evernote paying you to do PR work for them?

Evernote can do a lot of things, but it isn't great at everything. If you're a casual wine drinker, evernote can do the job. If you're serious, it's a joke to say it does a good job.

July 08 2010 at 4:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
southpaw32

Is there a similar app for beers that anyone knows of or can recommend?

July 08 2010 at 1:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to southpaw32's comment
Mike

I have heard that there are two projects in the works that may be similiar, RedPint (http://www.redpint.com) and Beerapolis (http://beerapolis.com) as well as I've heard from corkbin that they are investing a beer version. Def a must have app!

July 08 2010 at 2:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brad Price

Nothing beats the data behind cellartracker.com, which now has the Cor.kz App for iPhone, too. Spectacular. You should review THAT.

July 08 2010 at 10:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Brad Price's comment
Ken

I agree with Brad. Cor.kz is, by far, the best wine app for the iPhone that I've seen to date. Like Brad said, it has the cellartracker.com database behind it which has literally thousands of wines. Changes made to your cellartracker.com account on the website is automatically synced with the app and vice versa. Probably the best feature of all is the barcode recognition of the Cor.kz app. It makes adding wines to your cellar incredibly easy. And if you're someone who buys a lot of wine (like me), the barcode-reading feature is paramount.

One of the few complaints I would have with cellartracker.com is the look and feel of the site itself. The design is very dated and due to the numerous features of the site, tends to look busy. There is a link to a beta version of the new site made available, but the new site doesn't seem to have nearly the amount of features as the original site.

Adding wines not already found in the community database can be a little tedious too. And since that database is community-driven, there are some inconsistencies with regards to naming conventions.

All in all though, you can't beat Cor.kz and cellartracker.com!

July 08 2010 at 10:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

Really like this app and can't wait for something similar for craft beer!

July 08 2010 at 10:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mojoesque

i've used WineList for about 2 years now - exact same functionality except for the social networking stuff, so there's no login. it's no-frills and works great. the graphics aren't nearly as fancy as Corkbin but i don't really need fancy graphics - i just want to get in, enter the details about the wine and get out, and it works just fine for that.

July 08 2010 at 9:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MikeN

Please don't try to be like gary van-der-douche. He gives wine a bad taste. But good tip on the app.

July 08 2010 at 8:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dave

I use Epicure. It's also a remembrance utility, but with a really nice search function. It's nice because it does beer and restaurants/dishes in addition to wine.

July 08 2010 at 8:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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