Delectable/Vivino (wine apps) discussion - merged thread

I’m certainly intrigued by all the new wine apps that come out, as their amazingly-well-funded companies are able to create some truly unique technologies, combining social media with wine label identification, and putting together a ‘group’ that numbers in the hundreds of thousands, seemingly overnight, since downloading an app is the only step in becoming part of the group.

Another new article today about Delectable, which seems to be in the lead over the other highly funded app Vivino:

I’ve used Delectable, and I know some of you have as well, as I get alerts that you have joined or are ‘following’ me. I have used it maybe half a dozen times, and it’s not really my style, but it seems like many professionals are using it constantly - Rajat Parr, for one. It appears that they have some sort of financial/professional tie-in, as some new features tap into the professionals’ recommendations as a sommelier, and I’m guessing they do NOT do that for free.

The value in Delectable and Vivino supposedly is in the data they collect, who is drinking what, and where, that would be sold to various marketing agencies, presumably. The whole high-tech wine world - Vintank, Delectable, Vivino, among the highest profile - seems very vibrant.

What are your thoughts on these apps? I’m guessing particularly the younger generations of wine lovers here - since they use more app-based technologies, smartphones, etc - are the target, and I don’t seem to know anyone who is using them extensively, but then again the app-based technologies (Delectable and Vivino, not Vintank, which is for the wineries, mostly) seem geared more toward the casual wine lover more than the mega wine lover, so I don’t really have any insight, as I’m firmly in the latter category.

I like Delectable a lot, it’s the best app for my needs. Primarily I like to use it as a wine journaling app, keeping track of what I drink. It’s good for nights when many bottles are opened and I don’t feel like taking copious notes, so the next day I then go and enter consumed bottles into cellartracker. Somehow I was labeled a “pro” on there via my blog…Odd…Also though, a lot of industry people I highly respect use it and it’s great fun following them to see what they’re drinking. Raj being one of them, of course.

I can definitely see it as a way to track what you drink, as it is FAR easier to just take a pic and let the app figure out what you’ve got. I tried it that way for a while, but then I decided I didn’t want to go through the trouble of even taking a pic unless it was memorable in some way, and if it is memorable, I’d go for Facebook or WB. I don’t really care about a ‘wine journal’, and I post very few tasting notes, so I’m not the ideal candidate, either, I suppose.

I talked briefly with someone from Delectable about tying our technologies together, as they have no way to expand discussions to any degree like we do, and their usability is far simpler than posting a thread here, but it never happened.

I was at a friend’s wine party on Sunday, and one of the guests had Vivino on his smartphone. He took a photo of one of the labels (a 1999 Dominus, IIRC), and Vivino said that the average retail price was something like $660. So there’s an example of an app (and its database) that might need a little tweaking…

Bruce

It’s just Instagram for wine. Except without the necessary critical mass of users like Instagram. They initially toted it as a wine journal where you keep track of what you drank, but now it’s just for others to see. But like Todd said, who takes a photo of every wine they drink? If you want eyes in it, you’re better off posting it on social media with a larger following

I’ve been using Delectable for just over 2 years now. It began as an app where you took a pic of a wine and in a couple days you got an email telling you here you can buy it and for how much. The social networking part of it has really increased its popularity.
It’s a great tool to use to keep on the cutting edge, seeing what your friends/winemakers/wine professionals are opening. I really enjoy using it.

For those like Brian and Beau who use it, and use WB, and Facebook, what makes you choose using one over the other?

I like the Delectable app to snap that photo for tracking and really to see what friends are drinking, similar to what Brian and Beau (both of whom I follow) said.

The app gives options to send the pic to FB, Instagram and Twitter while adding a comment. It’s an easy starting point for me to capture the image and then for sending to other media venues.

I also use Delectable, more so to see what others are drinking, as some are posting some obscure bottles that I might be interested in trying. And like Beau mentioned it is an easy way to keep track of what I opened so I can remove it from CT and also to remember what I consumed at an offline.

I’ve used Delectable for over a year and really like it. It’s just simple to use, though I would like the app to have a cellar tracking function.

As most people have said, I use it more as a journal and to see what my friends are drinking. It’s particularly good when you go tasting at wineries. I’ve started to use as a guide of sorts when I’m looking at an unrecognizable list.

I posted this on another thread that I think would useful especially to newbies that are overwhelmed by a restaurants wine list. Note I have note purchased it, but am considering it. I think this one has sticking power.

Wish list for cross-functionality, if anything could be done between Delectable/Vivino and WB? Posting to Facebook for ‘additional comments’ certainly isn’t aimed at the target audience or ideal discussion venue, IMHO

And why not? You should (unless being ‘ITB’ could be seen as bias?)!

Google Goggles does that as well…I tend to take picture of the wines I like, because I tend to forget names. My Google goggles app identifies the wine and does a search on where to buy it. Works on much more than wine.

I would only use these if they connected to CT. There are other options for label scanning and I don’t know where their value data is coming from. If they connected to CT and Wine-Searcher, I would be much interested.

What would the server strain be like on your side to have a photo uploaded each time creating a new thread with a quick tasting note? What I’d really love for delectable is if I could somehow consume from CT with a photo snap since it uses bottle recognition. But I don’t think CT users are really their target user base.

There’s no “explore” option where you see just a random list of wines people are posting (I do see “something new” but it seems to be all the same producers… wonder what the tie in is) and you can start following new people. Maybe 5% of all the people posting seem to even write a note? (veronica castro you do! I see you! ) so what’s the point in even following people. Color me confused.

I don’t always want the world at large knowing what I’m drinking and when, so I do not integrate wine with Social Media.

I’ve used Delectable, and I’m signed up for a bunch of others: Vivino, Crushed, Drync, and while I hook them up to social media accounts – I definitely enjoy the option of controlling whether they post to social media or not. I don’t have a lot of wine-obsessed friends, so I’d hate to drown (pardon the pun) their feeds with photos of wine bottles… so it’s nice to be able to build a community on a separate platform. And also, as others have mentioned, it acts as a nice wine journal for me to remember bottles I like.

Ed - Thanks for the techcrunch link to the WineGlass app – I just downloaded and will try it out this weekend on a trip to NYC.

Dammit…Charlie Fu started following me. Going to have to start pretending I drink “Ballah” wines.

Scott the app I mentioned does link to CT.