Wine Visuals Review

I’ve been on a wine kick lately. I learn something new about it every day, but I’m far from an expert. Since the App Store offers an abundance of wine apps, I’ve been on the lookout for ones that can help me learn more and expand my palette.

Wine Visuals does all the above and more. It’s a free lifestyle app that makes it possible for users to explore flavors and characteristics of both wines and spirits thanks to its unique color wheel that displays tasting notes.

When it’s opened for the first time, users are encouraged to create an account. Thankfully, it’s possible to make an account later for those who want to give it a try first. A blank color wheel is then displayed on the screen with the options to add, browse or reset. There are a total of eight different flavor categories on the wheel and they include: herby and spicy, nutty, floral, fruity, sweet, body, dry and oaky. Users can tap on the wheel to specify what flavors are present or tap on them to indicate what flavors appeal to their palate. Each flavor has three degrees of variation so wine aficionados can get as specific as they desire.

After preferred flavors are selected on the color wheel, tapping on browse will show a list of results that are close to users’ tastes. Each wine shows its year, country of origin and five star rating. Tapping on the wine provides a little more user information, the average profile and reviews left by other users.

In order to use the other features, users must actually create an account. It’s then possible to discover new wines by following friends and wine experts, share visual tasting notes with friends and link Facebook and Twitter accounts to the app.

The main disappointment about Wine Visuals is that users must have internet access to utilize the app. It appears that the database is all online, and there’s really no way to enjoy the app without it. There are a few other improvements that would make Wine Visuals more appealing such as a way to store wine favorites, achievements or awards to encourage more users to leave reviews and a more expansive wine list.

While the app could stand to use a few improvements, it’s still easy-to-use and functional. The visual color wheel is a a fun way to display wine flavors and the incorporation of actual user reviews makes Wine Visuals feel more personal and authentic. All of these perks combined with the free price tag means that Wine Visuals is worth downloading.