Think of this new app as a full-bodied blend of Shazam and Yelp, except it’s for wine. The Natalie MacLean Wine Scanner & Reviews app instantly identifies any wine in your closest Canadian liquor store using break-through image recognition, geo-specific inventory and a database of more than 220,000 wine reviews.
“This is the first wine app on the planet that brings together a powerful label image scanner, a barcode reader, local wine pricing, stock data across the country and 220,000 professional wine reviews,” says Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site at www.nataliemaclean.com.
For the first time, Canadians can just point their smartphones at the front label or the back barcode of any wine to access ratings, tasting notes and food pairings.
“Recognizing label images is difficult due to the curvature of bottles compared to boxes,” MacLean adds. “As well, many labels are almost identical except for one digit that changes each year with a new vintage.”
Those technical challenges are why the app doesnt deliver perfect results every time. However, as more users scan and upload wine labels to the app and suggest corrections, it will continue to improve … much like a wine that benefits from some cellar age.
“Wine labels are much more intuitive than text,” MacLean explains. “Youre more likely to remember that label with the blue penguin than you are the name of the wine. The app builds on that since you can save and share your favourite wines visually.”
It’s a daunting task for consumers given there are more than a million wine producers worldwide, each of whom make 5-20 wines based on different grapes and blends every year.
The new app will also help Canadian wineries, many of which dont have barcodes as their production is so small. Now wine lovers will be able to share those favourites on social media easily, just in time for Canada Day celebrations.
“The pleasure of drinking wine is both simple and sensual,” MacLean says. “Buying it should be too.”
Features:
Like a sommelier in your pocket, Natalie’s there with you to help choose the right wine at the right price every time. Just point your camera at the front label or back barcode of any wine to get:
– Easy access to professional, jargon-free wine reviews you can trust
– Instant search and sorting of 220,000 expert wine ratings
– Delicious new food pairings for every style of wine
– Quick recall of your wines in My Cellar, the app’s cellar tracker software
– Fast way to add photos, labels and your own notes to My Cellar
Canadian Pricing and Product Availability
– Custom Shopping Lists you can sort by region, style, price
– Real-time inventory stock updates for Canadian liquor stores
– Pinpoint the closest Canadian store to you with the wines on your Shopping List
– Helpful alerts when the wines you like are back in stores with a new vintage
– Constant updates on which wines are on sale or have bonus Air Miles
– Expert guidance to find the top 10 wines by price, score or style
– Convenient ability to combine and track Opimian Wine Club wines with your liquor store purchases
– Proven tips for buying the best wines in:
BC Liquor Stores, BC VQA Stores, Everything Wine, Liquor Plus, Alberta liquor stores, SLC, MLCC, LCBO, Wine Rack, Wine Shop, SAQ, NSLC, ANBL, NF Liquor, PEILCC and other Canadian wine stores
iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/nat-decants/id353052386?mt=8
Android smartphones and tablets:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.natdecants
