Five Wine Apps For The Novice To The Expert

There's no doubt that buying wine can get complicated. But thanks to these apps everyone from customers who are intimidated by the sight of a wine menu to cellar-owning connoisseurs can find the perfect bottle. The apps will cost you a few dollars (we highly recommend the pro versions), but it's worth it to get your hands on that prized label.

Below are 5 apps aimed at improving the wine-choosing experience.

1. Pair It

For those more comfortable making a roast chicken than picking a perfect vintage, let chef and wine pairing expert Bruce Riezenman guide you with his app Pair It. Select one of the over 1,000 dishes listed and the app will suggest wines to go with your meal along with a detailed description, country of origin and even the pronunciation, so it looks like you know what you're doing even if you can't tell one grape from another.

Tasting Notes: "Swirl" (a.k.a. shake) your phone to have the app randomly generate pairings for you. Android and iPhone, $4.99

2. Grappos Wine Locator

Grappos will help you locate nearby restaurants and shops that carry specific bottles. Plus it will give you directions on how to get to chosen locations so you can be sipping your favorite Malbec in no time.

Tasting Notes: Select the "featured" button to see what wines Grappos recommends near you (and where to get the wines). iPhone, Free

3. Drync Wine Pro

Drync Wine is a versatile app for novices and experts alike. Among its many features is the ability to search a vast database of wines, photograph labels of bottles you like, sift through professional reviews and ratings and manage your personal cellar through the app's website. Whether browsing wines in general or searching for reviews on an obscure bottle, Drync's got you covered.

Tasting Notes: Use this app to catalog what bottles you have in your wine rack cellar. Android $2.99, iPhone $3.99

4. Cor.kz

Like Drync, Cor.kz is another all-purpose wine app. Think of it as a virtual sommelier. The app utlizies CellarTracker's enormous database of wines, giving you access to over 2,000,000 reviews. Perhaps most useful is its ability to read wine bottle barcodes and bring up reviews on the product. Cor.kz also provides side-by-side quality and price comparisons of bottles.

Tasting Notes: New to wine? Don't overlook Cor.kz's terminology guide, with over 500 entries. iPhone, $2.99

5. Snooth Wine Pro

Snooth is for the consumer who knows what type of wine he's after. Like Drync, Snooth allows you to take a picture of the wine label and access reviews, but this app goes even further. From the photo, it will direct you to places nearby that carry the label and compare prices around the world. If you find a wine you like, add it to your wishlist or virtual cellar to keep track.

Tasting Notes: Forget typing, simply take a photo of any wine label to pull up information on the wine and where to get it. iPhone, $4.99