And now for something a little different.

With a new iPad comes a new interest in the world of apps.  More specifically, the world of FREE apps.  What I've learned so far that free doesn't necessarily mean free.  Free typically means "scaled down crappy version of something better that we'll allow you to sample in hopes that you pay full price for the real thing." Did you get all that? In addition, the list of apps differs between iPads & iPhones which I found odd.

In the world of wine apps, there tends to be a lot of stuff out there that really has nothing to do with wine.  If I were to type wine into the search field, a host of apps would pop up listing everything from wine fashion (I have no idea what that even means) to wine stores.  In addition, only a handful of said apps are "free".  Leave it to me to sort through that mess an report back on a few that I came across and whether or not they were actually useful?

1. wine.com - When this app actually wants to work it's basically an eWine Store.  Although, it is helpful in allowing the user to search by region and keep a wish list of wines they may want to try later.  Wines are listed with price and points rating so if that's what floats your boat then by all means start sailing.

2. wine - Aside from the originality of the name, this app is as simple as it gets.  Assuming you're either wi-fi or 3G enabled, this application allows you to search local wineries, vineyards & wine stores based on GPS location. It also lists some general contact info which is helpful if your making decisions on the fly.  I did notice that some of the info was a bit outdated, but I guess that's part of the fun of free. 

3. average joe wine - At first glance, this seemed a most promising application.  A simple yet effective concept that allows users to write their own wine reviews and share them with other users.  Wine can be searched by region which helps narrow things down.  But guess what?  Apparently I am the only person who knows about Average Joe.  In trying to search about 10 local wines, I was able to retrieve info on 0 of them.  This was obviously as effective as the blind choices I make just about every time I walk into a liquor store.

4. winestein - Now we're getting somewhere. Winestein takes the mystery out of choosing what wine to pair with what dish.  The user is prompted to either type in a specific ingredient or meal and BAM, Winestein knows exactly what you should be serving with that meal.  Or vice versa which allows one to type in a type of wine and thus spits out a food to match.

5. wine terms - Let me see...what is the easiest way for me to describe this app?  This is a glossary of wine terms arranged in alphabetical order...duh!  Want to sound cool among other wine geeks?  Here's your chance.

So that should get you started.  One of these days I'll most likely throw my blackberry onto the LIRR tracks, go out buy myself an iPhone and perhaps see if there are some better phone specific apps to be had.  In the mean time, have fun with what I've given you.

Until next time...

Cheers,
ES

as if they needed more publicity!