Hello Vino: Find wine the easy way
By Joe Allen-Black
Boston.com Staff
Reviewing: Hello Vino
By: Hello Vino
Available for: iPhone and Android
Price: Free
Should you get it? Yes, if you don't know where to begin in picking out wines.
Pairing food and wine is an art that I wish I were good at on my own. Sure, I can do the basics of making sure to pair my meat with something red, and fruit with whites. But anything more advanced (like exactly WHICH red to pair) is not my specialty.
Now, thanks to the app Hello Vino, it doesn't have to be.
The app is a straightforward directory that makes wine pairings fairly idiot-proof. You can search for an event (say a birthday or a baseball game) and get a suggestion. Or put your food option in and get a suggestion. No more random hunting in aisle after aisle looking for a pretty label.
While testing this app, I've had fun checking random foods and seeing what I should pair with them wine-wise. Chimichangas should have a sparkling wine, for example, and a pizza with bacon should go with a tempranillo, a wine with black plums. Your Columbus Day steak might be best with a shiraz.
Once you get the type of wine to pair your food with, the app then gives a few recommendations on brands. My Kappy's in Wellington had every wine recommended by the app in my non-expansive test.
So as far as the basic functionality of what I wanted, the app seems great. Where it has problems, though, is with a few of the extras. It offers some audio reviews, but I've had trouble downloading them and listening. Also, comparing and sharing your work with what other users are saying and seeing seems to lag at times.
In all, the free app is worth the grief you’ll get from wine-savvy friends. With it, you'll soon become one of them.
