We’ve all heard “there’s an app for that”, and wine apps have been around for several years.  Take a picture of a bottle and your smartphone can tell you about the wine, whether or not you’ve got it in your collection, and make recommendations for wine/meal pairings.

Most of these apps are useful, but leave something to be desired.  If your wine collection is too big to keep in a rack on your countertop, then finding a particular bottle may be difficult--at least, until you integrate your collection into the Internet of Things.

Sommely smart caps (somme.ly) from Uncorked Studios is one solution to managing your wine collection.  Sommely caps combine the ability to manage wine inventory with an aid to physically locating a particular bottle, without sticky notes, hanging tags or spreadsheets.  The idea from the outset was to create a system that would enhance, rather than interfere with, the enjoyment of the wine experience.  An intuitive interface between a tablet or phone connects over WiFi to a gateway, which is linked via Bluetooth to the smart caps.  Each smart cap contains an Intel microcontroller, and the top has LEDs to make finding them easy.  Scanning the wine label, placing the smart cap on the bottle and pressing the top button of the smart cap enters the bottle into the app.  When the bottle is used, the cap is reset and reused for the next bottle.  Low power consumption chips let the caps go for months on a single charge, and the app can also track date of purchase and expiration, amount in inventory, and make recommendations about similar wines for those you favor.

Perhaps best of all, the Sommely app lets you annotate your wines with your own “story behind the bottle”.  Where you found it, who you were with or met when you bought it, what you were doing while tasting if for the first time--these are all experiences people treasure about wine, and a simple number rating doesn’t convey.

Certainly Sommely smart caps aren’t for everyone.  The principle target markets are collectors (the company says the “typical” collector has “over 100 bottles”) and restaurants.  That being said, if your collection has overflowed your countertop rack, investing in a few Sommely smart caps may help you on your wine journey.  Keep in mind that when it’s time to expand, remodel or build more wine storage, Sierra View has the expertise to create the space your wine deserves.

You can learn more at somme.ly,this article about Sommely, and SierraView.com.