Alcohol2.0 – An overview of the best wine services

Elaine: So, basically what you’re saying is 95% of the population is undatable?
Jerry: UNDATABLE.
Elaine: So how are all these people gettin’ together?
Jerry: Alcohol. (Seinfeld)

Wine drinkers are a popular niche on the web. There are hundreds, probably even thousands, of services and sites dedicated to the high-scale drink. I’ve tried to select the best Web 2.0 wine services for you. You probably already know the bible for high-brow wine lovers: Wine Spectator. If you happen to be one of those elite lovers, head over there, otherwise these services might get you started.

Be sure to check out the video below about 30-year old wine merchant Gary Vaynerchuk from New Jersey. He tells an inspiring story about how he started his daily web video show Wine Library TV.

Winelog
International wine community with a database that contains over 10,000 wines from over 4,000 wineries, 1,100 regions. Users can comment and rate wines they have tried so that the service can provide personal recommendations. Winelog also has a team of editors that writes about wine books, cafes and wineries.
www.winelog.net

Snooth
When the guys from Snooth launched their service in June 2007, they just made up a random weird name so that we would remember it better. If that’s not enough, there are always millions of reviews and hundreds of thousands of wines that make the service memorable. Suitable for aspiring and casual wine drinkers, Snooth offers personal recommendations.
www.snooth.com

Vinoo
Vinoo is a Dutch wine community. Users can create their own profiles, on which they can rate and discusses wines. These wines all have their own profile as well, making it possible for you to find that wine that goes perfectly with your pasta tonight. The service is still in beta and expanding rapidly. Hopefully it will soon be available in English as well.
www.vinoo.nl

Vinorati
This well-designed service has the same functions as the other blogs, yet one stands out of the wine crowd. It allows you to create tasting groups. ‘Groups may be made up of members who actually taste wines together, or who want to share wines with each other, or simply members who share an interest in a region, winemaker, or wine style.’ Looking for a way to gather your drinking buddies? Vinorati is the one you should click on.
www.vinorati.com

Cork’d
Yet another wine community, with the basically the same options as the others. I recommend you just browse around all four recommendations (five if you speak Dutch) and select the one with the tone of voice and lay-out you like the most. Cork’d seems more suitable for the more experienced drinkers.
www.corkd.com

Wine Library TV
30-year old wine merchant Gary Vaynerchuk from New Jersey started a video show in which he tasted and reviewed the wines he sold in his store. It’s now a hugely popular show that has an enormous number of followers. Check out this interview he had with Beet.tv, and pay extra attention to his view on combining advertising and reviewing.
tv.winelibrary.com

[WebTipr: Yaniv Solnik, Israel]