A little while ago I wrote on TheVine, a wine app that had just launched. My ratings were, to say the least, less than satisfactory, but perhaps that was to be understood since the app was a basic version, seemingly rushed to completion and released with few features. Perhaps we should applaud them for doing that – it’s very much like the ideals of the “lean startup”.

So, it was not surprising to receive an email from them asking me to rate their app again. This time it has just launched again with a new and improved version, just launched on the Google Play and iStore. Fair enough, there are many new bits and pieces to the app, some of which were mentioned in the last review.

The design and layout has improved. Of that there is no doubt, and I’d be interested to hear how they chose their graphics. There is now a much fuller comments and opinions section, and wines are rated out of 5 with a top 10 shown on the first landing page.

By rating a wine and performing other actions, you get points and are ranked on a leaderboard. There is not as much activity on the app as one would have hoped, but they are clearly still new and in a growth phase. Over the next few months I’d expect to see a great deal more wines, reviews and ratings.

Adverts are now displayed, and there are over 2,000 people on their Facebook page. Perhaps this is an indication of traction and a revenue stream, but we can’t be certain. What we can know for sure is that the second version is greatly improved and is a potentially good resource for aggregated wine information for both wine farm tourists and shoppers alike.

Would you use an app to choose wines?

About the Author:  Jess Green is a digital entrepreneur, passionate about tech, web and mobile. Follow him on @jessello.