'Wine Spectator' Goes Mobile

"Wine Spectator" is the latest magazine to make sure its content - and its case, wine reviews - are always at hand. 

 Spectator Mobile is an mobile-optimized version of winespectator.com, tailored specifically for wine-buying information on the go.

With Wine Spectator Mobile, members of WineSpectator.com can:

• Search for scores and tasting notes in Wine Spectator's database of more than 200,000 wine ratings

• View vintage charts of all the major wine growing regions to determine the best years to buy

• Reference their customized shopping lists and current cellar inventories via the Personal Wine List feature on WineSpectator.com.

"For everyone who has wanted specific wine buying information on the go, our mobile site is designed for you," says Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator, in a statement. "It brings our Web site's most popular wine-buying information and repackages it in a simple, easy-to-read mobile interface."

In BRANDING UNBOUND the book, I look at how such wine-related mobile services are quickly mobilizing. And over the last year, many companies have been racing to deliver.

Visa and Zagat, for instance, has teamed up with upscale grocer Mollie Stones and mainstream grocer Safeway to enable shoppers to use their mobile phones to be able to text to short codes to receive recommendations on wine and food pairings, and for restaurant goers to receive voice messages from the establishment's chef about that evening's menu.

What's more, Wine Spectator has long had a mobile companion, dating back to 2005, when the service became available for Verizon customers. Wine Spectator Mobile broadens the audience to users of many popular smart phones.

Frankly, I think Wine Spectator's model is probably a more useful resource for oenophiles on any mobile service. 

And that's something to drink to.

Read more about Wine Spectator Mobile, here.

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