The Uncorked Cellar . Wine At Its Best
Written by Kristy Lankester
Imagine being able to manage your personal wine collection with the click of a mouse. The Uncorked Cellar is top of the range in wine management software with so many benefits you will wonder what you ever did without it.
The Uncorked Cellar is wine cellar software that allows the user to manage their wine and get information about other ranges. It also has wine aging information and information on the best times to drink their wine which has been collected from wine makers across Australia and world-wide. It was developed for people who are interested in wine and want to keep an accurate inventory of their collections.
The program is used worldwide. Brian Allen is the developer of the software and says it is very easy to use.
"That's what we pride ourselves at doing. For the people that do need a kick start to get going we have a 'Getting Started' section and that takes people through the key parts of how to add a wine, how to change a wine and how to cork a wine, and it also has a 'How Do I?' section so there's a whole page of links," Mr Allen said.
He came up with the idea for the software after his experiences with other products simply did not do the job.
"I had bought an unnamed product and was really frustrated by it; it was too hard to use. It really didn't have the information I was looking for . and I thought there has got to be a better solution to this, so I did it myself."
Since then he has found that it has been beneficial to more than just the private wine lover.
"I do know at least a couple of wineries use it for their wines, a wine storage business, a casino, a wine bar, and a merchant bank who uses it for their executive wine store and an officers mess at an army base. From a private use perspective, I have seen it used on cellars as small as two dozen wines - and as large as 14,000 - and in the USA, we have several installations where employees use it to look after a private wine cellar," Mr Allen said.
Arthur Fowler is a wine lover from Brisbane who uses Uncorked Cellar and says he is a beta tester on many programs worldwide.
"I came across Uncork in my search for software to manage my increasing wine collection. I was so impressed with the product I purchased a license and five-year update and have contributed my personal time to the testing and development of new releases," Mr Fowler said.
He says the Uncorked Cellar has been beneficial to the management of his personal wine collection.
"I can truly manage my wine via any criteria. I use multiple criteria to sort by currently stock, variety, peak, and drink by [date], and be certain I do not knowingly keep a wine too long or drink a wine too young . I can visualise my cellar so when I pick a particular wine I know exactly where to get it from," he said.
Mr Fowler said before he started using Uncork he was often disappointed to find that a bottle had gone past its drink by date because he could not find it, and with some 8000 bottles, who can blame him?
Another loyal user is Alan Maddison from Mackay. He and his wife agreed that for their anniversary they would go on a trip away and that was going to be their gift to each other. She surprised him by having a carrier deliver a wine fridge before they left. He bought her a cactus.
He said the Uncorked Cellar has been very useful in monitoring their selection of wines, which varies from 200 to 240 bottles and also in research for wines they have not tried.
". the value guide is useful when looking at wine auctions. Also when buying wines, it is easy to find out the best vintages."
David Andrews from East Ringwood, Melbourne, is another Uncorked Cellar user who constructed an insulated wine storage room in the corner of his garage because he needed a way of keeping track of purchases that would be easily accessible by his wife when he was away.
"The database of wineries allows me to research an area we intend to visit and plan what wineries we'd like to see. I probably use less than fifty percent of the software's capacity, but it suits me well and Brian has become something of a friend."
With buyers of the product from all over the globe, it is no surprise this product is so popular and easy to use.
"We work pretty hard at it and if you look at our testimonials page also on our website . lots of our customers are generally very happy. If they're not, we go out of our way to help them with any difficulties they have or I can do remote support calls," said Mr Allen.
The Uncorked Cellar
- Look-up wines using the built-in wine guide
- Review winemakers guidance on when is best to drink
- Locate and view visual wine rack
- Graph contents and history
- Estimate the value of your cellar
- Includes help guides and How Do I?
- Yearly updates available