CorkSavvy.com

Whether you’re a wine novice or an oenophile, the newly enhanced Web site, http://www.corksavvy.com/, is a fabulous resource for anyone who simply loves wine. CorkSavvy.com was created by Jill Sloane, a wine writer, wine enthusiast and graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City, because she wanted one-stop spot for wine enthusiasts to view resources and interactive tools regarding their favorite subject: vino. Here are some of CorkSavvy.com’s helpful new features (I think the restaurant wine listing feature is pretty genius):

• E-Cellar & Wine Journal: The E-Cellar & Wine Journal section of the site allows users to create a free “virtual wine cellar,” where they can quickly catalog and organize wines that they own, like or wish to buy. What’s more, wine lovers can upload photos of their bottles and write entries in a private Wine Journal to record the occasion or meal in which they enjoyed a bottle in their E-Cellar.
• Savvy Reporter: The editors at CorkSavvy compose original feature articles about wine (in the section titled “Our Savvy Reporter”), recommend a great bottle every week (“Jill’s Wine of the Week”), conduct interviews with winemakers and sommeliers, offer wine-and-food-pairing suggestions, and respond to questions from readers (in the popular “Ask CorkSavvy” column). Every week, these stories and tips are also sent to mailing list subscribers as part of the CorkSavvy Newsletter.
• Wine News: CorkSavvy’s editorial team compiles the best wine-related articles and news items from around the world and posts a daily list of links to keep visitors in the know.
• Restaurant Wine Lists: For wine enthusiasts looking to enjoy a bottle at a restaurant in their own city or while traveling, CorkSavvy has, for the first time on the Web, made the wine lists of 2,000 top restaurants around the world available in one place. In the “Restaurant Wine Lists” section, users can search by name and location, find a restaurant, and then simply click “View” to be directed to the wine list on the restaurant’s own Web site (thus ensuring that the information is as up-to-date as possible).
• Global Winery Directory: With the Global Winery Directory, users can search the world’s wineries by name, country, region and more. Each winery’s profile includes contact information, a link to the Web site, a list of wines produced, and special features like “Certified Organic.” The comprehensive directory holds information on more than 3,500 wineries, increasing in number every day.
• Bottle Search: Getting more granular than the Global Winery Directory, the Bottle Search feature gives users access to detailed information on more than 20,000 individual bottles of wine. While through the Global Winery Directory you might look up and learn about a winery in general (e.g., “Cakebread Cellars), in the Bottle Search section you can search for a specific bottle (e.g., “Cakebread 2002 Merlot”). And in addition to finding vintage, region and grape information for specific bottles, users can add those bottles directly to their E-Cellar with the click of a button (specifically, the “Add to Cellar” button).
• Mobile Capabilities and Facebook: CorkSavvy’s robust collection of features is available to wine lovers who are on the move, too. By using the mobile version of CorkSavvy on their cell phones and other mobile devices, users can access all of the site’s content, including the E-Cellar application, from anywhere. In fact, users can even snap a photo of a bottle with an iPhone (or any camera phone), e-mail it to CorkSavvy, and then it will be available for use in their E-Cellars. Recognizing the social function of wine, CorkSavvy has also created a Facebook application that allows users to update, share, and comment on the contents of their E-Cellars from right within Facebook. In the short time that the CorkSavvy Facebook application has been available, more than 5,000 Facebook users have downloaded it.
• Events Calendar: Since getting savvy about wine also requires oenophiles to step away from the keyboard and taste some juice, CorkSavvy offers a calendar of noteworthy wine-related events around the world.