Study
Wine apps for WSET students
What an app can genuinely do for your studying, and where it stops being useful.
Published 24 August 2026
The short answer
For WSET study specifically, you want two things from an app: a tasting workflow that follows a systematic order every time, and a searchable record of what you tasted so revision has something to revise. SomeWine and CellarTracker cover those two jobs between them.
Be clear about what an app cannot do. No app on this page is a WSET course, none is endorsed by WSET, and none replaces the tasting practice or the theory reading. What they replace is the notebook — and a notebook you can search by grape, region and date beats one you cannot.
The most useful habit is unglamorous: write your own structured note before reading anyone else’s rating. Any app that shows you a community average first is quietly training you to agree with it, which is the opposite of what a blind tasting exam asks for.
How this was judged
Judged on whether the tasting flow is systematic, whether notes are searchable and exportable, and whether the app shows you someone else’s opinion before you have formed your own.
The ranking
SomeWine
No ratings yet · last shipped August 2026Best structured tasting practice
A guided tasting on every scanned bottle that runs the same order every time — colour, primary fruit, oak, tannin, finish — scored out of five, plus a 32-lesson course with quizzes. Your rating is recorded before any community score is shown.
CellarTracker
12,603 ratings · 4.9★ · last shipped August 2026Best tasting-note archive
Twenty years of notes on almost anything you will be poured, and a searchable record of your own. Excellent for checking your note against experienced palates after you have written it.
Delectable
25,910 ratings · 4.7★ · last shipped September 2021Best for reading professional notes
Follow working sommeliers and read how they describe structure. Unmaintained since 2021, but the archive is still there.
Vivino
135,222 ratings · 4.8★ · last shipped August 2026Useful, with a warning
Unbeatable for identifying a bottle quickly. Its community average is the wrong thing to look at before you have written your own note — hide it until you have.
Sommo
48 ratings · 4.9★ · last shipped August 2026Worth watching
A wine school section and a tasting mode that handles a flight of wines at once, which maps neatly onto a tasting group.
| Feature | SomeWineNo ratings yet | CellarTracker12,603 ratings · 4.9★ | Delectable25,910 ratings · 4.7★ | Vivino135,222 ratings · 4.8★ | Sommo48 ratings · 4.9★ | Oeni774 ratings · 4.7★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scan a restaurant wine list | Yes — every bottle ranked for your taste and your dish | No | No | Yes — ranked by community average, not your palate | Scans a tasting flight card, not a restaurant list | No |
| Ranked to your own palate | Yes — Taste DNA built from what you rate | Community ratings and critic scores | Notes from sommeliers you follow | Recommendations from a crowd score | AI picks from what you already own | No |
| Structured course and quizzes | Yes — 32 lessons with quizzes, free | No | No | No | Yes — a wine school section | No |
| Cellar with drink windows | Yes — Hold, Drink Soon, Ready, Past Peak | Yes — drinking windows and valuation | A journal, not a cellar | Cellar tracking, no drink-window states | Yes — a 3D wine wall with drinking windows | Yes — the whole point of the app |
| Label scanning | Yes — 5 free a month, unlimited on Pro | Yes | Yes — unlimited and free | Yes — the largest label database there is | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes, with paid tiers | Yes | Yes, with Vivino Premium | Yes | Yes |
| Sells wine to you | No — nothing here is influenced by a merchant | No | Yes | Yes — a wine marketplace | No | No |
| Last shipped an update | Aug 2026 | Aug 2026 | Sept 2021 | Aug 2026 | Aug 2026 | Jul 2026 |
Questions people ask
What is the best app for WSET students?
SomeWine for structured tasting practice and a free 32-lesson course, CellarTracker for a deep archive of tasting notes to check yourself against. Neither is a WSET course or affiliated with WSET.
Is there a WSET app?
WSET publishes its own study materials through approved course providers. The apps on this page are independent wine apps; none is endorsed by or affiliated with WSET, and none should be treated as a substitute for the course.
Can an app help with the WSET blind tasting exam?
Indirectly. What helps is repeatedly working through the same systematic order and writing a note before seeing anyone else’s. An app enforces the order and keeps the notes searchable; the palate work is still yours.
What should I record for each wine I taste?
Appearance, nose, palate and conclusions, in that order, every time. Add the vintage, region, price and the date. Our free printable tasting sheet follows the same structure if you prefer paper.
Should I use community ratings while studying?
After writing your own note, not before. Reading a 4.1 first anchors everything that follows, which is precisely the habit a blind tasting exam punishes.
Try it on the next bottle you open.
Free to start. No account needed to browse the course.
SomeWine publishes this guide and SomeWine appears in it — said plainly rather than buried. Every other app named is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by SomeWine. Ratings and release dates are read from the iTunes Lookup API; feature descriptions come from each app’s own App Store listing as of 24 August 2026.