Introducing Vinify – streamlining cellar management for somms and collectors alike

Star Wine List’s new global partner is revolutionising all aspects of cellar management. Nearing 100,000 monthly subscribers, Vinify is on a mission to streamline life in both restaurants and private cellars. Here’s how.

Partner content with Vinify.

Norwegian entrepreneur Jon Trygve Hegnar originally hoped to help private wine collectors create better wine cellars and so started asking restaurants what tools they were using, for inspiration. “We discovered that restaurants were still using Excel,” he tells us, “and the rest is history.”

The Vinify app was created in 2022 and doesn’t just act as an inventory tool but syncs to live wine lists, keeps a real-time stock count, pairs with POS systems and even provides pricing tools that help you keep track of industry markers and update prices across your full list easily.

Of course, you are also able to rate your wines and add tasting notes, making Vinify a 360 tool for anyone seeking to keep track of their wines – whether in a professional environment, or at home.

Did we mention, it’s free to sign up?

A somm's friend

Hegnar describes Vinify as “like a modern version of CellarTracker, but made for sommeliers working in a restaurant. Save time on things like stock count, automate the wine list, optimise selling prices, connect to your POS system – the list goes on.”

The app is already used by more than 17,500 wine cellars in over 100 countries. “We're always a bit shocked and humbled when we look at the numbers,” admits Hegnar, but the revelation of how time-consuming day-to-day tasks such as stock counting are for restaurants has put him on a quest to ease life for sommeliers everywhere.

“We use Vinify every day,” says the team at Oslo restaurant, Kolonialen. “From receiving deliveries, locating bottles during service, setting prices to doing stock count. The system is flexible, we are saving time and we have completely stopped using Excel.”

Restaurants listed by Star Wine List can also use Vinify to make sure their lists are always up to date and easily found.

We have completely stopped using Excel

Meet Founder and CEO Jon Trygve Hegnar

Why are you a fan of Star Wine List?

“There is obviously no better way to discover great wine places, especially when travelling. And I want to shout out to all the ambassadors of Star Wine List who recommend the wine places – they describe them really well (and accurately), I think.”

What's your favourite feature on Vinify?

“Other than printing the wine list, I think an extremely clever feature is what we call the ‘selling price calculator’. Basically, you can increase all selling prices on the wine list in a couple of seconds. Do that four times a year and it can make a massive difference on the bottom line.”

What have you learned about restaurants' wine lists and cellar management along the way?

“How much time is wasted on bad systems! Restaurants ask us all the time for a button that would save them five minutes every day. Create 100 of them and it's a lot of time every month.”

What makes Star Wine List and Vinify a good fit for one another?

“Restaurants that are listed by Star Wine List can manage their cellar and create their wine list in Vinify. With the live link feature, that list is always updated. I don't think there could be a better match!”