Why Selara Sommelier is the most user-friendly way to manage a wine cellar

What does the most user-friendly way to manage a wine cellar look like? We think a good cellar app should work like a good sommelier. It knows your cellar, keeps out of the way, and is ready when you have a question. Too often, managing a collection feels more like data entry, and you end up with a list you stop updating.

Selara Sommelier was built by collectors who believe looking after your wine should be part of the pleasure of collecting, not a chore you dread. Here's what that means in practice.

Getting wine in is the easy part

Typing a collection in by hand is slow. Selara Sommelier gives you several ways in, and you can use whichever is closest to hand.

Start from the file you already have

If you keep a spreadsheet, you don't retype it. Drag and drop it in. Selara Sommelier accepts .csv, .tsv, .tab, .txt, .xlsx, .xls, .json, .numbers, or .xml, matches your columns to its fields, and asks you to confirm anything it's unsure of. You see a preview before anything is added. If you pick the wrong file, you can remove that import and the bottles it added go with it.

Real spreadsheets are messy, and the importer expects that. Workbooks with several tabs, section headers like "France" written once above a block of rows, and bottle sizes written as "magnum" or "1.5L" are all part of what it's designed to read. Our guide to moving a wine cellar spreadsheet into an app walks through it step by step.

Or just take a photo

For a single bottle, photograph the label. Selara Sommelier reads it and fills in the details for you to approve. It isn't fussy about photos. It reads labels in low restaurant lighting and can even handle faded handwritten labels.

Or hand it the invoice

After a delivery, drop in the merchant's PDF or an auction settlement and choose the line items you want. No PDF? A photo of the paper invoice, or of a screen showing one, works just as well.

A cellar book you can rearrange

Once your wine is in, it appears in a cellar book, a spreadsheet-style view of everything you own. Unlike a spreadsheet, the layout is yours to change.

You choose which columns show and in what order. Sort by most expensive to least expensive today and by vintage tomorrow. Track the details that matter to you, including storage location, vintage, appellation, producer, bottle size, quantity, price paid per bottle in multiple currencies, drink-soon flags, tasting notes, grape and invoice information.

Organization that already makes sense

Every plan includes two familiar ways to organize a collection. Restaurant Wine List groups wines by Color, then Country, then Region, with appellation as an option, so it reads like a good wine list. Auction House uses the collector categories found in auction catalogs, such as Red Bordeaux, White Burgundy, Champagne and Port.

On Grand Cru and above, a custom taxonomy wizard lets you build your own system when your cellar doesn't fit a template.

Opening a bottle takes one click

The moment you open a bottle is when a spreadsheet falls behind. Selara Sommelier is designed around that moment.

Having people over? Stage the bottles you might open with the click of a button. They stay in your cellar record and appear in a staged list, so nothing goes missing. Afterwards, a single click moves each bottle you enjoyed into your tasting history, and the ones you didn't open go back on the rack. You can keep tasting notes on everything you've enjoyed, and Selara Sommelier can even prepare a custom wine list to share with your guests.

Ask your cellar a question in plain language

Selara Sommelier's built-in AI assistant knows your cellar in detail, so you can ask things like:

• "How many magnums do I have?"
• "What's ready to drink?"
• "What pairs well with tonight's meal?"
• "What should I add to my collection?"

The assistant can also make changes for you, from fixing a single accent mark to reorganizing how your collection is grouped. It always asks before it changes anything, so you stay in control.

Every plan includes AI. Premier Cru comes with up to 8 uses a month, Grand Cru adds a generous allowance, and Grand Cru Exceptionnel offers unlimited use.

On your iPhone and on the web

There's an iPhone app for the moments you're standing in front of the rack or a shop shelf, and the full experience on the web when you'd rather work on a bigger screen. Selara Sommelier is also installable as a progressive web app, or PWA, so it can sit on your home screen like any other app.

Private by design

Selara Sommelier encrypts your data in transit and at rest. When the AI runs, it sends only what's needed to answer your question, and only to providers that don't keep prompts for training. Our privacy page explains the details in plain language.

Room to grow, without starting over

User-friendly also means not outgrowing the tool. Premier Cru is free and covers up to 100 bottles in one location. Grand Cru supports up to 1,500 bottles across three locations, with nested bins, custom taxonomies, a sell ledger and the Origins map. Grand Cru Exceptionnel removes the limits on bottles, locations and AI, and adds household sharing so trusted delegates can help manage the cellar. You upgrade from your account, and your wine data stays where it is.

If you're just starting out, read about starting your first collection with Selara Sommelier. For bigger cellars, see how it scales in wine cellar management for serious collectors.

Try a user-friendly way to manage a wine cellar

The best test of any wine cellar app is whether you keep using it. Add a few bottles by photo, import your sheet, and stage something for the weekend. Explore the cellar book or get started with Selara Sommelier.