Ask what to open, what to leave alone or what to serve with dinner. Cella considers the bottles recorded in your SmartCellar account before answering.
Generic wine advice can suggest a grape or region. Cella is more useful when the answer must come from the rack you already have, with your quantities and drinking windows in view.
Cella is included on the free plan, with a monthly allowance.
Mention the dish, the guests and the sort of evening you have in mind. Or ask which mature bottles need attention and which younger wines should remain undisturbed.
A useful answer should explain why a bottle suits the occasion and what trade-offs were considered. Check that reasoning against the label, your storage and your own knowledge.
Free accounts include a monthly Cella allowance. Premium and Collector plans provide more room for collectors who consult it regularly.
A filter is ideal for “show me red Burgundy”. Cella is better suited to “find something mature but not too grand for supper” or “which white should I drink before next summer?”
Vintage variation, storage and personal taste cannot be reduced to a prompt. Treat Cella as a useful second opinion, then make the final choice yourself.
Cella can explain why a style suits a dish, why a young wine may need more time or what separates two candidates. The explanation is often more valuable than the shortlist.
A little useful detail produces a better answer than a broad request for “the best bottle”.
Mention the dish, guests, budget or mood that will shape the choice.
Say whether the bottle must be ready now, whether only one remains or whether a style is off the table.
Have Cella explain the leading choices rather than accepting a single name.
Ask for a safer, younger, less expensive or more adventurous alternative before deciding.
Cella can consider the bottles, quantities, drinking windows and notes in your SmartCellar account rather than beginning from an imaginary wine list.
Yes. Ask Cella to compare the wines in your account for opening, holding or pairing. Its answer is only as useful as the cellar record it can read.
No. Cella is a second opinion. A sommelier can taste, question and respond in ways software cannot, and your own preference remains decisive.