I lost a long reply. In short, I used to use Access, but it's very
laborintensive compared to a commercial program.I'm a big proponent of
Cellartracker.com , I think it's great.

Ed Rasimus wrote:
> On 14 Dec 2006 09:51:30 -0800, "Tom" > wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >First I have a terrible memory, and think computers should do
> >everything for me, so I started typing all my notes into an excel
> >spreadsheet this summer, and seeing as I don't have classes in the
> >winter I am planning on expanding it. I was wondering what experiences
> >people have had with this. I know there is software for wine
> >databasing, but is there anything they provide that I cannot do myself
> >in Access?
> >
> >currently the fields i have a
> >name, vintage, varietals, country, region, price, notes, did I like it
> >y/n
> >
> >First I was probably going to switch from excel to access. I also want
> >to expand the varietals field, because as-is it doesn't lend well to
> >filtering by varietal. I am thinking I will make it "varietal 1, %,
> >varietal 2, %, 3, %, other varietals, %. That way I can search for all
> >100% pinot noirs, or all >90% cabs, etc. Does anyone use a different
> >method that may work better?
> >
> >are there any more fields that would be useful, I don't really have the
> >income for cellaring wines yet.
> >
> >Finally, this idea is a bit utopian but has anyone considered using
> >google's feature where you can have a database stored online that group
> >members can edit for an afw TN database? the FAQ seemed to be a good
> >community project. I suppose it would be similar in structure to other
> >databases but w/ multiple different notes fields and one for who
> >authored each note.
> >
> >as always thanks for the replies
> >-tomw
>
> This is sort of a FAQ-level question, i.e. one that comes up with
> regularity. And, I usually throw a couple of cents worth in, since in
> my past life I did software/shareware reviews for ZDNet and one area
> that was assigned to me was food & wine software.
>
> Unless you are big into do-it-yourself stuff, it is much easier to go
> with a commerical software product for maintaining a wine database.
> Those folks have done the brain-storming and then the grunt-work to
> put together products that do what most oenophiles want done.
>
> My favorite has long been "Cellar!"
> http://www.cellarwinesoftware.com/
> I watched it go through several iterations from a fairly database
> oriented cataloging product written on the Access DB engine to the
> current version which nicely integrates online features so that you
> can share TNs, update vineyards & wineries, monitor auction prices,
> and really fine tune your interface.
>
> Whether you keep only a few bottles around or several thousand, the
> program helps you organize your experience. Enter a wine and the
> software provides you auto-completion and drop-down lists to help you
> entries. If, for example, a winery is not found, it lets you query the
> online DB and it then offers listings of similar producers/negociants.
>
> When you taste (drink) the wine, you can enter your comments and the
> software lets you keep them indefinitely. Display can quickly shift
> from current inventory to "zero" level where you can go through all of
> the wines that you've ever entered. Number of bottles, varietals,
> costs, maturation profiles, etc. etc.
>
> There are other products around, such as Parker's software, but they
> haven't convinced me that they offer more. Parker, many folks feel is
> simply flogging his own tastes and giving the user a DB of his
> ratings rather than a true cellar management application.
>
> Look around at some shareware sites or simply Google wine software and
> take some existing products for a test drive before you wear out your
> enthusiasm building your own app.
>
> Ed Rasimus
> Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
> "When Thunder Rolled"
> www.thunderchief.org
> www.thundertales.blogspot.com