I promised WineLog Mobile by Valentines Day, and here it is. Point your phone or PDA to http://winelog.mobi to get started.

The image to the right is what I saw earlier while shopping for some wine and testing out WineLog Mobile. The store I was at didn’t have any of the wines at the top of my wishlist (how sad), but I was able to find another 2004 Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand that Kim and I will celebrate with tonight.

While some other wine sites have had mobile access features, WineLog Mobile blows everything else out of the water. Ok, so that’s a bit of hyperbole, but we’re using everything we’ve learned about designing mobile sites (and all the feedback we’re going to get from you once you get your mitts on it) to make sure that WineLog Mobile is as easy to use as possible.

We were able to implement everything we had planned for this release. Below are some notes about each feature. The INNOVATION doesn’t stop here though. We know what we’d like to do with the site. Let us know what your ideas are in the comments below.

1. All content will be is formatted for viewing on a smaller screen.
This is what it’s all about, no? Everything is shrunk down to fit on your phone or PDA’s screen. In addition, the pages are free of images and as light as possible to lower download times (which usually stink on a phone, eh). You can also use the number pad on your phone to navigate most pages. Try it out.

2. Access to your Wine Log.
Now you can take your Wine Log with you wherever you go! Just browse to http://winelog.mobi/winelog/jason (use your own username) to jog your memory: “Was that wine any good?”. You have access to your ratings, any pricing data we have, and any notes and comments you or anyone else has written on the wine in your logs. If you have your notes set to be private, make sure you log in with your password or you won’t see them from your phone either.

3. Wine info pages, with winery, variety, region, pricing data, comments, etc.
We show pretty much the same data on the wine info pages at WineLog.mobi that we do at WineLog.net. Let us know if we’re missing any of your favorite data.

4. Ability to search the WineLog DB.
In addition to being able to view and search within your WineLog, you can search our entire database from your phone. Go to http://winelog.mobi/wines.

5. Ability to login and post a wine already in our DB to your wine log.
And if you find a wine you’d like to add, you can login and log it right there from your phone. Logging in can be tedious on some phones. It’s not always fun to type out a password in that funky password box. Even if you do that well, youre phone (like mine: a gen 1 Razr) might not support cookies so well. If you can’t properly login, you can still just enter your username. You’ll be able to view your log and all our wine, but you won’t have access to some features like logging or sending yourself messages.

6. Ability to login and send yourself messages (such as the vintage, variety, and winery of a wine you just drank) which will be emailed to you along with related links to log/comment/etc the wine in WineLog later.
This is neat. I often take notes on my phone when I’m trying new wines. If I enter these notes at WineLog.mobi, they’ll be sent to my inbox along with handy links to log the wine, add it to the DB, and/or search for it at Google. We considered adding the full functionality of our wine add page, but no one wants to do all that typing from phone or PDA (if you do, let us know). This way you can jot down the important stuff and do the full logging once you get back to your computer.