What's new

Classifications have moved from a tab on the encyclopedia to their own page at /explore/classifications, so the link in the Explore menu now opens the list reliably — previously it changed the address bar while leaving the previous page on screen. The new page filters by the things a classification actually has: search by name or by a level such as Grand Cru or Kabinett, then narrow by country, by what the system classifies, or by learning level. Filters are kept in the address bar, so a filtered list can be bookmarked and shared. The grape and blend dropdowns are gone, since no classification is tied to a grape. The varieties page is now titled Grape Varieties and Blends.

Explore German Wine Law in one guide, with separate still-wine and Sekt sections. Sugar-band graphics show where sweetness terms overlap, why acidity matters and why feinherb has no fixed range. Discover origin categories, Prädikate, production methods and label terms, including dated transition rules. The VDP guide explains its additional requirements and links to the legal scales. Across all ten classification guides, clearer explanations and label examples unpack terms such as must weight, Climat and Grand Cru Classé. The label guide explains the 85% rules using “Riesling 2024” and shows why two named grape varieties must together account for 100%.

Matching answers no longer sit directly opposite their correct partner. When you correct your tasting profile, introductory words such as “Actually” stay out of the aromas. On variety pages, the contents links now follow the order of the sections.

Explore now explains how wine classifications work across Germany, France, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. Follow each system from its authority and geographic scope through its levels, then see which regions, vineyards, and estates it applies to.

Identify now checks who owns each conversation and uploaded image. We’ve also tightened account access and request limits. Older conversations without a verified owner are kept, but cannot be resumed for now.

Sweet wine is not one recipe. Its sweetness may begin with extra time on the vine, a helpful fungus, a winter freeze, or a deliberate stop in the cellar. Each route changes more than sugar: it also changes aroma, texture, acidity, risk, and price.

Somm Challenge questions now use schema-verified AI responses, preventing malformed answers from blocking a game at startup. Generation failures also provide safer, more useful diagnostic details for faster recovery. Scenario generation now uses GPT-5.6 Luna with stronger variety, difficulty, and answer-grounding rules.

Refreshing the available game setups now reuses shared reference-data requests. This prevents larger catalogs from overwhelming the database and keeps playable game options available after a deployment. The complete catalog is also calculated before its short publication window begins, so slower refreshes can finish reliably.

Mixed rounds, Multiple Choice, True or False, Spot the Clues, and Matching are available again. Game setup publishing now stops automatically if a required format would disappear. The setup screen also uses desktop space more efficiently, keeping the complete configuration and Start action visible without scrolling.

Games now guide you from format to topic, place, difficulty, and round length using options that are ready to play. Once a game starts, every promised round stays together in one resumable session, and completed games keep their progress and rewards even when a request is interrupted.

The running score now includes the wine you just answered, and tasting feedback uses clear, readable structure labels such as “medium-low” instead of internal shorthand.

The Journal's new weekly season explores sweetness, tannin, Chardonnay, blending, bottle age and more. Each illustrated guide turns one wine idea into a clear, practical lesson, with the first story arriving on 1 September.

The progress migration notice no longer takes over the top of every page after sign-in. Your saved progress still carries over automatically, without an extra banner to dismiss.

One Blind Tasting session now covers the complete game and keeps every stage reliably between requests. You can reveal clues, submit answers, continue to the next wine, or resume from a clean session link even when requests reach different server instances. The game setup is fixed when play starts, and hidden answers stay on the server.

Quiz feedback now explains each wine fact once and keeps structure and appearance clues consistent with the answer being tested. Distinct notes about the other options are still there when they help you learn.

The Learn area now gives Flashcards, Games, and Guided Paths a consistent home. Games brings all nine formats together—including Blind Tasting—and makes it easy to choose a place, topic, difficulty, and round length before you begin.

Travel from Orvieto's textured whites to Montefalco's formidable Sagrantino in a new bilingual Journal guide. Landscape, history, native grapes and a practical three-glass tasting route bring Italy's green heart into focus.

Grechetto now has a complete variety guide with its apple, acacia, citrus and herbal profile, regional planting figures, Umbrian expression, cellar styles and an Orvieto vineyard hero. The guide also untangles an important name trap: Grechetto di Todi belongs to the separate Pignoletto identity, not the Grechetto di Orvieto profiled here.

A glass of wine can smell like lemon, peach, blackcurrant, violet, pepper, toast, or mushroom. Yet the ingredient list may contain nothing more dramatic than grapes.

Australia's wine map now uses its full national canvas, with balanced ocean context on both sides. The country stays comfortably centred on wide screens while its terrain, regions, labels, and answer markers keep their original scale and alignment.