No words to describe this wine? You don’t need any, thanks to Wine-Oji

Above: Wine-Oji, an image-based wine guide

‘NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS WINE? YOU DON’T NEED ANY, THANKS TO WINE-OJI®!’

There’s a new way to communicate the way a wine smells and tastes. And it’s wordless.

It’s Wine-oji®, the world’s first visual wine tasting language developed right here in New Zealand.

“We set out to solve the perennial problem of giving people consistent, accurate descriptions when they ask ‘what’s in the bottle?’” says Jessica Wood, head sommelier at Wellington’s Noble Rot Wine Bar. “We came up with a modern, pictorial language to help people discover wine’s complexities in a simple, engaging way.”

Wood’s co-conspirators are the two other members of Noble Rot’s management/sommelier team, Maciej Zimny and Josh Pointon. They worked on the project during lockdown. With the help of a local graphic design studio, a new emoji-style wine tasting language – aptly called Wine-oji® – came to life. 

The Wine-olojists have also created Wine-oji profiles of Classic Wine Styles of New Zealand and The World, to gamify learning about regional wine flavour profiles. It’s a whole new approach to wine – less fussy, more fun. 

Excitement is building across the New Zealand wine industry as producers begin to recognise new opportunities for engaging the next generation of wine drinkers. “This opportunity is an absolute game-changer in how we communicate about wine to the global wine imbiber – bring it on!” says Ben Glover of Zephyr Wines in Marlborough. 

Another Wine-oji convert is Mick Hodson, GM of Wairarapa winery Nga Waka. “We love the concept,” he says. “It’s simple, educational, consumer-friendly and fun – exactly what our customers want. The Wine-oji team are proven professionals and the impressive amount of promotional material they provide is easy to incorporate into your existing marketing activity. If I was a wine writer I’d score it 98/100.” 

Larry McKenna, General Manager at Escarpment Vineyard, Martinborough, declares the concept ‘revolutionary’. “The idea is absolutely fantastic. It’s bringing Tesla to the wine world.” 

Wine-oji® launched as Noble Rot Wine Bar was named as one of the 50 Best Places to Drink Wine in New Zealand and Australia by Gourmet Traveller WINE. Maciej Zimny said the team was honoured by the accolade. 

ABOUT WINE-OJI 

Meet Wine-oji®, an image-based guide to understanding what your wine tastes like before you’ve even popped the top off the bottle. Enjoy wine more, and get more of what you like. Based on the ‘emoji’, the Wine-oji® imagery creates a visual connection with the flavours of your wine. It’s fun, it’s playful, and it tells you exactly what’s in the bottle. It’s wine without words. Find out more: www.wineoji.com. Wine without words.