What would be the nerdiest thing you could think of for a wine consulting company to do? It would probably be to launch a computer application. That is exactly what we did! I humbly accept the fact that I am a complete and total nerd…I did, after all, come from an IT background before getting into the world of wine. It was inevitable that the two of these interests would cross paths and with the release of our first “Wine Nerds” branded application, the marriage of these two worlds is well underway.
A Wine Themed Screen Saver…
I was shocked to discover that there wasn’t already a wine themed screen saver available on the Roku platform. The Roku platform has been around for a long time, it is very popular (for good reason!), and the development platform is very approachable. Screen savers are also a thing on Roku’s. People who use the Roku love to be able to customize their device with unique colors, themes, and screen savers. Finally, everyone who is a oenophile at heart will have a screen saver channel they can load and enjoy, fully embracing their inner wine nerd.
A Powerful Platform!
The Roku platform was an easy decision for us with regards to our inaugural platform/application. The power and popularity of this platform, I believe, is in its simplicity. The user interface is not overly complicated, refreshingly intuitive, and very simple. This has enabled the company to grow into one of the leading platforms for the connected TV market (if not THE leading platform). The number of people using Roku devices is truly staggering. The latest numbers, as of January of 2025, had 90 million people streaming with a Roku device. How many of these people do you think love wine? I believe a safe and conservative estimate would be maybe 88 or 89 million…at least!
More Than Pictures…
Most people would assume that a screen saver would simply be pictures that fade in/out over time. While it was tempting to do just that, we decided to make our screen saver a little more functional than just being a simple picture fader. Vineyards are beautiful places and a picture only screen saver could be pretty epic on its own. We, however, wanted our screen saver to align more with the three verbs listed on the home page of our website: “FACILITATE | EDUCATE | ADVOCATE“. We probably put a little of extra emphasis on the educate part and we also tried to make it fun at the same time. So the Wine Nerds screen saver that is available now contains the following screen types that are designed to educate the viewer and hopefully make the world of wine a little more approachable:
Question/Answer
Kind of a trivia themed portion of the screen saver that will test the viewers knowledge of basic wine facts.
Did You Know?
Random, but fun, facts about the world of wine that everyone should know.
Epic Pairings!
Classic food and wine pairings that should be tried by everyone.
Tips
General wine tips that will help everyone enjoy their wine a little more.
Geography
The world of wine is steeped in history as well as geography. We highlight some of the great wine regions of the world.
Wine Quotes
There are so many great one-liners about wine. This was fun to include in our screen saver!
Pictures
What would a screen saver be without epic pictures? We have also included pictures of some of the great wine regions of the world for your enjoyment.
Date Awareness
The app is also date aware and the first one or two screens will inform you if the current day is significant in the world of wine (e.g. “International Sauvignon Blanc Day”) or if something significant happened related to wine on that day in history.
Right now there are hundreds of individual screens that the application will cycle through and our goal is to quickly build this up to thousands of individual screens. I personally want this app to be something that is truly enjoyed by people and avoid the repetition and staleness that can sometimes plague screen savers that don’t have a large library. It we load this up with a lot of content, I think we will achieve that goal.
Customize It!
We also developed the app with the goal of making it customizable so that it can easily be used by wine shops and wineries who want a cool custom wine themed display in their shop or tasting room. Anyone can use the Wine Nerds screen saver for free but, for a small fee, you can customize the screen and content so that it displays your logo. Yes, you can use the hundreds of individual screens we put together and make it look like it is something you created. Your welcome!
You can also add you own pictures if you want to. The goal was to make the application appealing to bottle shops, wineries. vineyards, etc. Pretty much anyone who works in wine and interfaces with the public. Our hope is that this app can help move us a little bit closer to our goal to “FACILITATE | EDUCATE | ADVOCATE” for those interested in wine.
You can order this service online or contact us for more information.
Feedback?
If you are a user of the Roku platform, please load up the app and let us know what you think. The app is 100% free and there are no app upcharges or anything like that. It is and always will be free to use. You can add it to your account here:
https://my.roku.com/account/add/WineNerds
If you have ideas for content please let us know. Also, if you work for or represent a winery in one of the great wine regions of the world and want to include content about your establishment (e.g. pictures!), please contact us. We want to share as much information and pictures about the world of wine as possible.
Cheers!
