Cellarmasters to the rescue! On Thursday 25 July 2019, they’re launching BYO Finder – a free app that helps wine lovers discover BYO restaurants in their area and recommends wines to go with their food.
That’s right – from now on, any time you want to find a BYO restaurant, They’re starting off with over 3,200 BYO restaurants on the app – with more to come.
To say we’re excited about this at The Plus Ones is an understatement. Gone are the days when we have to drink all our wine at home because we don’t even think about BYOing our favourite bottles. With just a few taps, all the info is available on the BYO Finder app.
To celebrate the launch, the Cellarmasters team invited select tech and lifestyle journalists to experience an evening at Cipri Italian in Paddington – which just to happens to offer BYO Sunday to Thursday each week. We were treated to a veritable Italian feast, all paired with wines available from Cellarmasters, of course.
Paired with a Wordsmith Prosecco NV, we started with beetroot & gorgonzola arancini and salmon tartlets. Next, for the Primi course, we indulged in a choice of Stefano de Pieri di Qualita Fleurieu Peninsula Vino Rosato or Vementino. To eat: grilled calamari, heirloom beetroot & buffalo mozzarella, and beef carpaccio with quail eggs. Secondi saw us drinking Altero Sangiovese and Montepulciano, both 2018 vintages. The Secondi food ranged from twice-cooked suckling pig (my pick) to deboned lamb shoulder (my friend Raf from Travel & Lifestyle‘s choice). Finally, out came the dessert for the Dolci course. All of the food was incredibly delicious, and paired amazingly with the wines. It was the perfect demonstration of just why BYO is so popular.
Along with the food came an intro to the thinking behind the app, along with a live demo. The Cellarmasters have poured time, effort, and money into creating the most user-friendly app possible, that anyone can easily use. I have to say, I’ll be downloading it immediately.
You can search by location, but best of all, there’s also information on which wines to pair with which types of cuisine (so you can pick up the right bottle en route to your local Indian place, say). There’s also the opposite function: have an amazing bottle you picked up during your last trip to Orange? Take it out to a restaurant whose food will best complement the variety.
You can also explore other sections of the app — there are event listings, plus articles like ‘9 Things You Didn’t Know About Pinot Noir’. There’s something for all wine lovers.
The app is entirely free — both to use and for restaurants to be listed — so don’t hesitate to nominate your favourite BYO place if it’s not already on there. The Cellarmasters team expect more capabilities as the BYO Finder app community grows, too, so it will only get better as time goes on.
I can’t wait to start utilising the BYO Finder app with all the amazing bottles I pick up on trips to wine regions. Finally, I’ll be able to do them justice with the cuisines best suited to the wine style. Thank you so much, Cellarmasters, for launching the BYO Finder app and helping Aussies BYO to their heart’s content.
– Theresa
Co-founder of The Plus Ones, Theresa wrote this article while staring longingly at her wine rack and imagining all the BYO possibilities.
Download the BYO Finder app on Apple or Android from Thursday 25 July 2019.
Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Cellarmasters.
Image credit: Cellarmasters.
