The Swirl, the Vivino Alternative That Wants to Change How We Choose Wine — And Where Its Founders Send You for Wine in Sweden

How do we normally choose wine? Usually by getting more of what we’ve already liked. But when we want to explore something new, we reach for apps like Vivino: we scan the bottle, we see that one has a 4.2 rating while the other has a 3.8. The decision appears to have been made for you.

Should we trust that? Well, we read the crowd’s comments, and if the average looks good enough, we tend to trust it and buy. Are those mass ratings really the right thing to trust — or should our own taste have the final say?

Swirl, a Stockholm-born wine app founded after a trip to Zanzibar in 2024, thinks that’s the wrong way to choose a bottle. Instead of asking whether thousands of other people liked a wine, Swirl is built around a more personal question: are you likely to like it?

The founders — Emil Hed (backend and sommelier), Jade Arana (product, design and growth), and Marcus Henningsson (head sommelier, formerly at 3-Michelin-star Frantzén) — describe Swirl as an “anti-crowd-rating” wine app. Its recommendation system learns from the wines individual users like and dislike, while the information behind each bottle comes from producers’ technical fact sheets rather than community-generated wine descriptions.

The company says it doesn’t use generative AI to make the recommendations; it has developed its own matching system around wine characteristics and individual taste.

Built on years of Michelin-level hospitality and mobile product experience, Swirl is now a mobile-first app on iOS and Android.

It’s an interesting proposition at a moment when drinking habits are changing, younger consumers appear less interested in traditional wine hierarchies, and even Scandinavia is beginning to develop a serious wine culture of its own.

Locals Insider spoke with Swirl’s founders and sommelier Marcus Henningsson about why crowd ratings may be making wine less personal, how the app learns your palate, why disliking a bottle can actually improve your recommendations, and where to drink — and make — interesting wine in Sweden.

Get the app, a good alternative to Vivino, here: swirlyourwines.com. Follow them @swirlyourwines

How a Summer in Zanzibar Became a Wine App Swirl That Bets Your Taste Matters More Than a 4.2 Wine Rating

Jade Arana

Our defining moment came when we returned from Zanzibar to Stockholm and showed what we’d built to our friends. Many of them work in the restaurant industry, and several are experienced wine drinkers and wine professionals. They loved the product, but more importantly, they pointed out something we hadn’t fully realized ourselves: the real problem wasn’t finding wine matches in the restaurant menu — most restaurants with big wine lists have sommeliers to help the guest — it was that every app relied on crowd-sourced ratings.

That insight changed everything. We started researching the competitive landscape to see if other wine apps had solved this differently. We quickly discovered that they all followed the same approach, using crowd-sourced scores as the foundation of their recommendations. There was very little innovation in the space.

That’s when we realized we had an opportunity to build something fundamentally different — a recommendation platform based on personal taste rather than the opinions of strangers.

“The real problem wasn’t finding wine matches in the restaurant menu — it was that every app relied on crowd-sourced ratings.”

Why Vivino’s Crowd Ratings Stop Meaning Anything

Marcus Henningsson

My perspective is that a lot of the other apps out there, like Vivino, are not really made for the individual user. Giving a non-personal experience within the app. The scores stop making sense and lose their value. While the rating system in Swirl provides an actual rating and recommendation that makes sense for the user. Personalized.

The “Second Cheapest Wine on the Menu” Is Still the Wrong Answer

Marcus Henningsson

If I have to choose, then I would go for “second cheapest wine on the menu” being worse, because it says nothing about quality or the style of wine that the wine drinker actually likes. Only about not choosing the cheapest one. If it comes to taste, that specific person might actually prefer the cheaper one. There are tons of wines that are well-made and quality-driven that don’t have to cost an arm or a leg.

“There are tons of wines that are well made and quality driven that don’t have to cost an arm or a leg.”

A Working Sommelier on Vocabulary, Humility, and the Guest Experience

Marcus Henningsson

Great question — I think it can do both in one way, boring answer but it really depends on how it is done. In my job as a sommelier who works on the floor as well, I encounter every type of guest with varying knowledge and experience in wine. It is very important that those working on the floor approach their own knowledge towards the guest in a humble way, not trying to show off or put the guest in their place. If approached correctly, I think it can be very giving for the everyday wine drinker. In the Swirl app, we try to educate the user in a relaxed way that still keeps it fun and brings a better wine experience and recommendation for the user.

“It is very important that us working on the floor approaches our own knowledge towards the guest in a humble way — not trying to show off or put the guest in their place.”

Scan, Answer, Rate Five Wines: Inside Swirl’s First 60 Seconds

Jade Arana

In the first 60 seconds of using Swirl, our goal is to help users understand the app’s core value. We keep the onboarding simple by letting them scan a wine bottle and instantly receive reliable, factual information about that wine. We intentionally avoid asking too many questions upfront because we don’t want to overwhelm new users.

Once they’re inside the app, we guide them through building their taste profile by answering a short questionnaire and rating five wines.

The questionnaire gives us a strong starting point for recommendations, but it’s those first five ratings that really allow us to personalize the experience. As users rate more wines, the recommendations become increasingly accurate.

What makes Swirl different is that we don’t rely on crowdsourced wine information. Instead, our wine data comes directly from producers’ technical fact sheets, giving us reliable information about each wine’s characteristics. By combining that factual data with each user’s personal preferences, we can recommend wines based on what they’re actually likely to enjoy — not the average.

Founder Access: Unlimited Everything, With the First Year Free at Launch

Emil Hed and Jade Arana

Right now, our paid version is centered around unlimited usage. Subscribers get unlimited scans, unlimited recommendations, and unrestricted access to the app, so they never have to worry about running out of credits.

At the moment, we offer a single annual subscription. During our launch period, users can claim their first year for free simply by downloading the app and activating the offer. This is a limited-time promotion that we’ll be removing soon.

In parallel, we’re developing additional premium features. Our long-term vision is for the subscription to offer much more than unlimited usage, with several new features and experiences that add even more value for our users.

The Ratings Loop: How Swirl Learns From Every Wine You Score

Emil Hed and Jade Arana

We don’t decide what’s a good wine and what’s a bad wine — that’s not what Swirl is about. Our mission is to help people discover wines they’ll genuinely enjoy. If a wine matches your taste, then it’s a good wine for you. That’s really at the core of our brand. We don’t believe there are objectively “good” or “bad” wines. There are simply wines that fit your taste and wines that don’t.

The personalization happens continuously. Every time you rate a wine, the algorithm learns and immediately updates your taste profile. The key is that you need to rate the wine — simply scanning it isn’t enough to improve your recommendations. In fact, rating wines you don’t enjoy is just as valuable as rating the ones you love. Knowing what you dislike helps us understand your preferences even better, allowing us to make increasingly accurate recommendations over time.

“We don’t believe there are objectively ‘good’ or ‘bad’ wines. There are simply wines that fit your taste and wines that don’t.”

Marcus’s Fingerprint on the Algorithm — Without Personally Recommending Wines

Emil Hed and Jade Arana

Just to clarify, our recommendation system is not based on Marcus personally recommending wines to users. We’ve built a proprietary recommendation system that learns each user’s taste preferences by understanding which wine characteristics they enjoy. Whenever a user scans a wine, the system analyses those characteristics and predicts how well the wine matches their personal taste.

Marcus’ role is in designing the logic behind the system. His expertise helps us determine which wine attributes are actually important, how they should be weighted, and how to accurately model someone’s flavor profile. In other words, he ensures the recommendation engine reflects real wine knowledge rather than assumptions.

We don’t use AI to generate recommendations. The matching is powered by our own proprietary recommendation system, built specifically to understand personal taste.

Drinking Less, Drinking Better: The Global Shift Reshaping Wine

Emil Hed and Jade Arana

The biggest shift we’re seeing across the wine industry is that consumers are drinking more intentionally. While overall wine consumption is declining, people are choosing higher-quality bottles, exploring new styles, and moderating their alcohol intake.

White and sparkling wines continue to outperform red, while interest in lower-alcohol and orange wines is growing. Consumers are also becoming more willing to try wines from emerging regions beyond the traditional wine countries.

“Consumers are drinking more intentionally.”

Younger Drinkers Spend More Per Bottle — Even as Volumes Fall

Emil Hed and Jade Arana

We can’t confirm this from our own data, as we don’t collect users’ ages beyond verifying they’re of legal drinking age. However, it aligns with broader industry research showing that younger consumers are generally drinking less but are willing to spend more on bottles they expect to enjoy. For wineries, that means quality, authenticity, and helping consumers find the right wine for their personal taste are becoming increasingly important.

Sweden’s Wine Industry Is Growing Fast — And Its Best Decades Are Still Ahead

Marcus Henningsson

Yes, we are! It’s amazing to see the wine industry in Sweden and our neighboring countries growing and evolving. It’s very interesting to see where the industry is in 10, 15, 20 years.

Swirl Wine App Founders’ Guide to Swedish Wineries & Stockholm

Kullabergs, Arilds, Thora: The Three Swedish Wineries Worth Watching Now

Marcus Henningsson

There has been a boom in recent years, as mentioned above, but I think there are a couple that really stand out — Kullabergs Vingård, Arilds Vingård, and Thora Vingård. With Kullabergs Vingård at the forefront. Producing wines with a clear style, character, and high quality. Their Cuvée Immelen can be a very interesting comparison to a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire.

Where to Actually Go: Kullaberg’s Peninsula and Ästad’s Michelin Spa Hotel

Marcus Henningsson

To be honest, I think that all of them deserve a visit, but I think that two of them are worth a detour.

Kullaberg, with a newly built, state-of-the-art winery and truly beautiful surroundings. The Kullaberg peninsula is worth a visit on its own.

Ästad Vingård has a beautiful spa hotel connecting the winery, also with a one Michelin-starred restaurant, Äng.

The Best Stockholm Wine Bars & Restaurants, According to Swirl’s Founders

For Marcus, the best wines and experiences in Stockholm are at Ett Hem, Bord, Bambi, Babette, and Cafe Nizza.

For Emil and Jade: Bar Savant, Bar Ninja, and Svartengrens.

See recommendations from Yash Lysenko’s Santorini wine tour.