Reach for a tag when the answer is yes or no, and a custom field when the answer is a number, a date or text you want to search. The one decision worth making before you create anything is whether a custom field belongs to the wine or to the bottle, because a field cannot move between the two afterwards.
⭐ Custom fields require a paid plan. Tags work on every plan — when a collection reaches its tag limit, Create new tag shows an upgrade screen instead of the form, and the tags you already have keep working.
Which one to reach for
The question you want to ask | Use |
Which of these are gifts? Which are for the restaurant? | A tag — a bottle either carries it or it does not, which is exactly what a tag is |
Which score above 93? Which should I drink before June? | A number or date custom field — both filter as a range, with Min and Max |
Which of these mention the auction house? | A text custom field — text filters on Contains |
Both end up in the same place. Tap Filter on your collection page and tags have their own Tags section, while your custom fields add two more, Custom label fields and Custom bottle fields. Either can also be one of the four details you print on a barcode label.
Label or bottle: decide first
Custom fields come in two kinds, created in different places, and there is no way to convert one into the other. Pick by asking whether the value would be the same on every bottle of that wine and vintage.
Label custom field | Bottle custom field | |
Holds | One value shared by every bottle of that wine and vintage | A value on one individual bottle |
Suits | A critic you follow, a drink-by date, your own verdict on the wine | Which case it arrived in, who gave it to you, a fill level |
Survives editing the vintage | — it stays behind with the old year | ✅ it follows the bottle |
Two things that catch people out
Do not give a label field and a bottle field the same name. In a CSV export the two collapse into a single column and the bottle value wins, so a name clash quietly hides half your data.
Nothing imports your tags. No spreadsheet, CellarTracker or Vivino import brings tags across, so tagging is a job for afterwards — and bulk edit is the way to do it. On iPhone and iPad, tap the selection circle on each wine, then ⋯ → Tags.
Collection → select bottles → ⋯ → Tags
Next steps
How to manage tags — creating, renaming, colouring and deleting them
How to manage custom fields — both kinds, and the three field types
How to create a quick filter — saving the filter you just built so it sits on your home screen