Terms of Service
Socrates Wine · McKillop Creative LLC · Last updated November 10, 2026
What this is
Socrates Wine is software: an educational, guided wine-tasting companion. We sell software and education about tasting — never alcohol. We do not sell, deliver, source, or facilitate the purchase of alcoholic beverages.
A learning tool — not an invitation to drink
This service is a learning tool for tasting education and appreciation. It is not an inducement to consume alcohol, and nothing in it should be read as encouragement to drink more, drink faster, or drink at all. We encourage moderation and discourage irresponsible consumption; the guide is designed never to encourage volume, speed, or intoxication, and to wind a session down if a user appears impaired. If you choose to taste along, doing so responsibly and lawfully is your decision and your responsibility. You can use every part of the service — the method, the deduction, the Reveal, the Training Room — without drinking at all.
21+ only
You must be of legal drinking age in your jurisdiction (21+ in the United States) to use this service. Please sip responsibly.
An AI guide running a human method
The tasting method is human-authored, built by a retired college professor, author, and grape enthusiast; it is a way of teaching, not a wine credential. The guide that runs it in this app is an AI. AI-generated descriptions are informed opinions drawn from publicly documented tasting records and from each grape's typical profile; they are likelihoods, not guarantees, and may occasionally be imperfect. When the public record on a bottle is thin, the guide reads the grape instead and tells you so plainly. The guide runs on Anthropic's Claude models. We use more than one model in that family across a session — for example, one for the opening and the Reveal and another for the reads in between — and we may change which model handles which step as we tune quality, speed, and cost. The Method, the public record it is graded against, and the Reveal are the same whichever model is running.
No health claims — and no health advice
Nothing in this service is medical, wellness, or health advice. Socrates Wine makes no claims that alcohol consumption provides any health benefit.
Memberships, cancellation & the Triple Pour Guarantee
- Free tier: your first guided session is free, with no membership, email or payment details required. A second free session is available; its Reveal is delivered once you provide an email address (the full Reveal is also emailed to you) or hold a read pack or membership. One time per device, not a monthly allowance.
- Socrates Journal: three free journal entries a day; a membership, a gift seat or a Journal year covers every entry.
- Read packs: a one-time purchase of a set number of guided sessions (5, 10 or 20), tied to the email used at checkout. Packs never expire and never renew; one session is spent each time a new guided session begins. The 30-day guarantee below applies.
- The Free Week (Standard trial): a payment method is taken at checkout and nothing is charged for 8 days; the Standard membership then continues at $9.99/month from day 9 unless cancelled before then. The continuation price and date are stated on the checkout page and on the offer itself, Stripe emails a reminder before the first monthly charge, and cancellation is two clicks in the customer portal. One trial per person.
- Founder's Seat: an annual membership ($59/year) that renews yearly at the price you locked at checkout unless cancelled. The renewal price and term are stated on the checkout page. The Annual membership ($79.99/year) renews yearly on the same terms.
- Gift seats: a one-time purchase of three months of membership for someone else. The three months begin when the recipient redeems the code, never at purchase. A gift seat never renews and never charges the recipient.
- Sister apps: an active paid membership or gift seat on Socrates Wine also unlocks Socrates Bourbon, our sister app, on the same email for as long as it stays active, and the reverse. A free week, a read pack or a Journal year does not carry across, except that one Journal year covers the journal in both apps.
- Paid memberships bill through Stripe until cancelled. Cancel any time — a couple of clicks in the customer portal (Manage subscription), or email [email protected] and we'll handle it for you the same business day. Access runs through the period already paid.
- The Triple Pour Guarantee: guaranteed worth it, or a full refund. Email [email protected] within 30 days of your first payment for a membership, a read pack or a gift seat, and we'll refund everything you've paid in those 30 days in full, no conditions. The guarantee covers that first 30 days only, not later renewals or billing periods. Your Palate Profile is private to your account and stays yours either way.
- Founder's Seat pricing is locked for the life of the continuous membership.
Fair use
Memberships are for personal, non-commercial use by one sipper. Automated, scripted, or bulk access, and attempts to extract the underlying method, prompts, or datasets, are prohibited and may result in termination.
Intellectual property
Socrates Wine, its tasting method and its grape profiles are the property of McKillop Creative LLC. Producer, wine and place names belong to their respective owners and appear only as factual references. We are not affiliated with any winery or wine-education body.
Liability
The service is provided "as is." To the maximum extent permitted by law, McKillop Creative LLC disclaims all warranties and limits its total liability to the amount you paid in the twelve months before a claim.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in South Carolina, unless applicable law gives you a different right.
Changes
We may update these terms as the service evolves. The "last updated" date above will change when we do, and continued use after an update means you accept the revised terms. Material changes to paid-membership terms will be communicated before they take effect.