Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of sipfluent.com and the SipFluent apps (the “Service”), provided by SipFluent (“SipFluent,” “we,” “us”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Who can use SipFluent

You must be of legal drinking age where you live (21 in the United States) to use the Service. By using it, you confirm that you are. You are responsible for following the laws that apply to you, including laws about buying and drinking alcohol.

2. Your account

Give accurate information when you sign up and keep it up to date. Keep your password secure; you are responsible for activity under your account. Tell us promptly at the address below if you believe your account has been used without your permission. You may delete your account at any time from your Account page.

3. Drink responsibly

SipFluent is a tool for learning about wine. It does not encourage drinking, and nothing in the Service is medical, health or safety advice. Never drink and drive, and do not drink if you are pregnant, taking medication that interacts with alcohol, or otherwise should not. Tasting exercises can be done by spitting rather than swallowing, as professionals do.

4. Study content and exams

SipFluent is an independent study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for courses or examinations from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET®), the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Cicerone® Certification Program, the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), the Society of Wine Educators, or any other organization. We do not guarantee that using the Service will lead to passing any exam or earning any qualification. WSET® and Systematic Approach to Tasting® are registered trademarks of their owner.

5. AI-generated and automated content

Parts of the Service use artificial intelligence and automated rules, for example to read wine labels, identify wines, suggest food pairings and drinking windows, recall critic score ranges, and hold conversations with the Sidekick. This content can be incomplete or wrong. We mark estimated or unverified information where we can, but you should use your own judgment and check anything important, such as allergens, vintages or prices, before relying on it.

6. Your content

You own the notes, ratings, photos and other content you add to the Service (“Your Content”). You give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, process and display Your Content only as needed to operate, improve and provide the Service to you, including sending it to the service providers described in our Privacy Policy. If you choose to share content, for example a tasting link or your leaderboard standing, you also allow others to view it as that feature intends. This license ends when you delete Your Content or your account, except for copies kept in backups for a limited time or as required by law.

You are responsible for Your Content and confirm you have the right to add it. Do not upload photos or other material that you do not have permission to use.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• break the law, or use the Service to promote the sale of alcohol to anyone under legal drinking age;
• post content that is unlawful, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit, or that infringes someone else's rights;
• host events that are misleading, unsafe or unlawful;
• access other people's accounts or data without permission, or try to get around security or usage limits;
• scrape, copy or resell the Service or its content, or use automated means to access it other than through features we provide;
• interfere with or overload the Service, or introduce malware.

8. Events and other members

Some events listed in the Service are hosted by members or by third parties such as venues and ticket sellers. We do not organize, supervise or guarantee them, and are not responsible for what happens at them. Use good judgment when meeting people or attending events.

9. Subscriptions and payments

Some features require a paid subscription. Prices and features are shown before you buy. Payments are processed by Stripe under its terms. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period until you cancel. A free trial, if offered, converts to a paid subscription when it ends unless you cancel before then. You can cancel at any time from the billing page; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period, and you keep access until then. Except where the law requires otherwise, payments are not refundable and we do not give credits for partial periods. We may change prices with notice before your next renewal. In-app purchases are not offered; plans are managed on the web.

10. Our content and the Service

The Service, including its software, design, tasting frameworks, lexicon, questions and explanations, is owned by SipFluent or its licensors and protected by intellectual property laws. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your own non-commercial purposes under these Terms. Some reference data comes from open sources under their own licenses, such as Wikidata and OpenStreetMap.

11. Third-party services

The Service links to or relies on services we do not control, such as Google and Apple sign-in, Stripe, maps and event listings. Their own terms and policies apply to your use of them, and we are not responsible for them.

12. Changes and termination

We may change, add or remove features of the Service at any time. We may suspend or end your access if you break these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Service or other users. You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. Sections that by their nature should survive termination, including ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability and dispute terms, will survive.

13. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR SECURE, OR THAT ITS CONTENT IS ACCURATE.

14. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SIPFLUENT AND ITS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR $50. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations, so they may not apply to you.

15. Indemnity

You agree to defend and indemnify SipFluent against claims, losses and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from Your Content, your use of the Service in breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of others.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state in which SipFluent is established, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Before filing a claim, you agree to contact us and try to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have under consumer protection laws that cannot be waived.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. If we make significant changes, we will let you know by email or in the Service before they take effect. Continuing to use the Service after that means you accept the updated Terms.

18. Contact

Questions about these Terms: hello@sipfluent.com.