Wine Games.

Over the last few months I have been researching ways to make a wine tasting night with friends a memorable one. There are a number of ways this can be done, with varying degrees of interactivity, complexity and enjoyment. Below is a guide to a few of the types of wine nights you can host, and if you gather a group of like-minded friends large enough, you can try out all of these games to discover your favourite way to turn a simple wine tasting into a proper wine event.

Fine Wine Night

If you are reasonably new to wine appreciation, you would do well to have a few simple Fine Wine Nights, where a number of bottles of good provenance and varying varieties are enjoyed and analysed by the participants. The idea of warming into wine games like this is to familiarise yourself with the characteristics that good examples of each variety exhibit, and to explore the notion of terroir (the effect that region, climate, soil types etc have on the wines). This isn’t so much a ‘game’ but a way of introducing friends to wine appreciation, as well as increasing your wine knowledge.

The Options Game

The next stage in wine gaming is the Options Game. I have seen some attribute the invention of this game to the late, great Len Evans, however with its brilliant simplicity, it must have been played for a long time before. There are a number of ways this can be played, with participants free to alter the rules slightly to suit their experience, as well as find an incarnation that best suits their tastes. The basic premise of the game is as follows:

·         Each guest brings a bottle of wine. They must not disclose any information about the wine to anyone else. The wine should be able to capture varietal character and terroir.

·         Each guest will then take turns at exhibiting their selections.

·     All other guests are participants, and points or prizes are awarded for correctly identifying characteristics about the wine. These characteristics can include grape variety, vintage, region and even the wine maker / winery.

The beauty of this game is that even more inexperienced drinkers have successes over wine professionals, as they tend not to over-think their answers.

Blind Tasting

Blind tastings can be conducted in a number of ways, however the overall goal is usually to determine the favourite of the group of a particular variety, region, winery etc. These nights usually involve an organiser purchasing the wine on behalf of the participants. The participants then taste all of the wines ‘blind’, with no knowledge of the wine at all. A common scoring method is used for everyone to rank the wines, and scores are collected at the end of the evening to determine an overall winner. These nights can have a number of themes including:

·      Old World vs New World – A grape variety is selected from a region in the Old World (France, Italy etc) to match up with a region in the New World (USA, Australia, New Zealand). Examples are Pinot Noir from Burgundy and Mornington Penninsula or Pinot Gris from Italy and New Zealand.

·     Regional Championships – A grape variety is selected, and compared across the various regions in the same country, e.g. Shiraz from Margaret River, Barossa, Hunter Valley, Limestone Coast, Heathcote etc.

·       Red or White – A test of the senses designed to challenge peoples pre-conceived notions of grape varieties. A vast array of varieties that are entirely red or white are compared to find a winner. An example would be the purchasing of entirely white varieties, and including Sauvignon Blanc, Marsanne, Semillon, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Arneis, Vermentino etc.

The options for this game are nearly endless, and themes can be rotated each night to ensure variety.

Blind Buying

A night that is usually combined with the options Game or the Blind Tasting. Each guest bring s a bottle they have found that have either never heard of before, or never tried the variety/region. Examples would be rarer varieties from hard to find regions in local shops. These could include Pinotage from South Africa, Gamay Noir from New Zealand etc.

Tasting Note Game

Each wine, either common or exotic, is placed on a table next to a large sheet of butchers paper. As guests work their way around the table, they add creative and unusal tasting notes for flavours they can taste and smell. If other guests agree with a strange find, they tick the note. Once each guest has had a chance to taste all of the wines, and provide affirmations of others’ notes, the popular notes are consolidated and provide a communal tasting note for the wine.

Of course there are 100’s of games that can be played with wine at these types of evenings, these are just some suggestions of a few. Ideally, you will have between 5 and 12 participants to ensure sufficient variety in the bottles opened.