Delicious game about grape
varieties and wine regions
Who can play:
Great for groups of 2-7 persons, family and friends.
The advantage of the game:
You have fun while learning about grape varieties.
The purpose of the game:
The person who gets rid of their cards first — wins the game.
What’s inside the box?
• 110 cards with 35 grape varieties from 73 wine regions
• Rule book
Play time per round:
5 to 15 minutes
Age: Everybody who is capable of reading the names of grape varieties, knows flags and wants to have fun can play.
Have Fun and Learn about Wine
Greetings to the wine enthusiasts!
I’ve been lucky enough to visit many wonderful wine regions. It’s interesting to learn how the same variety expresses itself in different regions of the world thanks to local climate, landscape, winegrowing traditions and many more factors. It inspired me to bring together the most important grape varieties and regions where these varieties are popular, and combine these in one delightful and educational card game.
What’s so good about GRAPES? While it is a fun and competitive game to play, it does not require profound knowledge in order to win. On the contrary, you will learn as you play. And if luck is on your side even occasionally, and you are paying attention to your opponents’ moves, then you can easily win.
The game will help you learn:
• popular grape varieties of grapes;
• regions where they are widely planted or express the variety in the best way;
• regional names for the same variety, e.g. PRIMITIVO and ZINFANDEL; MOURVEDRE, MONASTRELL and MATARO; PINOT NOIR, PINOT NERO and SPÄTBURGUNDER; ALBARIÑO and ALVARINHO and so on.
If GRAPES makes you smile and inspires you to learn more about the appellations, sub-regions and areas, about international or indigenous varieties, then GRAPES’ mission is accomplished!
What’s so good about GRAPES? While it is a fun and competitive game to play, it does not require profound knowledge in order to win. On the contrary, you will learn as you play. And if luck is on your side even occasionally, and you are paying attention to your opponents’ moves, then you can easily win.
Make the most of your moments together by savouring your favorite wines (grape juice for kids!) while chilling with your friends and family, having fun playing the game!
Hope you have an excellent experience with GRAPES! Cheers!
Sincerely Yours, Natalia Vremea,
DipWSET, author of GRAPES
How to Play GRAPES
Matching cards
RED WINE
FROM OLD WORLD
FROM OLD WORLD
WHITE WINE
FROM OLD WORLD
FROM OLD WORLD
RED WINE
FROM NEW WORLD
FROM NEW WORLD
WHITE WINE
FROM NEW WORLD
FROM NEW WORLD
Start of the game
Shuffle the deck thoroughly before you start.
At the start of the game each player receives 5 cards dealt facedown. The remainder of the deck is placed facedown. The first card from the deck is turned over and starts the game, unless it is a Special Card, in which case it should be inserted back into the middle of the deck, and the next card turned over. To decide who plays first, either choose randomly or use a wine based criterion; such as someone who has or hasn’t drunk wine recently. In subsequent games the player who has won the previous game goes first.
The goal is to get rid of all cards in your hand.
How to play
Each player puts down one card. The card should match either by wine type (distinguished by card color), by COUNTRY (using the flags on each card) or by GRAPE VARIETY.
For example, red NEW WORLD can be placed on top of any red NEW WORLD (i.e., SHIRAZ from Australia on top of CABERNET SAUVIGNON from the USA) (by suit); any Italian wine on top of another white or red Italian wine (by country), any CHARDONNAY on top of another CHARDONNAY. If the drawn card matches the card being shown, it can be played immediately. Otherwise, the card is kept, and the game moves on to the next player in turn. If the player either has no matching card or they choose not to play any of their cards, they must draw a card from the deck, if necessary, repeatedly, until they draw a card entitling them to go.
As well as Matching Cards, Special Cards in the deck can be played to change the flow of the game making it more interesting for the players.
The regions on the cards are not used for matching but add extra background information — they indicate where the variety shows its best quality or is widely planted.
ATTENTION!
The game continues until a player has 1 card left. At that point they must say “GRAPES”. If they fail to say “GRAPES” before the next player has taken their turn, they must draw two cards from the deck. “GRAPES” needs to be said each time any player is left with 1 card. If more than 4 people are playing, the cards in the draw pile can quickly run out. In this case, you can flip and shuffle the discard pile.
How to win!
A player wins by running out of cards in their hand.
Special Cards
The +1 SPARKLING card forces the next player to draw 1 card from the deck and to miss their go. This card matches all the white wines. It also matches the other +1 GSM card; in which case the next player takes 1+1=2 cards and misses their go. The next move continues with any (white from the OLD or the NEW WORLD).
Sparkling wine is made in every wine region, most often from white grapes.
The +1 GSM card forces the next player to draw 1 card from the deck and to miss their go. This card matches all the red wines. It also matches the other +1 SPARKLING card; in which case the next player takes 1+1=2 cards and misses their go. The next move continues with any (red from the OLD or the NEW WORLD).
GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) is a famous red blend produced in both OLD and NEW WORLDS.
The +3 ROSÉ card forces the next player to draw 3 cards from the deck and miss their go. If there are only 2 players, the other player draws 3 cards, but does not miss their go. The card +3 ROSÉ can be topped with the cards +1 GSM and +1 SPARKLING. In this case, the next player takes 3 + 1 = 4 cards and misses their go. Their next move is made in accordance with the card that preceded +3 ROSÉ.
Since Rosé is suitable for so many occasions, this card matches all types of Matching Cards, however, it doesn’t match the Special Cards (except the cards +1, which can be topped with +3).
The FRENCH OAK card must match red and white OLD WORLD cards. The AMERICAN OAK must match red and white NEW WORLD. The FRENCH OAK also matches the AMERICAN OAK and vice versa. The next player must follow the OAK: any NEW WORLD after AMERICAN OAK and any OLD WORLD after FRENCH OAK.
The OAK cards force the next player to miss a go. This is because while wine is maturing in oak barrels it implies a player must wait.
The ORANGE card forces play to change direction; from clockwise to counterclockwise and vice versa. It can be played after any Matching card. If there are only 2 players, the other player misses their go.
The name alludes to the fact that orange wines are a distinct trend in winemaking, different from reds and whites.
The CHANGE card allows the player to change play to any type of Matching Card (red or white, NEW or OLD WORLDS). It can be played after any Matching Card. With this card the player is reminded of the “veraison”, or onset of ripening, when each red grape bunch shows multicolored berries.
The Unicorn Winery card is a wild card that allows the player to choose its type or action from any of the Matching or Special Cards. It can be played at any time. Unicorn Winery is a micro-winery from Purcari Valley in Moldova — a wine country between the Old and the New Worlds.
Unicorn Winery has high quality classic varietals along with exclusive indigenous grapes. It will be the ideal pairing during the Grapes game.
The USA and FRANCE cards do not perform any action; however, they must match any card from France or the USA respectively. Any Old World card can be played after the FRANCE card. Any New World card can be played after the USA card.
The USA is the #1 country in the New World in terms of wine production and the leader in global wine consumption. The so-called “international varieties” (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, etc.) are actually of French origin.
Please keep in mind that several grape varieties are known by different names in different countries. Therefore, the corresponding cards will match based on their variety attribute. Find out more about grape varieties and the GRAPES game on the @grapeswinegame Instagram page.
Where to Find GRAPES
The official distributor of GRAPES in the USA is the Deluxe Wine & Spirits Co. distributing company, IL. https://deluxewineandspirits.com/
We will keep you updated about store locations where you can buy GRAPES in the USA.
The Russian version of the GRAPES you can find at FORT distributor and @winecas.es