Wine Cellar

Overview

In Wine Cellar, you and your rival sommeliers compete to build the best collection of wines for your Client.

Over the course of 8 rounds, players bid Wine Bottle cards to determine the order in which they select Prize bottles.

Each bottle:

Has a Bid Value used during auctions.
Has a Wine Type.
Has a Country of Origin.
Has a series of Age Scores.

Your Client also has preferences for particular Wine Types and Countries of Origin.

At the end of the game, you score:

The Age Scores of the bottles in your cellar.
Bonuses for matching your Client's preferences.

The player with the highest total score wins.

Components

72 Wine Bottle cards
30 Client cards
1 Scorepad
1 Rulebook

Setup

Prepare the Wine Bottles

Use Wine Bottle cards according to the number of players:

Players	Wine Bottle Cards
1–2	1–18
3	1–27
4	1–36
5	1–45
6	1–54
7	1–63
8	All cards

Return all unused Wine Bottle cards to the box.

Deal Cards

Shuffle the Wine Bottle cards.
Deal 8 cards facedown to each player.
Place all remaining Wine Bottle cards faceup in a column in the middle of the table.

These faceup cards are the Prize bottles for the first round.

Choose Clients

Shuffle the Client cards.
Deal 2 Client cards facedown to each player.
Each player secretly looks at their 2 Clients.
Choose 1 Client to keep and place it faceup in front of you.
Discard the other Client.

You are now ready to begin.

Wine Bottle Cards

Each Wine Bottle card contains several pieces of information used during the game.

Bid Value

The Bid Value determines your position in the auction when the card is played as a Bid.

Higher Bid Values choose Prize bottles before lower Bid Values.

Wine Type

Wine Types include:

Rosé
Red
Sparkling
White

Wine Type may provide bonus points if it matches your Client's preferences.

Country of Origin

Each bottle comes from a particular country.

Clients award bonus points for bottles from preferred Countries of Origin.

Age Scores

Each bottle contains a row of 8 Age Scores.

These represent the quality of the wine depending on when it is opened.

The position of a bottle in your cellar determines which Age Score it uses at the end of the game.

How to Play

The game lasts 8 rounds.

Each round consists of:

Choose a Bid.
Reveal Bids.
Select Prize bottles.
Add bottles to your cellar.
Prepare the next auction.

1. Choose a Bid

Each player simultaneously chooses 1 Wine Bottle card from their hand.

Place the chosen card facedown in front of you.

This card is your Bid for the round.

2. Reveal Bids

Once everyone has selected a card:

Reveal all Bid cards simultaneously.

Compare their Bid Values.

The player with the highest Bid Value chooses first.

The player with the second-highest Bid Value chooses second.

Continue in descending Bid Value order until every player has chosen a Prize bottle.

3. Select Prize Bottles

When it is your turn to choose:

Take 1 available Prize bottle from the center of the table.

Each player takes exactly 1 Prize bottle during the round.

4. Build Your Cellar

Take your Prize bottle and turn it sideways to represent storing the bottle in your Client's cellar.

First Bottle

Your first Prize bottle begins your cellar.

Later Bottles

Every later bottle must be added to either:

The top of your existing cellar.

OR

The bottom of your existing cellar.

You may never insert a bottle between bottles already in your cellar.

This is important because the final position of each bottle determines which of its Age Scores will be used.

5. Prepare the Next Auction

After every player has selected a Prize bottle:

Move all Wine Bottle cards that were used as Bids into the center of the table.

These cards become the Prize bottles for the next round.

Begin the next round by choosing new Bid cards.

Game End

Continue playing until:

All Wine Bottle cards have been played.

AND

Every player has exactly 8 bottles in their cellar.

The game then ends and scoring begins.

Scoring

Your final score consists of:

Cellar Score + Client Bonuses

Cellar Score

Each Wine Bottle has a row of 8 Age Scores.

The position of the bottle in your cellar determines which score it uses.

Bottle 1 uses its 1st Age Score.
Bottle 2 uses its 2nd Age Score.
Bottle 3 uses its 3rd Age Score.
Bottle 4 uses its 4th Age Score.
Bottle 5 uses its 5th Age Score.
Bottle 6 uses its 6th Age Score.
Bottle 7 uses its 7th Age Score.
Bottle 8 uses its 8th Age Score.

The top bottle in your cellar is Bottle 1 and is the first bottle opened.

Add the Age Scores of all 8 bottles.

This is your Cellar Score.

Client Bonuses

Compare the bottles in your cellar with your Client card.

Clients award bonus points for:

Preferred Wine Type 1
Preferred Wine Type 2
Preferred Countries of Origin

Score the listed bonus for each matching bottle.

A single Wine Bottle may qualify for multiple Client bonuses.

For example, a bottle could simultaneously:

Match a preferred Wine Type.

AND

Come from a preferred Country of Origin.

In that case, it receives both bonuses.

Countries of Origin

When scoring your Client's Country of Origin bonus:

Only use the countries listed for the current number of players.

Final Score

Add together:

Cellar Score + Wine Type Bonuses + Country Bonuses

The player with the highest total score wins.

Tie

If players tie for the highest score:

The tied players share the victory.

Or play again!

Scoring Example

Suppose a player's 8 bottles produce the following Age Scores:

6 + 2 + 5 + 7 + 7 + 3 + 4 + 8 = 42

Their Cellar Score is therefore:

42 points

If their Client awards:

+6 for each matching Sparkling bottle
+1 for each matching White bottle
+3 for each matching Country of Origin bottle

and their cellar contains:

1 matching Sparkling bottle = 6 points
3 matching White bottles = 3 points
1 matching Country bottle = 3 points

their final score is:

42 + 6 + 3 + 3 = 54 points

Advanced 3-Game Variant

For a longer competition, play 3 connected games.

Your Wine Bottles carry forward from one game to the next, while your Client changes.

Advanced Setup

Prepare the normal number of Wine Bottle cards for your player count.

Players	Wine Bottle Cards
1–2	1–18
3	1–27
4	1–36
5	1–45
6	1–54
7	1–63
8	All cards

Return unused cards to the box.

Divide the Wine Bottles

Divide the Wine Bottle cards into 2 piles:

The lower-numbered half.
The higher-numbered half.

If there is an odd number of cards:

Put the extra card in the lower-numbered pile.

Example:

A 4-player game uses cards 1–36.

Divide them into:

Cards 1–18.
Cards 19–36.

Deal Starting Hands

Shuffle the 2 piles separately.

Deal each player:

4 cards from the lower-numbered pile.
4 cards from the higher-numbered pile.

Each player therefore begins with 8 Wine Bottle cards.

The remaining Wine Bottle cards become the Prize bottles for the first round as normal.

Prepare Clients

For 2 or 3 players:

Client cards are divided into A and B sets.
Choose either the A set or B set.
Use only Clients from the chosen set.
Return the other set to the box.

For 4 or more players:

Use all Client cards.

Shuffle the appropriate Client cards.

Deal 2 to each player.

Each player:

Chooses 1 Client.
Places it faceup.
Discards the other.

Playing the Advanced Variant

Play the first game according to the normal rules.

At game end:

Score the game normally.
Record everyone's score.
Do not declare the overall winner yet.

Preparing the Next Game

Discard the current Client cards.

Deal each player 2 new Client cards.

Each player:

Chooses 1.
Places it faceup.
Discards the other.

Next, take all 8 Wine Bottle cards from your previous cellar.

Those 8 cards become your starting hand for the next game.

The cards used for the final Bid of the previous game become the Prize bottles for the first round of the next game.

Then play another complete game.

Advanced Variant Game End

After completing 3 games:

Add together each player's scores from all 3 games.

The player with the highest combined score wins.

Solo Game: Playing Against Eno

Wine Cellar can also be played solo against an automated opponent named Eno.

Solo Setup

Use Wine Bottle cards numbered 1–18.

Shuffle them and deal:

8 cards facedown as your hand.
8 cards facedown as Eno's hand.

Place the remaining 2 Wine Bottle cards faceup as the Prize bottles for the first round.

Shuffle the Client cards and draw 2.

Choose 1 as your Client.
The other becomes Eno's Client.

Eno's Client determines which Prize bottle Eno prefers.

Solo Round

At the beginning of each round:

Choose 1 Wine Bottle from your hand.
Place it faceup as your Bid.

Eno then reveals Bid cards.

First Round

Reveal 2 cards from Eno's deck.

Later Rounds

One of Eno's Bid cards remains faceup from the previous round.

Reveal 1 new card from Eno's deck so that Eno again has 2 revealed Bid cards.

Compare your Bid Value against the higher of Eno's 2 Bid Values.

If You Win the Bid

If your Bid Value is higher than Eno's highest Bid Value:

You choose first from the 2 Prize bottles.
Add your chosen bottle to your cellar according to the normal placement rules.
Eno would receive the remaining Prize bottle, but Eno does not build a cellar.
Return Eno's Prize bottle to the box.

Then prepare the next round:

Your Bid card becomes a Prize bottle.
Eno's lower-value Bid card becomes the other Prize bottle.
Eno's higher-value Bid card remains faceup for the next round.

If Eno Wins the Bid

If your Bid Value is lower than Eno's highest Bid Value:

Eno chooses first.

Eno chooses the Prize bottle that best matches Eno's Client according to this priority:

First Wine Type bonus.
Second Wine Type bonus.
First Country of Origin bonus.
Highest Bid Value.

If neither Prize matches Eno's Client, or both Prize bottles are equally good matches:

Eno chooses the Prize bottle with the higher Bid Value.

Return Eno's chosen Prize bottle to the box.

You take the other Prize bottle and add it to your cellar according to the normal placement rules.