What is Wine Roulette? Hosting Tips & Tricks

If you’re planning to host your friends but want to spice it up a little bit, we have an idea for you – wine roulette. You might not have heard of it, but it certainly has been gaining traction both in the gambling and wine-lover community. If this sounds like a bit of you, make sure to read everything you need to know about this below.

How to Play Wine Roulette

The premise is pretty simple, you have to buy wine, which already sounds like a great start to us. However, there is a fun little twist here – you have to choose the wine with closed eyes. If you can’t get the person manning the store to help you, consider grabbing a friend who won’t be involved in the game.

Once that is done, categorize the wine with the typical characteristics that would be noted, such as grape type, region, year, and so on and so forth. Then, apply this information to a special roulette wheel that will feature this information instead of numbers.

This is easily comparable to live roulette games, found on platforms like CafeCasino, which are also centered around the element of unpredictability. Just like with wine roulette, the classic alternative is a game of chance where the main excitement comes from hoping you guess correctly. However, the gameplay certainly differs – wine roulette functions like a guessing game with rewards, while live roulette involves placing wagers and getting paid based on bet type and outcome.

Accompanied by a human professional dealer, live roulette is a well-known casino game that operates upon defined rules and procedures. Wine roulette is more informal and variable – you get to determine the rewards and categories of chance. Its concept is light-hearted, so you can certainly neglect probability to enjoy it to the fullest, as the math in classic roulette is too complicated.

Given that, make sure to cover the bottles so your guests can’t see what you’re pouring, and give them each a glass. You can always offer some hints to help them out, but the furthest you should go is the wine region. After all, it wouldn’t be as fun if they couldn’t figure it out themselves.

Unlike with typical roulette where you bet on the ball falling into a specific pocket, each correct guess is rewarded with a card of varying value. One mistake will set them fully back, akin to how if you guess incorrectly, you don’t win your bet.

To win the game, the player has to have the highest sum of cards but can’t exceed 21. Classic roulette obviously doesn’t have this limit, as you can continue playing for as long as you want and win multiple times rather than just once. Still, it’s an interesting variation that should definitely be tested out.

We also would like to add, that just like classic roulette has different variations, from American to European to mini roulette, feel free to add your own spin to wine roulette. It’s such a versatile game that it can easily be changed to better pander to your preferences along with those of your guests.

Tips for Hosting a Successful Wine Roulette Night

If you’re convinced that hosting a wine roulette night is a must but aren’t quite sure where to start apart from the wine, fret not as we’ve got you covered. While you can’t see the wine picked initially, most stores will separate their wines by type, so when you pick with closed eyes, pick from different sections to get a good variety. And if you don’t know much about wines, make sure to pick up a copy of Wine for Dummies to help you out or read up online.

To make it easier for you to know what you’re pouring your guests, pick specific colors to cover the bottles or write a number on them. Then put the corresponding information on a notepad or on your phone’s notes, so you can quickly check if you forget.

When it comes to any good gathering, the right ambiance can make all the difference. Since it’s a classy wine roulette night, softer music would be ideal such as nice classical music or jazzy tunes.

While it would be nice to host in the living room, wine spills are very probable, so better to stay away from any furniture that is hard to clean or rugs that could be ruined. Where you decide to do this, dim the lights, or add fairy lights and candles to really up the ante.

To add to the game, you can even provide scorecards to your guests so they can rate each wine. Then, at the end of the night, you can crown two winners – your guest and the best wine. This will also make it easier for you to figure out what to get next for a more casual gathering.

Finally, we have to talk about the food. Wine on an empty stomach is never a good idea, so once you know what wines you have, consider creating multiple charcuterie boards to complement each bottle. Alternatively, you can take it to the next level and challenge yourself to cook something that can incorporate one or more of the selected wines.

Conclusion

There’s nothing quite like having a few glasses of wine with friends and adding the game element to it will surely only enhance this. Just remind your guests that it’s not all about winning but enjoying the wine notes and the experience. Regardless, it will surely be a night everyone remembers – as long as they don’t have too much wine!