While we were at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, WA in October, my fearless partner Rob Frisch and I met Dorian Patchin, one of the investors behind the \ WINE GAME – more fun than a barrel of monkeys at a wine bar! And you know what the coolest part is? Well, there are two cool parts:

1. One of the geniuses behind it is Chef José Andrés. Mmm hmmm… that José Andrés. The chef who fed Puerto Rico after the hurricane last year, and the chef who has a pile of amazing restaurants all over the planet and the chef who loves wine enough to work with a group of fellow geniuses to create this game!
2. You can download it FOR FREE from the the iTunes App Store or Google Play. Do it. Right now.  It’s called Wine Game – easy to find!

Okay, did you do it? Because if you know anything about me and Rob, you know we LOVE TO BLIND TASTE!  And that’s what the Wine Game is all about. You download it, create your own user account and then create a game. You need to get your wine-swilling friends to download it, too, and then the fun begins. Check out this video to see how much fun it is – and how I crushed Rob on a California Zin!

The basics are this:

1. Buy a bunch of wines or raid your rack or cellar. Take a photo of each bottle with the WINE GAME app and then that wine is part of your game.
2. The app will give the game a number and your friends log in, pull up that game, you pour a taste for everyone, and then put the bottles into brown bags.
3. The fun begins with multiple choice questions as everyone sips, swirls and sniffs. Get a question right on the first try, and you get maximum points (3). The person with the most points wins! You can award prizes or pure glory to the winner(s)!

Thank you, Dorian, for introducing us to the game. I’m gathering friends next week to play. You should do. Cheers!