Aside from being very interesting, board games are a great way to socialize at home, whether with family or friends. Add a bottle of good wine to the game and you have all you need for a good time, guaranteed. Following are the most popular board games and their respective wine pairings.
Chess
Think chess is a friendly game? Think again.
Players: 2
Play Time: undefined
Style: Tactical, Competitive, Strategy, Advanced
Wine Pairing: Barrel-Aged Ports/Fortified Wines
Reasoning: Chess is all about skills. There are no randomized card decks, dice rolls, etc. The mistakes your opponent may make are the only lucky breaks in Chess. Since chess is a game that requires high concentration, choose wines high in alcohol. Port wines for example, are fortified type of wines that allow you to stare down your enemy while you take a sip. In addition, if you find yourself outmatched, you can use the excuse that you were too drunk to play well.
Scrabble
Players: 2 – 4
Play Time: around 1 hour
Style: Vocabulary/Spelling, Strategy, Basic Math
Wine Pairing: Australian Sparkling Wines
Reasoning: Scramble is a game that attracts anyone with a smartphone. Thanks to new technologies, today you can play more than 30 simultaneous games with strangers and compete for artificial rankings. To compliment the game, you need something versatile and fun as well. Ergo, Australian sparkling wines with their bubbles are the perfect match for this board game.
Ticket to Ride
Players: 2 – 5
Play Time:45-plus minutes
Style: Planning, Card Collecting, Bluffing
Wine Pairing:Bordeaux Table Wines
Reasoning: Ticket to ride is an easy yet fun game to play that features a well planed strategy that can satisfy players with different skill levels. To get into the mood, grab a non-expansive bottle of Bordeaux table wine. Bold, tannic and earthy, a $15 bottle of Bordeaux will give you a great energy better than a cup of strong and freshly-brewed espresso.
Settlers of Catan
Players: 3 – 4
Play Time: 2 hours
Style: Betrayal, Griefing, Revenge
Wine Pairing: A bottle of Chianti
Reasoning: This game involves politics, resource management, random events, and complex win strategies. 4 people, 2 hours (maybe more) and a bartering system? You’re going to need a lot of wine. Get into the spirit of the game and be a real team player with an old-world bottle of Chianti. The aesthetic characteristic of this wine add a nice touch to the whole game and will help you with your concentration.