Grand Cru Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Game Setup
• Turn Sequence Overview
• Phase I: Development of the Vineyard
  • Possible Actions for Developing Your Vineyard
• Phase II: Year End
  • Actions During Year End
• End of the Game and Victory Determination
• Improvement Tiles
• Special Actions During the Wine Festival
• Rules Summary
  • Improvement Tiles (Quick Reference)
  • Special Action During the Wine Festival (Quick Reference)
  • End of Game (Quick Reference)

Components

• 1 game board
• 5 vineyard boards divided in
  • 12 spaces for grapevines or improvements
  • 1 wine cellars with 7 barrels
• money in the values of 1, 3, 5, and 10 Francs
  • 35 x 1 Franc
  • 20 x 3 Francs
  • 10 x 5 Francs
  • 15 x 10 Francs
• 100 wine cubes:
  • 15 x green Gamay
  • 17 x yellow Syrah
  • 20 x red Merlot
  • 23 x purple Cabernet Sauvignon
  • 25 x dark blue Pinot Noir
• 70 grapevine tiles in 5 varieties:
  • 14 Gamay vines
  • 14 Syrah vines
  • 14 Merlot vines
  • 14 Cabernet Sauvignon vines
  • 14 Pinot Noir vines
• 24 improvements tiles in 8 types:
  • 3 Seal of Excellence
  • 3 Assemblage
  • 3 Harvest Hands
  • 3 Bulk Purchaser
  • 3 Good Vintage
  • 3 Rich Harvest
  • 3 Aging
  • 3 Advertising
• 30 markers in player colors (black, light blue, brown, ivory, and orange). Each player receives:
  • 5 action markers (cylinders)
  • 1 wine festival marker (octahedron)
• 5 grey price markers for the demand panel
• 1 wine bottle as the round marker on the seasonal track
• 1 wine jug as starting player marker
• 1 rulebook

Goal of the Game

By purchasing new grapevines and improvements at auction, cultivating grapes, pressing wine, advertising and performing well in the annual wine festival, players can increase the revenue of their vineyard. When one or more players pay back all of their loans, the game ends and the vintner with the most profitable vineyard wins the game.

Game Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Place a grey price marker on the lowest space of the demand panel for each variety of wine.
3. Place the wine bottle on the first leaf on the seasonal track.
4. Each player takes a vineyard board and markers of matching color. Any unused boards and markers are returned to the box.
5. Each player places their festival marker on the 3 space of the Prestige Point track.
6. Shuffle the 70 grapevine tiles face down and randomly select twice as many as there are players, placing them face up along the top of the game board.
7. Shuffle the 24 improvement tiles face down and randomly select as many as there are players, also placing them face up along the top of the game board. All face up tiles form the display.
8. Shuffle all of the remaining face down vineyard and improvement tiles together to form one draw pile close to the board.
9. Place the money within easy reach.
10. Place the wine cubes next to the game board. They form the stock.
11. Each player secretly places 1 to 5 of their action markers in their hand indicating how many loans they will be taking out in the first year. Players then simultaneously reveal their markers and receive 7 Francs for each one they are holding. During the game, money is kept secret, but all other information is open.
12. Each player places one of their action markers on the loan track on the space that corresponds to the number of loans they have taken out.
13. The player who has taken out the most loans is the starting player. Place the wine jug in front of that player. If more than one player has taken out the most loans, a start player is selected randomly from among them.

Turn Sequence Overview

During the game, several years will be played. Each year consists of two phases:

• Phase I: Development of the vineyard (consisting of at least 4 rounds of actions)
• Phase II: Year End

Phase I: Development of the Vineyard

At the beginning of each round during Phase I (including the first round), the starting player moves the wine bottle one leaf to the right on the seasonal track. The starting player then selects one of the available actions and carries it out. The other players follow in clockwise turn order selecting one action and carrying it out.

Play continues in this manner until Year End is triggered. This occurs when the wine marker on the seasonal track has reached the rightmost leaf and either (i) a player harvests their last grapevine or (ii) all but one player has passed. Upon trigger of Year End, all other players (excluding the player that triggered Year End and any that have previously passed) get to take one final action this phase, continuing in turn order. Continue the game with Phase II: Year End.

Comments: As the game progresses, check after every action to see if it is time to move to Phase II: Year End. Also note that a player may not choose an action that would result in them harvesting their last grapevine before the wine marker has reached the rightmost leaf on the seasonal track.

During your turn you can choose to carry out one of the following actions:

1. Auction a tile
2. Raise the bid on a tile
3. Buy a tile at auction
4. Buy a tile directly
5. Move the price marker up one space for one variety of wine
6. Harvest a grapevine on your vineyard
7. Sell wine
8. Use an improvement tile on your vineyard
9. Pass

Possible Actions for Developing Your Vineyard

1. Auction a tile: You may only select this action if there is space to add an additional tile at the top of one of the auction columns. Take one of the face-up tiles in the display and place it at the top of an auction column. Then bid on that tile by placing one of your action markers on a bidding space (1–6) of your choice.

   Comments: The number of auction columns available in the game always equals the number of players. You can only use the price spaces 1–6. The 7 price space is only there to indicate the price for buying a tile directly using action #4 below.

2. Raise the bid on a tile: You can outbid any existing bid of another player by placing one of your action markers on a bidding space that is higher than the current price. Return the action marker you have outbid to its owner.

   Comment: A bid of 6 cannot be outbid by another player; however, such tile may still be purchased directly using action #4 below.

3. Buy a tile at auction: If, at the beginning of your turn, you are currently the highest bidder for a tile, you may buy that tile for the price bid. Pay the appropriate amount to the bank and return your action marker to your supply.

   Place the tile you bought on an open space on your vineyard. If all 12 spaces of your vineyard are occupied, you need to remove an existing tile from your vineyard to make room for the new tile. Any tile removed from your vineyard is placed in the discard pile.

   If the newly purchased tile is a grapevine, place a wine cube of the same color on it. This may be harvested during any subsequent turn (see action #6). If it is an improvement, it may be used during any subsequent turn (see action #8).

   Comment: You may purchase one or more duplicate tiles for use in your vineyard.

4. Buy a tile directly: You may buy a tile directly from the auction panel or from the other face-up tiles in the display for exactly 7 francs. Pay the money to the bank and, if another player's action marker is on the column of the auction panel for that tile, return it to its owner. Place the tile on your vineyard as described above in action #3.

5. Move a price marker up one space for one variety of wine: Choose a variety of wine and move the price marker up by one space on the corresponding price column. Note: The price of the wine does not necessarily increase each time a price marker is moved up one space.

   Comment: If the price marker is on the top space of the demand panel, then the price cannot be raised any higher.

6. Harvest a grapevine on your vineyard: You may harvest one grapevine on your vineyard, by paying 1 Franc to the bank. You can then take the wine cube from the grapevine selected and place it on the leftmost barrel in your cellar.

   If this is your last grapevine to be harvested (i.e. no other cubes are on any of your grapevine tiles), you are only permitted to select this action if the wine marker has reached the rightmost leaf on the seasonal track. This triggers Year End and each of the other players (excluding the player that triggered Year End and any that have previously passed) now gets one final action this phase, in turn order. Continue the game with Phase II: Year End.

   Comment: You may not harvest if you have no money.

7. Sell wine: You may sell all matured wine cubes of one variety from one of your barrels. Wine is considered to be mature if the color of the wine matches the color of one of the grapes pictured on the barrel the wine is located. Take as many wine cubes as you wish to sell and place them on the barrel with your emblem at the wine festival.

   For each wine cube sold, take as many Francs from the bank as indicated by the price marker on the demand panel for that variety of wine. After selling, move the price marker of the wine that was sold down one space, regardless of how many wine cubes you sold.

   Comments: The grapes pictured on the barrels indicate which variety of wine is mature and can be sold. Also, if the price marker is on the lowest space of the demand panel, the price cannot be reduced any lower.

8. Use an improvement: You can only play one improvement tile per turn and each improvement tile can only be used once during the year. Once used, flip the improvement face down to indicate it has been used this year. See below for a detailed description of each improvement.

9. Pass: If you pass, you may not carry out any further actions during this year. If the wine marker on the seasonal track has reached the rightmost leaf and all players but one have passed, Year End has been triggered and the one player who has not passed may carry out one final action. Continue the game with Phase II: Year End.

   Comments: If the starting player passes without the wine marker having reached the rightmost leaf on the seasonal track, the start player should still move the wine marker one leaf to the right each round before the next player takes a turn. If all players except one has passed before the 4th round (when the wine marker has reached the rightmost leaf), that player can continue taking actions until the end of such round.

Phase II: Year End

Year End is triggered when the wine bottle has reached the rightmost leaf on the seasonal track and either (i) a player harvests their last grapevine or (ii) all but one player passes. Once these conditions have been met, all other players (excluding the player who triggered Year End and players who have already passed) get one final action in Phase I, continuing in turn order.

Year End consists of the following steps:

1. New tiles are selected for the display
2. The annual wine festival is held a. Evaluation of the wine sales b. special actions
3. Maturing of wine
4. Interest is paid
5. Loans
6. Preparation for the next year

Actions During Year End

1. New tiles are selected for the display: Remove any tiles remaining on the auction panel or in the display and place them face-up in a discard pile next to the game board. Return any action markers remaining on the auction panel to their owners for use during the wine festival. From the draw pile, select twice as many tiles as players and place them face up on the display. If the draw pile becomes depleted, turn the discard pile face-down, shuffle it, and use it as the new draw pile.

2. The annual wine festival is held: The wine festival consists of two parts: (a), awarding prestige points for wine sold and (b) using special actions.

   a. Evaluation of the wine sales: For each of the 5 varieties of wine, determine which player has sold the most by counting the wine cubes of each variety sitting on the players' barrels. The player who has sold the most cubes of a particular variety receives 3 points on the prestige track. The player who has sold the second highest amount of cubes of that variety receives 1 point. In case of a tie for first place, each of the tied players receives 1 point and no points are awarded for second place. No points are awarded to players who tie for second place. After the sales are complete, the wine cubes are removed from the barrels and returned to the stock.

   b. Special actions: After all varieties of wine have been evaluated, the player with the most prestige points may exchange these points for special actions. If two or more players are tied, the tied player closest to the left of the starting player goes first. This player (a) places one of his action markers on an available special action space he selects, (b) reduces his prestige points on the prestige track according to the cost of the action selected and (c) carries out the special action immediately (a null action is permitted). Improvement tiles are not able to be combined with any of the special actions. Play continues in clockwise order, with each player selecting, paying for and carrying out one special action until all players pass. Once a player passes, they are not allowed to select another special action for the remainder of this year's wine festival. Prestige points can be saved for the next round. The special actions are described in detail below. After the wine festival has finished, all action markers on the special action spaces are returned to their owners.

   When selecting a special action, the following rules must be observed:

   • Each special action space can be used only once during a wine festival.
   • If a player's marker in on a particular space, it is no longer available during this festival.
   • You cannot select a special action if you do not have enough prestige points to pay for it.
   • Each player is limited to a total of 4 special actions each wine festival.

3. Maturing of the wine: Starting with the rightmost barrel and proceeding from right to left, all players move their wine cubes one barrel to the right in their cellars. When wine cubes are moved into a barrel containing a picture of grapes that are the same color, those cubes (wine) have matured and can be sold in the next year. If wine cubes move (i) out of the cellar or (ii) from a barrel with a matching color grape pictured to one that no longer has a matching color grape, that batch of wine has spoiled and must be returned to the stock without the player receiving any compensation.

4. Interest: Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player has to pay interest. Consult the loan track on the game board to determine how much interest you owe (orange area) based on the number of loans you have (white area).

   If you do not have enough money to pay the interest owed, you must take one or more emergency loans so that the interest can be paid. For each emergency loan needed, the player moves his loan marker one space to the right on the loan track, but only receives 5 Francs from the Bank instead of the usual 7. Interest does not need to be paid on any emergency loans during the year they were taken out.

   Comments: When a player whose loan marker reaches 11 loans (including emergency loans taken out this turn) and is unable to pay all the interest owed, he has gone bankrupt and has triggered the end of the game: once all players have paid their interest and repaid any loans as set forth below, proceed to the End of Game phase detailed below.

5. Loans: Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player may take out new loans, pay back existing loans or pass. If you need more money for the next year, you can take out new loans by moving your loan marker the corresponding number of spaces to the right on the loan track and taking out 7 Francs for each space you have moved it. You are not permitted to have more than 11 loans.

   If you have earned enough money, you may repay as many loans as you like. Each repaid loan costs 7 Francs, which is paid to the bank. Move your loan marker one space to the left on the loan track for each loan repaid.

   When either (i) one or more players have paid back all of their loans or (ii) a player was unable to interest that was owed this round, proceed to the End of Game phase detailed below. Otherwise, prepare for the next year.

6. Preparation for the next year: Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player adds a wine cube of the appropriate color to each grapevine in their vineyard that does not already have a cube on it. (A grapevine tile can never have more than one cube on it during the course of the game).

   If there are not enough wine cubes to stock a player's grapevines, then that player receives 1 Franc in compensation for every cube that was unavailable from the stock.

   In addition, each player should flip up any face down improvement tiles in their vineyard so they can be used again during the next year. If a player selected the Starting Player special action during the wine festival, they place the starting player marker in front of them.

   A new year begins. Continue with a new Phase I.

End of the Game and Victory Determination

There are two ways to trigger the end of the game:

1. A player has paid back all of his loans (most common trigger) or
2. A player who has taken 11 loans is unable to pay interest when due. This player's vineyard has gone bankrupt and drops out of the game.

At the end of the game determine the total value of your vineyard as follows:

• For every different tile (development or grapes) of a particular type on your vineyard, you receive 5 Francs.
• For each wine cube in your cellar (regardless of its location), you receive 1 Franc.
• Finally, pay the bank 7 Francs for each loan you still have not paid back. Note: do not move the loan markers during this payment. They remain in their current position in case of a tie.

The player who has accumulated the most Francs is the winner.

In case of a tie, the player with the least number of loans wins. The second tiebreaker is the player who owns the most tiles in his vineyard (face up or face down). If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.

Improvement Tiles

Seal of Excellence: You may carry out one sale action following the same rules as above except you receive 1 extra Franc for each wine cube you sell.

Assemblage: You may remove all wine cubes of one variety in one of your barrels and replace them with the same number of cubes of another variety that you already have in that same barrel. Note: you can only make this exchange for cubes that are available from the stock.

Good Vintage: You may sell exactly one mature wine cube from one of your barrels. You receive the highest possible price for that variety of wine, regardless of where the price marker is for that wine (i.e., 3 Francs for Gamay, 5 Francs for Syrah, etc.). The cube is placed in the stock and the price marker does not drop because of this sale.

Harvest Hands: You may spend a total of 1 Franc to harvest 2 grapevines on your vineyard of your choice. This improvement may not be used if you have no money. If the use of this improvement would trigger Year End, the wine marker must be on the rightmost leaf of the seasonal track to be used.

Bulk Purchaser: You may carry out two different sales actions during your turn following the same rules above for each sale.

Rich Harvest (used in conjunction with a harvest action): In addition to the wine cube from a grapevine tile you are harvesting for 1 Franc, place another cube of the same color from the stock into the leftmost barrel of your cellar. A wine cube of the same color must be available from the stock to use this improvement. If the use of this improvement would trigger Year End, the wine marker must be on the rightmost leaf of the seasonal track to be used.

Aging: You may move all the wine cubes of one variety from one of your barrels one barrel to the right.

Advertising: You may raise one or more price markers on the demand panel a total of three spaces. You may choose to adjust one variety of wine or distribute the action among two or three varieties. Prices may not be increased beyond the topmost price of each column.

Special Actions During the Wine Festival

Starting Player, 1 prestige point If you place your action marker on the starting player space, you will be the starting player at the start of the next year. During preparation for the next year, transfer the starting player marker to the new starting player. If no action marker is placed on this space during the wine festival, the current starting player keeps the start player marker.

Late Vintage, 2 prestige points You may spend 1 Franc to harvest a grapevine tile. This action may not be used if you have no money.

Special Delivery, 2 prestige points You may carry out one sale action following the rules in Phase I except that all sold wine cubes are returned to the stock instead of your barrel at the wine festival. Move the price marker for this variety of wine down one space after the sale.

Grape Juice, 2 prestige points You may sell as many unharvested wine cubes (cubes still on grapevine tiles in your vineyard) as you want for 1 Franc each. Return the wine cubes to the stock.

Young Wine, 3 prestige points With this special action, you may sell wine that hasn't yet reached maturity. This is treated as a normal sale action for one variety of wine cubes located in one of your barrels, except that the wine cubes sold do not have to be mature. For each wine cube sold, subtract one Franc from the current demand price for each year lacking in maturity (the number of barrels to the right you would have to move the wine cubes until the color matched the picture on a barrel). All sold wine cubes should be returned to the stock instead of your barrel at the wine festival. Move the price marker for this variety of wine down one space after the sale.

New Growth, 4 prestige points You may replace a grapevine tile (not an improvement tile) from your vineyard (with or without a wine cube on it) with a grapevine tile of any other variety from the draw pile or the discard pile. Remove the selected grapevine tile (placing any cubes on it back in the stock) and exchange it for a grapevine tile from either the draw pile or the discard pile. Reshuffle all of the tiles in the draw pile if it was exchanged from there. Do not place a new cube on this tile until the next preparation phase.

Raising the Demand by 1, 2, or 3 spaces, 1, 2, or 3 prestige points Placing your action marker on one of these spaces reduces your prestige points by 1, 2, or 3 respectively. In return, you may raise one or more price markers on the demand panel by 1, 2, or 3 spaces. You may distribute the movements among 1, 2, or 3 varieties of wine.

Exchange Prestige Points for Money, 1, 3 or 5 prestige points Placing your action marker on one of these spaces allows you to convert 1, 3 or 5 prestige points into 1, 2, or 3 Francs from the bank respectively.

Rules Summary

Phase I: You can choose to carry out one of the following actions:

1. Auction a tile
2. Raise the bid on a tile
3. Buy a tile at auction
4. Buy a tile directly
5. Move the price marker up one space for one variety of wine
6. Harvest a grapevine on your vineyard
7. Sell wine
8. Use an improvement tile on your vineyard
9. Pass

Phase II: Year End consists of the following steps:

1. New tiles are selected for the display
2. The annual wine festival is held a. Evaluation of the wine sales b. Special Actions
3. Maturing of wine
4. Interest is paid
5. Loans
6. Preparation for the next year

Phase II: Year End is triggered when the wine bottle has reached the rightmost leaf on the seasonal track and either (i) a player harvests their last grapevine or (ii) all but one player passes. Once these conditions have been met, all other players (excluding the player who triggered Year End and players who have already passed) get one final action in Phase I, continuing in turn order.

Improvement Tiles (Quick Reference)

• Seal of Excellence: You may carry out one sale action receiving 1 extra Franc for each wine cube you sell.
• Assemblage: You may remove all wine cubes of one variety in one of your barrels and replace them with the same number of cubes of another variety that you already have in that same barrel.
• Good Vintage: You may sell one mature wine cube from one of your barrels. You receive the highest possible price for that variety of wine, regardless of where the price marker is for that wine. The price marker does not drop because of this sale.
• Harvest Hands: You may spend a total of 1 Franc to harvest 2 grapevines on your vineyard.
• Bulk Purchaser: You may carry out two different sales actions during your turn.
• Rich Harvest: When harvesting, place another available cube of the same color from the stock into the leftmost barrel of your cellar.
• Aging: You may move all the wine cubes of one variety from one of your barrels one barrel to the right.
• Advertising: You may raise one or more price markers on the demand panel a total of three spaces.

Special Action During the Wine Festival (Quick Reference)

• Starting Player, 1 prestige point: You will be the starting player at the start of the next year.
• Late Vintage, 2 prestige points: You may spend 1 Franc to harvest a grapevine tile on your vineyard.
• Special Delivery, 2 prestige points: You may carry out one sale action.
• Grape Juice, 2 prestige points: You may sell as many unharvested wine cubes as you want for 1 Franc each.
• Young Wine, 3 prestige points: You may sell wine that hasn't yet reached maturity. For each wine cube sold, subtract one Franc from the current demand price for each year lacking in maturity.
• New Growth, 4 prestige points: You may replace a grapevine tile with a grapevine tile of any other variety from the draw pile or the discard pile.
• Prestige Points to Increase Demand, 1, 2 or 3 prestige points: Raise one (or more) price markers on the demand panel by 1, 2, or 3 spaces.
• Prestige Points for Money, 1, 3 or 5 prestige points: Convert 1, 3 or 5 prestige points into 1, 2, or 3 Francs from the bank respectively.

End of Game (Quick Reference)

The game ends when either:

1. A player has paid back all of his loans (most common trigger) or
2. A player who has taken 11 loans is unable to pay interest when due (this player's vineyard drops out of the game).

Calculate the total value of your vineyard as follows:

1. For every different tile of a particular type you have, you receive 5 Francs.
2. For each wine cube in your cellar (regardless of its location), you receive 1 Franc.
3. Finally, pay the bank 7 Francs for each loan you still have not paid back (do not move the loan markers during this payment).

The player who has accumulated the most Francs is the winner.