Vignobles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Distribution of "Varietal" Cards
• Aim of the Game
• Set-Up
• Game Rounds
  • Stage 1: Moving the Cloud
  • Stage 2: Player Actions
  • Actions
  • Stage 3: Preparing the Next Round
• Using Special Cards
• End of the Game

Components

• 1 game board representing 8 great wine-growing regions of South-West France.
• 30 "Wine" cards (at least) representing the South-West appellations and used at the start of the game to determine the Gold Medal wines in the game.
• 60 "Varietal" cards (see distribution).
• 12 "Action" cards, equally divided into 4 "Harvest", 4 "Barrel" and 4 "Merchant".
• 40 special cards.
• 9 mini-bottles.
• 1 "Cloud" counter.
• 1 first player cork.
• For each player (4 different colours):
  • 1 "Merchant" counter
  • 8 "Estate" counter
  • 2 marker counters
  • 1 "Private Cellar" mini-board
• 1 game aid memo (presentation of "Action" cards and special cards).

Distribution of "Varietal" Cards

Each wine in the game is a blend of 2 grape varieties. There are 4 different "Varietal" cards for red wines and 3 for the whites. Here is the distribution of the 60 Varietal cards:

Red Wines

• Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon (11)
• Syrah or Tannat (11)
• Fer Servadou or Malbec (9)
• Gamay, Merlot or Négrette (9)

White Wines

• Muscadelle or Sauvignon (7)
• Courbu or Semillon (7)
• Baroque, Manseng or Mauzac (6)

The game board recalls this distribution.

Aim of the Game

"Vignobles" game is a race across the wine-growing regions of South-West France. The players are each called on in turn to choose between a number of actions. "Harvest" cards provide an opportunity to procure the precious grapes in their different varieties. You will then turn them into wine in your cellar during the "Barrel" stage. Finally, once the wine is ready, you will have to call on your Merchant to buy in wine from the different regions!

There are 4 ways to win:

• by blending a certain number of medal-winning wines,
• by blending a certain number of red wines,
• by blending a certain number of white wines,
• or occupying 75% or 100% of a region (according to the number of players) and the chosen level (family or advanced).

The following table explains how to win:

	Gold Medals	Red Wines	White Wines	Wines from the same region
2 players	4 / 7	5	4	100%
3 players	4 / 8	5	4	100%
4 players	3 / 8	4	3	3
4 players (advanced)	4 / 9	5	4	100%

Note: the printed table gives "3" in the last column for the 4-player family game, while the text above says 75% or 100%. The value is transcribed as printed.

The first player to attain one of these 4 objectives will be declared the Winner (with the honour of paying a round of fine wine or opening a vintage magnum for the losers!).

Set-Up

1. Place all the Merchants on the Saint-Sardos region of the game board.
2. Place a counter for each player at the start of the red wines and white wines scoring trail.
3. Randomly pick 7, 8 or 9 Wine cards according to the number of players. These wines will be Gold Medals for this round. Place small bottles on the places provided on the game board.
4. Shuffle the "Varietal" cards and stack them face down. Deal 2 of these cards to each player for their first hand. Turn 2 cards from the stack face up to provide the deck.
5. Make a second face down stack of special cards, making sure they are kept well apart from the "Varietal" cards.
6. Prepare the stack of "Action" cards according to the number of players:
   • With 2 players:
     • 3 "Harvest" cards
     • 3 "Barrel" cards
     • 3 "Merchant" cards (1 "Neighbouring vineyard", 1 "Local vineyard", 1 "Vineyard visit")
   • With 3 players:
     • 4 "Harvest" cards
     • 3 "Barrel" cards
     • 4 "Merchant" cards (2 "Neighbouring vineyard", 1 "Local vineyard", 1 "Vineyard visit")
   • With 4 players:
     • 4 "Harvest" cards
     • 4 "Barrel" cards
     • 4 "Merchant" cards (2 "Neighbouring vineyard", 1 "Local vineyard", 1 "Vineyard visit")

The first player is the one who has most recently visited an estate or a cooperative winery. That player takes the cork.

Game Rounds

Each round is divided in 3 stages.

Stage 1: Moving the Cloud

The player who will be last to play on the next round must move the cloud symbolising a storm. The cloud is to be moved to a region adjacent to where it is situated. It must never stay on the same region 2 rounds in a row.

During the first round of the game, the cloud is to be placed on any region decided on by the last player in the round.

From then on, for the round to come, no player may blend wine in the region under the storm cloud (unless the special "Micro-climate" card is used).

Stage 2: Player Actions

The first player shuffles the "Action" cards and reveals:

• 6 out of 9 for a 2-player game
• 8 out of 11 for a 3-player game
• 9 out of 12 for a 4-player game

These "Action" cards will provide the possible actions for that round of the game.

The first player starts the round by choosing 1 "Action" card from among the "Action" cards that are face up. That player then turns it face down and it can then no longer be used for the rest of the round.

The same player then has the choice of either performing the chosen action OR picking up a special card.

You can always refuse to act on the chosen card and pick up a special card instead. Special cards are extremely valuable as you can use them to hinder the other players or move on faster towards winning.

In addition, picking an "Action" card to take up a special card means the active player can deprive another player who might be interested in that role and block their progress.

The special card picked will form part of the player's hand and be counted within the limits of the 5 cards they are entitled to. If a player has more than the 5 cards allowed, excess cards will be placed in the discard pile. The "Varietal" cards in the discard pile can come back into the game if the "Varietal" cards pile is empty or if a player uses the "Recycling" special card.

Special cards discarded will no longer be used for the remainder of the game.

Actions

The players will have to take the "Varietal" cards in their hands and then age them in barrels in their cellar to finally be able to blend wines (all comprising 2 grape varieties) with help from their Merchant.

You can never blend a wine directly from the cards you have in your hand. The grape varieties must always be matured in barrels that can be seen by all the players.

"Harvest"

Pick a varietal card from the visible deck OR Pick 2 face down "Varietal" cards and discard one card placing it in the face up deck.

The card discarded in the face up deck does not have to be one of the 2 cards just picked up. However, the discarded card must not be a special card.

Each player is limited to a hand of five cards. You can continue to harvest even if you go over that limit, but the player must end the round with 5 cards, discarding special or "Varietal" cards.

The face up deck is completely discarded as soon as a player discards a 5th card into it.

"Barrelling"

Place all the Varietal cards of a single variety in one of the barrels in your cellar.

There is no limit to the number of "Varietal" cards that can be placed in a barrel.

If the 3 barrels are already occupied, the player can replace the content of a barrel by discarding old "Varietal" cards.

Each barrel can only contain a single type of "Varietal" card. For example, if a barrel contains Syrah/Tannat, you cannot add another variety other than Syrah/Tannat. However, once the barrel is empty, you can add any variety you want.

"Vineyard Visit" Merchant

Move your Merchant counter by 1 or 2 adjacent regions.

This action does not allow you to blend a wine.

"Neighbouring Vineyard" Merchant

You must: Move your Merchant counter from one region to an adjacent one, THEN You may: Blend a wine from that region by discarding the 2 "Varietal" cards needed that are present in your cellar.

But remember, you have to move your Merchant to use this card.

"Local Vineyard" Merchant

You must: Blend a wine from the region where your Merchant is by discarding the 2 "Varietal" cards needed that are present in your cellar, THEN You may: Move your Merchant counter from one region to an adjacent one.

To move your Merchant, you have to blend a wine in the region you are in.

Once your Merchant has blended a wine, you can place an "Estate" counter with your colour on the board. That wine will then belong to you and cannot be claimed by any other player for the rest of the game.

You can then move your marker along the red wines or white wines trail and recover the Gold Medal if entitled to do so (the small bottle is placed on one of the places provided on your personal cellar).

Once the first player has finished, it will be up to the next player, to his or her left, to play by turning up an available "Action" card and playing. Having played, it will be the next player's turn, and so on.

Two complete rounds are to be played, with each player playing twice.

As soon as a player has fulfilled one of the conditions for a win, the game comes to an end immediately!

Stage 3: Preparing the Next Round

The first player passes the cork to the player on their left who then becomes the new first player.

The new first player recovers all the "Action" cards, whether they have been used or not, and shuffles them.

A new round then begins, with the previous first player moving the cloud.

You continue playing until a player fulfils one of the conditions to win the game.

Using Special Cards

The game has 40 special cards distributed as follows:

• 16 cards to be played during the "Harvest" action
• 7 cards to be played during the "Barrelling" action
• 8 cards to be played during the "Merchant" action
• 9 cards to be played without having to use an "Action" card.

If you choose not to play the action indicated by the "Action" card (Harvest / Barrelling / Merchant) you must pick up a special card. Turn the "Action" card face down so it cannot be used by another player and pick up a special card.

You cannot use that card immediately as your turn is over. It is then kept in the hand. You can have several special cards in your hand of 5 cards maximum. Special cards have the same backs as "Varietal" cards so your opponents don't know how many of them you have.

You can only use a special card when it's your turn to play (apart from "Neutralisation" and "Insurance").

Special cards take on the colours of the actions activating them. Their effects are logical and are symbolised by simple pictograms.

Some special cards have the + symbol meaning that their effects follow on from a normal action. Cards without that symbol are to be used instead of the action chosen by the player.

You can always play a number of special cards of the same colour on one action and so combine their effects.

For example, when proceeding with "Harvest", you can have an "Outstanding Harvest" and then pick a card from an opponent with the "Social Contribution", and finally play the "Phylloxera" card that will attack all your opponents' vines!

Special cards played are to be discarded and cannot be taken up again. Once used up, they are to be eliminated from the game (unlike varietal cards that come back into the game).

Special cards are clearly explained in the game aid memo.

End of the Game

You win as soon as you fulfil one of the four conditions for victory!

In a 4-player game, you have to decide right from the start whether you play in family or advanced mode as the conditions for a win are different (see Aim of the Game).