If you love wine and are looking for a board game to play with friends and family in your pandemic “bubble,” we have the game for you! Sommify, a new board game by a fun-loving wine couple who got serious about blind wine tasting last year, is an entertaining and educational wine game. And it comes with an added bonus: you’ll learn the deductive method of wine tasting without the insider jargon!
Before we continue our Sommify review, though, a little about the KnowWines blog. We are an Amazon.com affiliate and we do receive a small commission if you purchase items through our affiliate links at no cost to you. The commissions we receive help us pay for web hosting fees, products to test, and other costs associated with running this site. Thanks for using our affiliate links and supporting our independent blog!
What to Consider Before Buying Sommify
This wine-themed board game has a premium, modern look and is great for evenings in with friends, family, and wine.
Sommify is great gift for wine enthusiasts, and is also a perfect tool for anyone studying for sommelier or WSET courses.
Sommify is not a “Trivial Pursuit” type of wine game. Rather, Sommify requires that you have both wine and wine glasses on hand, so players do need to be over 21 years old.
Introducing the Sommify Wine Board Game
The Sommify wine board game was invented by a husband and wife team, Conner Taylor and Jessica Bush, who are both in the wine industry. Tired of “stuffy” wine tasting groups, they brainstormed this game as a fun way to learn deductive wine tasting. The result is a fun, relaxed way to learn about wine.
After coming up with the idea for the game, they asked family member Andrew McKee to design it. Once they had a prototype, they sought out funding on Kickstarter. The new wine board game was fully funded within 24 hours!
The Sommify founders made this video to describe the game and how to play it.
In addition being available on Amazon.com and at the Sommify website, the board game will be available at several wine bottle shops in the coming weeks and months!
Features and Benefits of the Sommify Wine Board Game
The Sommify wine board game comes in a sleek and modern plastic-wrapped box, making it a good gift. The box itself has a stylish, matte finish and is of high quality construction. The Sommify cards, playing cards, and tokens are also of above-average board game quality.
Each Sommify board game comes with the following items:
1 Sommify Game Board
27 Bottle Shock Cards
6 Sommify Wine Keys
6 Dry Erase Markers
1 Rulebook
6 Pawns
2 Dice
Each player will need to bring one bottle of wine to the party. Since the aim of the game is to identify grape varieties, the list of “allowable” wines is kept to 22 international varieties. These varieties include Albarino, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and more!
To familiarize yourself with the rules and guidelines for playing the Sommify board game, check out the Sommify website tutorial.
What Have Others Thought About Sommify
Sommify entered the world of board games with a swell of positivity, as it was funded on Kickstarter in less than 24 hours. Since then, positive responses to the game have continued to grow.
Online, we’ve found several positive reviews. We’ve also taken note that the Sommify board game is showing up in more and more independent wine shops. It’s also available online and was recently featured as a recommended wine gift by Town & Country magazine.
All of the above is great news for what we think is a great new game!
Alternatives to Sommify
While there are several wine games available online, the Sommify wine board game is unique. It is elegant, educational, and uniquely interactive. We’ve yet to find another board game that focuses specifically on deductive tasting.
While it might be easy to find wine-related gifts online, this is a gift that will satisfy even the most enthusiastic of your wine enthusiast friends.
Our Conclusion on the Sommify Tasting Game
We highly recommend this game for wine lovers interested in learning more about wine in a fun and crowd-pleasing way.
In terms of the size of your gathering, we have found that this is a great wine game for parties of three to six people, maybe a few more. More than eight people might become too many.
Of course, this might not be a good game for someone not interested in wine, and it would definitely not be a good wine game for someone who does not drink.
Overall, we’re glad to add the Sommify board game to our growing wine game collection. With its premium, modern look and sophisticated tasting approach, it really makes a great gift for a wine lover.
Happy tasting, from Know Wines!
Cheers!