Teach the Game
A script to teach Vinhos Deluxe (Special Vintage 2016) at the table — how you win, the boards, a year, the end, every way to score and what each resource is for.
How you win
“We are wine producers in Portugal. Over six years we open estates in the wine regions, buy vineyards, build wineries and cellars and hire staff. Every year the weather decides how good the harvest is. We sell wine for money, export it for prestige and show our best bottle at three wine fairs. Two to three hours; the most victory points wins.”
What you need, and how you get it:
- Good wine — Vineyards, Wineries, Farmers and Enologists raise its Quality; Cellars and region Renown raise its Value.
- Money — mostly from selling wine; it buys everything else.
- Barrels — you start with only 2; the three Magnates release the other 6 when your Fair wine pleases them.
The loop: build an Estate → make wine every year → turn each wine into money (Sales), points (Export), Fair Points (Press Release) or a Magnate tile. You get only 12 actions — every one counts.
The boards
- The board — Special Vintage 2016 side up.
- Your player board — 5 Estates of 3 slots, each with a Warehouse.
- Score track — VP round the edge.
- Vintage tiles and the Player Order area.
- Wine tiles — the supply, numbered by Quality.
- Wine Tasting Fair — the Fair Score track and the four booths.
- Magnates and the Magnate tile display.
- Bagos — the money.
- Enologists and Farmers waiting to be hired.
- The Quadrel — nine action spaces — and the Year track.
- Wine Experts, Cellars and Wineries.
- The map — nine regions, each with its Vineyard stack and Renown cubes.
Point at the Sales area (three establishments, red and white slots) and the Export area (columns = countries) on the board — that is where wine leaves your cellars.
A round
Each year (6 in all):
- Start — turn a new
Vintage tile: weather +2 to −2, plus this year’s Magnate wishes. 
First action — move your marker on the Quadrel and take that action. Moving next
door is free; farther, onto the tax marker or onto other players costs Bagos.
(Movement)
Second action — the same, perhaps in a new order.
Maintenance — take one of your barrels back from the Sales area.
Production — wines age a slot; every Estate with a Vineyard makes one wine.
Fair — only in years 3, 5 and 6.
On your turn you may also flip one Wine Expert for its ability and one Magnate Action tile for an extra action. (Experts and Magnate tiles)
How the game ends
After the third Fair (end of year 6) everyone takes one more action; nothing flips face up first. Then score money, leftover wine, export majorities and Multiplier tiles. Ties: most barrels in the Export area, then most money. (End of Game and Scoring)
Ways to score
| Source | How | When |
|---|---|---|
 Exports | The VP on each Export slot you fill |  At once |
| Fairs | Rank by total Fair Points: 9/6/3, 12/8/4, 15/10/5 (2 players: 1st and 3rd values) | Years 3, 5, 6 |
| Export majorities | Most barrels in a country’s column: the VP at its top (ties split) |  End |
 Multiplier tiles | With a barrel on them: VP per Estate, Winery, Cellar, worker… | End |
| Money | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20+ Bagos on the board’s table (20+ Bagos: 18 VP) | End |
 Wine left | Half its Quality, rounded down | End |
What each resource is for
| Resource | Why | How you get it | How you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bagos | Everything costs money | Sales, the 3-Bago booth, some Experts | Vineyards, buildings, staff, movement |
| Wine tiles | The core of the game | Production, initial Vineyard | Sell, export, present, buy Magnate tiles |
| Barrels | Sales, exports, Multipliers | 2 at start; up to 2 per Press Release from the Magnates | Placed on Sales/Export slots and Multiplier tiles |
 Renown cubes | +1 Value (Alentejo +2) | Added when anyone builds in a region | Spent 1–2 per wine, only when needed |
 Wine Experts | Abilities and Fair Points | Wine Experts action, Setúbal, Fair booth 2 | Flip for an ability, or discard at a Press Release |
 Magnate Action tiles | Extra actions | One at setup; buy after Fairs with a wine | Flip on your turn |
| Multiplier tiles | End-game VP | Buy after Fairs with a wine and a barrel | Score at the end |
| Fair Points | Fair VP | Press Release: Wine Value + Experts + booth | Never reset; ranked at each Fair |
Teaching tips
- Teach Wine Quality vs Wine Value early with one example: Quality is the number made at Production, Value is what it is worth when it leaves your board (Wine).
- Stress the 12 actions and the movement costs; Magnate Action tiles are the way to more.
- Show the barrel squeeze: 2 barrels at the start, the rest only from Magnates at Press Releases.
- First game: play with the suggested regions and point out the region bonuses on the map (Region bonuses).
Rehearse selling and exporting
Use Purple’s Douro wine example: its Quality is seven and it is in the second Warehouse slot, so its Value is seven before Renown. To use the value-nine Export space, remove two Renown cubes from Douro and score nine points immediately. A value-six or value-seven space needs no Renown; you cannot remove cubes merely to deny them to someone else.
Ask: ‘Would selling that wine do the same thing?’ No: a sale earns money. Export earns points and leaves a barrel competing for the destination’s final majority.