Wine Puzzles

Why, you ask? Wine not! The earliest known traces of wine date back to 6000 BCE. It plays an important role in Judaism and Christianity, and is popular for alcoholic beverage to drink alone, enjoy with food, and even cook with. The United States is in the top 5 countries of the world in terms of tons produced, of which California produces nearly 85%. As a California native, I proudly present my blog on wine puzzles!  As I also proudly sport my “Puzzles and wine make life fine” shirt, courtesy of Etsy.  (Disclaimer: Please only consume alcohol if you are of legal drinking age. Do not drink to excess. Do not drink and drive. Definitely stay home and puzzle.)

Puzzle & Wine Make Life Fine

I’ve found that wine actually pairs perfectly with the puzzle experience. While I have written about my journey of competitive puzzles, I actually prefer a leisurely puzzle experience. After a busy day at work where I interact closely with people all day, I come home to my loving husband and 3 adorable children. I am so fortunate to have such a full life, but the introvert in me craves some peace (piece?) and quiet. After they go to bed, it’s ME-time. I can sit with a glass of wine, work on my puzzle, and listen to an audiobook.  

I don’t even remember when I started collecting wine puzzles, but it all started with Wine Labels from Ravensburger. 

Wine Labels by Ravensburger 

I’m always a fan of the quality of Ravensburger. Pair that with a theme I am excited about, and I’ve bought the puzzle faster than you can say “cheers!” Another exciting thing about this particular puzzle is that it was the first time I finished a 1000 piece puzzle under 2 hours. (I know I said leisure puzzling… I promise the rest are pure leisure!)

The collage style  image with lots of text to help orient the pieces came together SUPER quickly. Like a good glass of wine, so satisfying! Now I had assumed these were all real wine labels but my google sleuthing skills left me with an empty glass. They sure do look realistic but I now believe that is thanks to artistic license!

Wine Labels by Ravensburger 

Honorable mention goes to Cozy Wine Terrace because that is also a fun speed puzzle, and what I wouldn’t give to be drinking wine in Italy right now… But I have learned that there is more to puzzling than just Ravensburger.

In Wine Alphabet, Cobble Hill also brought us a collection of fake wine labels but this one was more obvious. The top left bottle says A to Z, from alcohol to zinfandel, Cobble Hill Winery. Sadly I don’t think that exists, but if it did, I would try it! 

 I really enjoyed that this image is clearly custom to Cobble Hill and with the inside references to the brand and puzzle experience. 

The bottles and letters were a breeze, and the wooden shelving provided an enjoyable challenge! But let’s zoom out and take a look at the big picture: the vineyard

Wine Country by Kodak, from RoseArt, was a very pleasant landscape that feels like vacation! It reminds me of feeling warm sun on my skin, and smelling nature. The puzzle has cork puzzle pieces - environmentally friendly, with a snug fit yet easy to dismantle. 

Wine Country by Kodak, from RoseArt

For more on cork puzzles, check out ambassador Amanda’s blog on RoseArt Cork Puzzles! 

Wine Trail is another puzzle I bought 3 years ago, because wine. Made by Hart puzzles, which I don’t have too many of, but always enjoy when I come across one! In days and months past, I would see it on the shelf and think to myself, nah, it’s too brown. I want something more colorful. For research, and this blog, I decided the time is now, and I’m sure glad I did. First of all, it really isn’t all that brown. There is plenty of color, in the grapes, the cheese spread, and background. And a lot of the brown is signage. 

Do you enjoy puzzling words? I do! (Except very large lettering - that’s hard and frustrates me) But these words were cute and fun, with quips about drinking wine. It may have been my favorite of the puzzles on this page and I think has earned a home in my permanent collection.

Wine Trail by Hart

I also got to try a new brand/puzzle experience with Scramble Squares. Vin, Vino, Wein, Wine is only 9 pieces, but I haven’t managed to solve it yet. It claims to be “perhaps the world’s most challenging puzzle.”

Vin, Vino, Wein, Wine by Scramble Squares

I don’t know if I would go that far, but it definitely isn’t child's play! It does come with some trivia: Why is it a tradition to clink glasses when offering a toast with wine? That’s something I never really thought of. Do you know? I’ll include the answer at the end! 

After a few failed attempts to solve at random, I decided I needed a more systematic/mathematical/statistical approach. Here is my process thus far:

The Story of Wine puzzle by Piatnik is one final feature I acquired solely for the wine collection. The cartoon style isn’t really my (grape) jam, but I’m a completionist, what can I say? It was fun to do, and I love to change up the brand from time to time. I mean, look at the box image… It’s a bit… tipsy.

Story of Wine by Piatnik

There were plenty of silly images from women stomping on grapes in a barrel, a flasher, a guy wearing 8 wine bottles on his fingers, and a woman bathing in a wine fountain.

While I am on a mission to puzzle (almost) any wine puzzle, I will say I have to draw the line somewhere. Their Wine Corks puzzle is the line for me. Now that one really is too much brown! But I’ll buy you a glass of wine if you can complete it!

If you like what you’ve consumed here and have a taste for more wine, I have some more recommendations! Wine, Vino, Vin a “Something’s Amiss!” style PuzzleTwist shuffles around various wine regions and grapes.  Wine Country Escape is a Buffalo puzzle from darling artist Aimee Stewart and comes in both 1000 and 1500 piece count.

And finally an answer to the Scramble Square trivia question: The clinking of glasses allows all of the human senses to participate in the enjoyment of the wine, the sense of hearing, as well as the senses of taste, smell, sight and touch. 

I hope you enjoyed my world of wine, and tag me in any other wine puzzles you come across!

Cheers!

Alyssa

@puzzlesatoz