Wringing fun out of wine

After enough time working in a winery tasting room, you've likely seen it all when it comes to strange, obnoxious or just plain bad behavior.

And let's face it, those of us who enjoy wine tasting -- like the vans full of vino fans rumbling through the Yakima Valley's brown hills this weekend for Thanksgiving in Wine Country -- are probably not completely innocent when it comes to committing a small faux pas here and there. You know, things like wearing a strong perfume, chewing gum, demanding a discount or singing "Que sera, sera" every time you taste a Syrah -- even worse is thinking it's funny.

Those tasting room transgressions are now part of Washington Wine Trails, a fun -- and, yes, educational -- board game created by brothers Dave and Seth Portteus and lifelong family friend Joe Mason.

"There are some outrageous things people do from time to time," says the 30-year-old Seth, winemaker for his parents' Portteus Winery in Zillah.

In the game, three to six players role a die and move around the board. Where their miniature wooden wine barrel lands determines what happens: from drawing a Wine or Faux Pas card to stopping for lunch to getting pulled over by the cops.

The goal of the game is to collect bottles of wine that can be used to throw specified dinner parties or earn prestige points. You can also earn prestige points with a Wild card, which rewards you for such things as being adventurous and trying a new wine, or managing your drunk friend.

However, you lose points, and your wine, if someone plays a Faux Pas card on you.

"The Faux Pas cards are really the beauty of the game," says Mason, 30, who lives in West Richland.

Small infractions, like telling a bad joke, will cost you one point. Being a counter hog takes away two points, and failing to designate a driver or pouring yourself a glass of wine docks you three points.

"We try to use a lot of humor to educate," says Seth Portteus.

The winner of the game is the person who throws all four dinner parties first, or the person with the most prestige points when someone lands on the final square.

Washington Wine Trails debuted last month after about two years in development. The fun part, say the creators, was the play-testing. The hard part were all the technical aspects -- formatting images, proof reading, typesetting.

"Most of these Faux Pas cards were written up from 9 p.m. to 2 in the morning," says 26-year-old Dave Portteus, the winery's enologist.

At first, the three were interested in developing a computer action game, but decided to focus on a game they could physically create themselves about a topic they intimately knew and that was Washington-centric.

"This was a good opportunity for us," says Seth, "to put to use our observations from the past 15 years."

And local tasting aficionados will get a chuckle from the game's images, which feature Portteus family members and industry friends in funny photographs.

You don't have to be a wine snob to enjoy the game, although you might be one -- or at least sound like one -- by the time you come to the end of the trail.

In addition to a certain number of prestige points, each Wine card also includes food pairing tips and the wine's pronunciation. This is helpful when it comes to something like Verdicchio or the tongue-twisting Gewürztraminer, made even harder if you've decided to add a couple of bottles of authenticity to your board game tastings.

Washington Wine Trails is available at several Yakima Valley wineries and through www.washingtonwinetrails.com. It retails for $39.95.

Thanksgiving in Wine Country

WHEN: Today through Sunday.

WHERE: Nearly 50 wineries throughout the Yakima Valley.

TASTING TIP: Remember to bring your own tasting glass.

SWIRL-SIP-SPLURGE: If you're looking for something a little extra this weekend, you can purchase a Thanksgiving in Wine Country Premiere Pass, which entitles you to a few perks and a commemorative wine glass.

Passes costs $20 in advance and $25 at participating wineries. For a listing of those wineries and a rundown of this weekend's special events, visit www.wineyakimavalley.org (where you can also purchase your premiere pass).

You can also receive discounts and free reserve wine tastings at the 15 wineries on the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail with a $5 "Passport."

For more information on the passport and what's going on at the Rattlesnake Hills wineries this weekend, visit www.rattlesnakehills.com.

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