How to host a wine trivia night

For many, recent weeks and months have been challenging as we’ve managed further Covid waves and periods of isolation. If you feel ready to re-connect with friends and family, spend an evening together and share a laugh and a glass, or 2, of wine. Here’s all you need to know to ensure your night goes off without a hitch.

Wine trivia

Here’s an idea that can help get you re-connected with your family and friends – a wine trivia night.

Whether it’s for you and your partner, or a well-chosen crowd, hosting a wine trivia night doesn’t have to be hard work. On the contrary, it can be a lot of fun! Of course, it can also be highly informative.

The more thought and effort you put into it, the more fun you can make your night.

So, what do you need to make the night go just right?

We’ve done the hard yards for you and put together our top 10 tips to help you host the perfect wine trivia night.

 

1. Invite the right people

Let’s face it – you aren’t playing for a million dollars. Trivia nights are played for fun. So, invite family and friends who’ll share your sense of joy. A love of wine will also help.

2. Research your questions

Choose a variety of topics. Think broadly. Just because your trivia night has a wine theme, doesn’t mean every question has to be about a particular wine.

We’ve provided some questions below to get you started.

3. Don’t make the questions too difficult

A question that no one knows the answer to is a pointless question. You don’t want to make people feel like they need to go back to school. At the same time, don’t make the questions too easy, otherwise there’s no sense of challenge.

4. Have all the right equipment

Have enough pens and paper for each player/team. You might also need audio gear if you do music questions. And something to help you keep score.

5. Keep the pace of the night pumping along

It’s important to read your audience. Go too quickly and they’ll get frustrated. Go too slowly and they’ll lose interest.

6. No cheating!

Tell them to put away the phone. A trivia night is about seeing who knows the most answers, not who can google the best.

7. Allow time to mark the answers

The easiest way is for people to swap answer sheets.

8. Include a fun challenge or two

A wine tasting challenge adds some variety and extra fun to the night. What variety of wine is it? Or try tossing a hoop over the wine bottle. Use your imagination.

9. Have a few bottles of good vino on hand

Some for sipping during the night and some for prizes. Have some nibbles or pizza to go with your wine. Keep it simple.

10. Have fun

See Point 1 – Trivia Nights are for fun. And that includes you.

 

And now, here are some questions you can use on your wine trivia night.

#1: What type of French wine is typically made from Pinot Noir grapes? 

A: Burgundy, specifically red Burgundy, or Bourgogne Rouge as it’s known in France.

 

#2: What is the most widely planted grape in the world?

A: Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

#3: What is Australia’s most important wine grape? 

A: Shiraz, which is known for its rich, chocolatey flavour.

 

#4: How much wine is in a standard bottle? 

A: A standard bottle of wine is 750 millilitres.

 

#5: What’s the biggest kind of wine bottle? 

A: It’s called the Nebuchadnezzar and it holds 15 litres of wine. That’s the equivalent of 20 regular bottles in a single huge bottle.

 

#6: How many grapes does it take to make a standard bottle of wine? 

A: About 200 grapes, or over a kilogram of grapes.

 

#7: On average, how much wine does one acre of grapevines produce? 

A: About 3000 litres of wine.

 

#8: How much wine is in a barrel? 

A: There are 60 gallons in a barrel.

 

#9: How long after planting is a grapevine ready to make wine?

A: It takes about 3-5 years for a grapevine to start bearing fruit that can be made into wine. After that, grapevines can usually bear fruit for another 40 years. 

 

#10: What does non-vintage (or NV) mean?

A: Non-vintage wines are blends made of grapes from several different years.

 

#11: How fast can the cork fly out of a Champagne bottle?

A: As fast as 80 kilometres per hour – which is why you should cover the cork with your hand after you twist off the cage. 

 

#12: At what point in the winemaking process does Champagne get its bubbles?

A: Champagne gets its bubbles while it’s in the bottle.

 

#13: How many bubbles are there in a bottle of Champagne?

A: About 49,000,000 bubbles. But who’s counting?

 

#14: How old is the oldest winery in the world?

A: The oldest winery uncovered so far dates back to 4100 BC. It’s located in Armenia.

 

#15: What colours can wine be?

A: Red, white, pink (or rose), orange, and blue. 

 

#16: Which Greek goddess is used to signify that a wine bottle has been certified as biodynamic? 

A: Demeter.

 

#17: Which country has the largest area of vineyards?

A: Spain: There are about 1,154,000 hectares of vineyards throughout the country.

 

#18: Which group had a hit in 1983 with the song Red Red Wine?

A: UB40

 

#19: Which 2006 movie starring Russell Crowe is about a British investment broker who inherits his uncle’s chateau and vineyard in Provence?

A: A Good Year

 

#20: Which popular British TV comedy series, starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, featured the two female lead characters often drinking champagne?

A: Absolutely Fabulous