The background

The idea of my wine game Bouquet®, came to me while studying to become a sommelier at the Restaurant Academy in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994. It was a fair amount of knowledge to bang into your head and the literature we had consisted of massive books about vine, beer and cigars. My techniques of studying have never been very brilliant, and this led to that I had to construct small tests on every subject for myself. I am sure I made up more than 100 questions on every single district we covered.

An idea pops up

It was during this period; the idea of a wine game came to me. There must be a way to learn all these facts in an easier and a more fun way, instead of having to read all these indigestible books. I kept the idea to myself for a couple of years while checking out various possible scenarios for the construction of the game.

In 1996, I finally took the decision to pursue with my idea. I resigned from my position as director of marketing at the Grythyttans Gästgivaregård, i.e. a beautiful Relais & Châteaux inn in the south-central parts of Sweden, and started working actively with the game.

Learning should be fun for children and adults alike

The format was quite easy to conceive while having in mind that it should be of game learning. The essence of the game was that you should have a great time with your friends when playing it, and that it at the same time should provide you with a substantial knowledge. In addition to that, I also wanted the game to be suitable for as many as possible, hence the handicap system. And finally, a stench of pachisi, in order to create some tension.

The game pieces should obviously be wine corks, which would take the players around the game board. Why are there no companies in the cork painting industry? The first 18,000 wine corks, I painted myself with a tiny brush, and in two layers. Whew! Eventually, I succeeded in inventing a simplifying method to enhance and speed up this work. Up to this very date, I have painted 62,000 corks!While the first corks were drying, I designed the first proto-type for the game, and with this in hand I tried to promote the game to book-stores, gift-shops and importers of wine, just to mention some of them I called on.

When I had reached 500 games on my ordering list, I approached the bank for some financial assistance. Everything isn't as smooth as it might lookWhen seeing and hearing the banks' ads, everything sounds so easy. Reality, however, proved different. It took time - long time, but in the end I had my money. Meanwhile, I had a major delivery of corks. Corks, which I kept on painting like a madman. I have never ever been watching so much TV and having seen so many videos as I did then. When constructing games, one might think ordering of game boards, dice, playing cards and boxes is as simple as booking a round-tour, purchasing a car with all optionals, or arranging any other matter that consists of different parts. Everything should be promptly and neatly delivered. However, that was not the case for me. It all came from different places and loaded on pallets and in a complete mess. An experience I could have lived without.

Coming out...

Now it was time to approach the market, but when looking over my budget I realized it wouldn't be feasible to ad with any sort of impact. Then I had the, as I am pompous to say, brilliant idea of having a party for the press instead.

Well, next problem to face. They would of course expect something to eat and drink. I took the bull by the horns and called wine agencies that had their labels on the game board. They all sent me a case. Then I contacted an old friend of mine who composed a delicious buffet for me.

Finally I needed someone with strong attraction in the business, and who could be better than my former boss Carl Jan Granqvist, founder and owner of that lovely inn I earlier mentioned. He accepted gladly to act as emcee but only if the press showing was held at his premises, the wine cellar Grappe.Two flies with one blow, room free of charge and a celebrity as a drawing card.

                                       

                             

The games should arrive on February 5, a Thursday. The press party was to take place on February 9, a Monday. I sent out 110 invitations to different newspapers, magazines and storeowners. All but five accepted! Thursday 5 turned out to be a nightmare. In the morning the boxes and the game boards arrived. When opening the packages I saw that the game boards were far thinner than I had expected, and I couldn't hold my tears back. After this first chock, I realized that all boxes were flat, i.e. I was supposed to fold all these 1,100 games myself. Yes, they were 1.100 and not the ordered 1,000, and I was supposed to pay for those extra hundred as well. Swedish standards, thank you? However, for this very event, I only had to fold 100. Thank Goodness for that! But that wasn't all. Later the same day, the question cards came, unsorted and on pallets, 22 in all and 49 different stacks of cards on every, and the cards were piled separately, so only when touching the piles slightly, the cards were completely mixed up. Despite all of this, the press showing went very well, and I had major coverage in many newspapers.

The remaining 1.000 games, in a mess as they were, were transported to my and my finance's apartment. Here started my career in cardboard folding and sorting out.
During this illustrious career I have been folding and sorting out over 4.500 games. After having shopped around for some time, I found a printer works in the neighboring country of Estonia. They print, assort, fold and pack and deliver the final product at half the cost.

Am I completely sane doing this?

When receiving the Swedish version of the game, I have had them delivered to the main entrance of the tenant building where I have lived. Then I have struggled to get them into the elevator and take them up to my apartment, where one room is assigned for storage. One game weighs just over five pounds, and my normal deliveries are on 1,000 or 2.000 units So you can imagine the physical  workload. At this stage, my boyfriend got more and more annoyed with these games. After a year and a half of handling these products in our home, he confronted me. Him or the game? I chose the game.
Are things going too fast?

When I finally had delivered all the 500 pre-ordered games, something struck me. Who did I think I was - Who could possibly want to buy my wine game, and so on. This lead to an embarrassment, I turned shy and sort of fossilized. So I hid in my apartment spending my time folding games. After a while I regained my strength and my confidence returned, and I felt like promoting my game more actively.

For instance, after having performed a wine-tasting session, I asked the participants if they possibly could accept me promoting another product of mine. After a certain intake of tasty wines and in a joyful atmosphere, it normally led to that I sold some 20 games on each occasion. I also traveled across my country, in the size of California and Oregon put together, promoting the game to appropriate stores and attended some fairs as well.

Moving upwards...

Eventually, my reputation reached all the way up to the Swedish society of inventors. They made contact and invited me to their annual technological fair It was a very nice and rewarding experience and it finally led to a membership in this fine chapter for me. This was my first contact with networking, and it really worked. Many of the members had good contacts with the media, and soon I was regularly invited to give speeches on how this game came about, or invented as these fine people say.

...And into the minister's office