One of my all-time favorite games was introduced to me by my friend Chad very early in my gaming adventures. The game is Viticulture and it blew my mind. The theme, style and art, gameplay and absolute complete package of a game set me on a trail that I couldn’t come back to: I needed more titles like this. And we still play Viticulture and enjoy all the extras, so I was very excited to try this brand new board expansion and see what it offers the game. So let’s jump in and take a look!
Bordeaux: Viticulture board expansion is designed to be played with Viticulture and replaces the main game board. It is published by Stonemaier Games and designed by Jamey Stegmaier.
Gameplay Changes
The Bordeaux Expansion introduces an entirely new game board for Viticulture, reimagining how players interact with the worker placement system while preserving the familiar cycle of growing grapes, producing wine, and fulfilling wine orders. Rather than adding new decks of cards or changing the gameplay or style what we find is that Bordeaux focuses on reshaping the structure of the game through a redesigned board.
There are quite a few changes in the gameplay based on this board, let’s highlight a few of them:
The wake-up track receives a significant redesign. Players still choose their position each year, but the available rewards and benefits have been expanded. The track offers a broader range of incentives, making the decision of when to wake up a more important part of planning each round. Some give benefits to everyone, some stick with just the player on that season track. It makes your wake-up pick feel more valuable and challenging at the same time.
Card acquisition changes as well. Instead of relying exclusively on drawing from face-down decks, Bordeaux introduces face-up vine cards and wine order cards that are available for all players to see. These public card displays allow players to make more informed decisions about which cards to pursue which is a good addition to the base that I personally have hoped for at some point.
Another new feature is the trade market. This area of the board provides opportunities to exchange resources like wine, grapes VP or cards to gain something else through a dedicated conversion system. The market offers additional flexibility by allowing players to transform resources into other assets they may need for their long-term plans but unlike the Tuscany board, these conversions can only be done once then they are gone from the game.
Bordeaux also introduces Expert actions. When players use these spaces, they gain permanent upgrades to specific actions for the remainder of the game. These improvements are tracked with Expert cubes and change the play of an action for you when you select it later in the game. While this can be very beneficial you have to balance not spending too much time on them.
Many familiar actions from the original Viticulture board have been repositioned or adjusted. The overall layout changes how players compete for spaces and influences the timing of key decisions throughout the year. The basics still look the same on the board but the editions definitely bring a new rhythm to the game.
The expansion also modifies end-game scoring by providing ways to convert remaining resources such as grapes, wine, and coins into victory points which can be helpful at the end to add a few extra points with things you normally might not have in the past.
Overall Impressions
Rather than changing the foundation of Viticulture, the Bordeaux Expansion revises the board itself. The result is a different experience that feels quicker to start and jump in and when we played at 5 and 6 player counts the game seemed to move faster.
I also especially like the card piles with being able to see what you might be able to pick. Random card pulls sometimes felt stronger for others than yourself in the past and this helps to mitigate that in a way. Player interaction felt more prevalent in this version as well. Stopping the spamming of early VP for items/coins helped balance the game from my perspective.
Overall I really enjoyed this expansion and plan for it to be the only way I play Viticulture in the near future. It felt smooth, interactive and very fun to explore a game I enjoy so much with new twists and turns to give it a fresh feel. So if you already love Viticulture, Bordeaux is a must-have addition to your collection!
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