Olympic Rings at St Pancras International, UK

If you’ve watched any of the Olympic trials recently, you might feel as impressed as I do at the feats that the athletes complete.  Physical specimens to be admired, for sure, and a lot of time and sacrifice endured.  Which brings me to the actual Olympics – and the Olympic Village.  Ahh yes, let’s throw a whole slew of athletes from around the world together in one spot and see what happens.  I’m guessing just a little bit of debauchery!

But that is for the imagination to paint a picture.  If you want to join in the Olympic energy, why not throw your own Wine Olympics?  It could even coincide with the starting of the real thing (July 27th).  Your events may differ slightly from the real thing, but then again, you haven’t put years of work into it either.

Start with a “Guess the country” event where guests try to determine the origin of the wine they are drinking (they should probably be drinking all the same kind to keep things simple, though this early in the evening is the time for complicated if you’re going to get there!).  Using 2 or 3 different kinds and countries is a good way to start things off.

Then you can move onto “Carry the Cup,” using one of the empty bottles to spin to choose the order of contestants.  Using plastic cups, see who can carry their cup the farthest without spilling just by holding onto the base.  The incentives are high here!

Finally, you can finish with “Matchy, Matchy” where contestants must match the available wines with the food that is being served for dinner.  The Gold medal winner can of course be honored with song or maybe just a bottle of wine.

What is your favorite Olympic event and what is your most unique Wine Olympic suggestion?