Well, it’s been slightly on the toasty side already this summer. The kind of weather where your flip-flops melt to the pavement and even your rosé’s breaking a sweat. And, in the spirit, what better way to embrace this gloriously un-British sunshine than with a traditional British sports day? But, we’re doing it my way.
So forget your wheelbarrow race and how-far-you-can-throw-a-beanbag, this is a sports day my style. Let’s go. 🍷🏅
General Setup and Tips
This isn’t a day for drinking alone, get your guests to participate in teams – ideally with even numbers so 2, 4 or 6 players.
You can’t take part unless you look the part, so get them looking sporty - headbands and wristbands encouraged, this isn’t the Olympics so embrace the silly and fun.
Use plastic glasses and jugs where possible (is that enough Health and Safety, Fred?) & have spittoons/buckets dotted around in case some enthusiasts don’t finish their glass each round.
Have a scorecard designed for each team and make it as creative, jazzy and fun as you can.
And, my top tip - have a whistle. You’ll need it!
ROUND 1: Spot the Savvy B
Setup: Set out various bottles of white wine around the space, with only one bottle being a Sauvignon Blanc. Make sure that all the bottles are covered, with either a blind tasting sock, tin foil, or whatever Art Attack inspiration takes you. Each bottle should be numbered, and easily identifiable (paper and elastic bands work a treat) Your decoy bottles could include:
- Albarino
- English Bacchus
- Muscadet
- Picpoul de Pinet
- Chenin Blanc
How it works:
- Give everyone a plastic wine glass, and set them off around the space.
- The teams taste every wine - teams can either split up and regroup, or complete the tasting as a team.
- The aim of the game here is teams just have to identify which wine is the Savvy B. All very simple, until Katie from Marketing is absolutely insisting bottle 3 is a light pinot noir she had in Greece one time, and Team A have necked all their glasses off the bat because they got a little too excited. I told you that whistle would come in handy.
Tom’s Top Tip:
I used a really delicious Sancerre for this round (Alphonse Mellot from Waitrose, £27). It’s a French Sauvignon which is very subtle for a Savvy B. I wanted a hard one to pick out for the first round to make sure people got in the competitive spirit when not every team guessed it correctly. Everybody loved the wine once I unveiled it. With a Savvy B, you’re looking for a really dry, crisp wine that is full of aroma - high acidity is a key hallmark of Sauvignon Blanc.
Points Awarded: 20 for the first team to correctly identify the Savvy B, 15 for the next team, 10 for the next etc.
ROUND 2: The Three-Legged Charcuterie Challenge
We can’t do a sports day with at least a bit of sport, and what better way to complicate a three-legged race further than mix it with the egg-and-spoon, and throw some alcohol into the mix for good measure.
Setup: Create a course about 100 meters long with feature destination part-way along the course where teams must take a group selfie. You’ll need a start line and a celebratory finish line for the winners to run through.
How it works: Pairs tie their inside legs together with a tea towel or rope. Each person has a plastic wine glass, on top of which is a mini charcuterie board on something akin to a beer mat. (You actually can buy wine glass charcuterie toppers on Amazon)
Fill the wine glasses (half full maximum), and add your charcuterie selection to the topper: I used a few slices of salami, a couple of cheese wedges, some grapes, and some crackers.
Teams must navigate the course together without dropping anything. Time them, but they are also judged on:
The amount of wine remaining in glasses (measure with a ruler if you're feeling precise!)
Whether the charcuterie arrangement is still intact
Style points for teamwork
Tom’s Top Tip:
Don’t tie their legs together too tightly, avoid any hazards like rough terrain, this is tricky enough without making them tackle Beechers Brook. And, if it’s very hot, please try and stick to shade.
Points Awarded:
10 points for the team that crosses the line first. The whole team must be across the line.
1 point for each piece of charcuterie left on their board.
Bonus 5 points for the best team selfie taken at the specified selfie point.
Minus 5 points for anybody who’s dropped or drunk their wine before finishing
ROUND 3: Rustle up your Rosé Cocktail
Time for the teams to get a bit creative, and this is mainly a good time for you to have a bit of a rest after witnessing the carnage of Round 2.
Setup: You’ll need an ingredients station, with jugs, glasses, ice, knives and all your ingredients. We set up multiple stations for a big group, but you can set up one and get a designated team captain to collect ingredients on behalf of their teams.
INGREDIENTS:
Plenty of pale Rosé
Ginger Ale
Vodka
Mint
Cranberry Juice
Plenty of ice
Lime Juice
Lime Cordial
Lemon Wedges and slices
Limes Wedges and slices
Frozen Jalapeno peppers
Berries – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (ideally frozen)
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
Mixing jug
Cocktail sticks and umbrellas
Various plastic glasses
How it works: Teams have five minutes to design the best rosé cocktail. We want summery looking, well balanced and delicious. The cocktails will be judged on looks and taste by an independent adjudicator – the organiser 😎
Tom’s Top Tip:
Get some music playing while they are doing this. I had ‘Club Tropicana’ by Wham playing suitably loudly and they loved it. With their headbands and wristbands, it took me right back to the 80s.
Points Awarded: 20 for the best cocktail, 15 for the next team, 10 for the next etc etc.
ROUND 4: What the Fizz
Another tasting round to finish, and this one is brilliant.
Setup: Place five bottles of fizz around the space, 2 of each bottle if you have a group bigger than 15- make sure all your bottles are covered properly (don’t forget, on bottles like Prosecco they have a label on the neck that is an instant giveaway). Make sure your bottles are numbered. Your bottles should include:
- English Sparkling
- Prosecco
- Cava
- Champagne
- New World Sparkler (South African Blanc de Blancs by Graham Beck fantastic)
How it works:
Give everyone a plastic glass, and working from Bottle 1 through to Bottle Five, the teams must taste each wine.
Simply, Teams have to identify:
The English Sparkling
The Prosecco
The most expensive
The cheapest
Tom’s Top Tip:
To really make this interesting, try to buy very classic examples of each sparkling wine. For English for example, use a really good one like Chapel Down. For Champagne, there’s no point paying for a label here, so I used a supermarket own brand. It’s important to have these wines well chilled, but out of the fridge / ice box a short while before tasting to allow the aromas to come to the surface.
As a helpful guide, the English wine will be the wine with the freshest acidity and probably one of the best. The most expensive wine will be the one that lasts longest in flavour after they’ve swallowed it – get them to count the seconds. The cheapest will be the shortest in length of flavour. There are some simple guides to help guess price-points: Prosecco just wouldn't rival the price point of a good English Sparkling, but it could match a Cava; get your guests to consider things like how fizzy the wines are, the colours, and the aromas in the glass - Prosecco wouldn’t have that characteristic toasty, honey, brioche aroma that is found in champagnes.
Points Awarded: 5 for each wine they identify correctly:
The English Sparkling
The Prosecco
The most expensive
The cheapest. Total of 20 points available
THE PRIZES
Obviously, there has to be something for the losing team - I gave wooden spoons to the team that came last, and a goodie bag to the winning team (plus a bottle of their favourite wine). And, in true Grand Prix style, a fizz-spraying photo opportunity is mandatory for the winners. Send them into us as we’d love to see how you get on with your own wine sports days!