Eat, drink and play bingo. Red or white?

22 October 2008

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Venetia Thompson takes refuge from austerity Britain in a night of wine bingo: a fast-growing game that combines the spirit of the Mecca Ballroom with the palate of the vintner

Bingo is a game that I have never really seen the point of — despite recent advertising campaigns attempting to market it as the new raucous ‘girls’ night out’ of choice. It was thus with trepidation that I climbed Home House’s grand staircase and entered one of their private rooms along with 30 other guests for a game of wine bingo. I was swiftly handed a glass of something light and fizzy, thankfully, and all images of fat, single, middle-aged Gala-dwelling women and their legs-11 disappeared. It was only when I reached for what from a distance looked like a macadamia nut in a round basket, but was in fact a bingo ball, that I remembered that I was there to play a game, and that I probably needed glasses.

Wine bingo was devised by the London club’s head sommelier Nicolas Pierron two years ago, and is now a bi-monthly sell-out event with a cult following. Some guests have even been known to bring spreadsheets and wine study-guides to maximise their chances of winning the many bottles of wine on offer. However, the grand prize, which on this occasion was a magnum of Château le Prieure, Pomerol 2002, could only be won by getting a ‘full house’ — and that would be left reassuringly down to chance and who could shout ‘Bingo!’ the fastest.

Wine bingo regulars aside, many guests are just here for a fun evening trying wines that they would perhaps normally avoid, and to test their blind-tasting capabilities. The rules made more sense after a few glasses of wine. Each guest is given a bingo card; Nicolas then commences the game by calling out numbers which are struck off in the usual bingo fashion. All fairly straightforward so far.

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