# Viticulture Essential Edition

Viticulture Essential Edition is a board game for 1–6 players. It plays in 45–90 minutes and is meant for ages 13 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 4. It is rated 7.8 out of 10 by 205 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $52.00 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–6 (best with 4)
- **Playing time:** 45–90 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 13+
- **Complexity:** 2.9 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2015
- **Categories:** Economic, Farming
- **Mechanics:** Worker Placement, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types, Race, Victory Points as a Resource, Contracts, Solo / Solitaire Game, Hand Management, Turn Order: Auction
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.8 out of 10, from 205 reviews
- **Owned by:** 353 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 1,691
- **Unique players:** 1,228

**Designers:** Alan Stone, Jamey Stegmaier

**Artists:** Beth Sobel, David Montgomery, Jacqui Davis

**Publishers:** Stonemaier Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gamers Guild AZ | 52 $ | https://gamersguildaz.com/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Miniature Market | 52 $ | https://www.miniaturemarket.com/stm105.html |
| Cardhaus Games | 52 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/viticulture-essential-edition/ |
| 401 Games | 64.95 $ | https://store.401games.ca/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Board Game Bliss | 64.95 $ | https://www.boardgamebliss.com/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| World of Board Games | 295 kr | https://www.worldofboardgames.com/cat-lady |
| Dungeon Marvels | 45.56 € | https://dungeonmarvels.com/viticulture-essential-edition-16975.html |
| Dragons Lair | 529 kr | https://dragonslair.se/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| TLAMA games | 1169 Kč | https://www.tlamagames.com/deskove-hry/vinohrad/ |
| Svet deskovych her | 1195 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/12034/vinohrad |
| Milan Spiele | 51.4 € | https://www.milan-spiele.de/viticulture-essential-edition-deutsch-p-19611.html |
| Good Games | 84.95 $ | https://www.goodgames.com.au/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Spelexperten | 595 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/strategispel/viticulture-essential-edition.html |
| Zatu Games | 46.09 £ | https://zatu.com/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Gameology | 87.95 $ | https://www.gameology.com.au/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Games Empire | 87.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Travelling Man | 47.5 £ | https://travellingman.com/products/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Alphaspel | 629 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/62074-viticulture-essential-edition-en |
| Spielezar | 59.9 Fr. | https://www.spielezar.ch/brettspiele/viticulture-essential-edition |
| Game Ninja | 749 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/viticulture-essential-edition/ |
| Nexus | 9995 kr | https://nexus.is/vara/viticulture-essential-ed/ |
| Fantasiapelit | 75.9 € | https://www.fantasiapelit.com/index.php?main=ai&kat=single&mista=indeksi&etsittava=_147126 |

## Expansions

- [Viticulture: Tuscany Essential Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-tuscany-essential-edition)
- [Viticulture: Moor Visitors Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-moor-visitors-expansion)
- [Viticulture: Visit from the Rhine Valley](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-visit-from-the-rhine-valley)
- [Viticulture World: Cooperative Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-world-cooperative-expansion)
- [Viticulture: Bordeaux Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-bordeaux-expansion)
- [Viticulture World: First Game Continent Promo Pack](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-world-first-game-continent-promo-pack)
- [Viticulture: Tuscany – Special Worker Promo Cards](https://www.ludoya.com/games/tuscany-special-worker-promo-cards)
- [Viticulture: Arboriculture and Formaggio Expansions](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-arboriculture-expansion)
- [Tuscany & Euphoria Crossover Structures](https://www.ludoya.com/games/tuscany-and-euphoria-crossover-structures)
- [Viticulture: Formaggio Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-formaggio-expansion)

## Similar games

- [Viticulture: Complete Collector's Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-complete-collectors-edition)
- [Viticulture](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture)
- [Village](https://www.ludoya.com/games/village)
- [Village: Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/village-big-box)
- [Wine & Cheese](https://www.ludoya.com/games/wine-and-cheese)
- [The Gallerist](https://www.ludoya.com/games/the-gallerist)
- [Raiders of the North Sea](https://www.ludoya.com/games/raiders-of-the-north-sea)
- [Scoville: 2nd Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/scoville-2nd-edition)
- [Feierabend](https://www.ludoya.com/games/feierabend)
- [AOC: Age of Champagne](https://www.ludoya.com/games/aoc-age-of-champagne)
- [Raiders of Scythia](https://www.ludoya.com/games/raiders-of-scythia)
- [Railroad Revolution](https://www.ludoya.com/games/railroad-revolution)

## Rules questions

### When do I place my rooster on the wake‑up chart and when do I get the wake‑up bonus?

In Spring, starting with the first‑player and going clockwise, each player places their rooster on an unoccupied wake‑up row and immediately gains that row’s listed bonus; the rooster placement also determines turn order for Summer, Fall, and Winter that year (page 6).

### Can I place more than one worker on the same action space?

No — each action space can be occupied by only one worker, though larger player counts open additional spaces for the same action; the exception is the grande worker, which may be placed on a fully occupied action to perform that action (and it grants the bonus only if placed on a bonus space) (page 7).

### If I harvest a grape value but that crush‑pad slot is already occupied, where does the new grape go?

When harvesting, you must place the grape on the matching value icon if empty; if that icon is occupied you devalue the new grape to the next lowest empty icon (and continue downward if needed) (page 14).

### Can I play a visitor card whenever I want, or only when I take a specific action?

You may only play a summer or winter visitor by taking the corresponding "play visitor" action (placing a worker there), and you may only play a visitor if you can fully resolve its effect when played; visitor effects resolve immediately and then the card is discarded (pages 9–10).

### How many wine tokens can I make at once, and do I need a certain cellar to make higher‑value, blush, or sparkling wines?

When making wine you may create up to two wine tokens (they can be same or different types), but you must own the appropriate cellar to produce blush/sparkling or wines above certain values, and each cellar slot holds exactly one wine token (see cellar level and capacity rules) (page 15).

### When I fill a wine order, do I get residual lira right away or later, and how does the residual tracker work?

When you fill an order you discard the required wine tokens, gain the victory points on the card, and immediately advance your residual token on the residual tracker by the card’s lira amount; you then collect lira from your residual position at the end of each year (the marker remains where you moved it and caps at £5) (page 16).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viticulture-essential-edition)
- [Viticulture Essential Edition in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/viticulture-essential-edition)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/183394)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._