About Wine Teasers

Wine Teasers Wine Game is a product of Fine Wine Games, Inc. in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It is the brainchild of an academic librarian at the University of Wisconsin who was searching for a social activity that would teach about wine. The existing wine games were either expensive and complex, or were simply question cards that lacked game play. Read about the startup in the La Crosse Tribune.

The game was invented in 2005 and was test marketed during the 2005 holiday season. Retail and wholesale response was very positive and the product began to become established. In 2006, marketing efforts were put on hold while a new version of the product was developed with Jennifer Rosen,Cork Jester, as content provider and with endorsements from major wine producers. The new product was intended to replace the first, establishing a co-branded product with Cork Jester and Wine Teasers. Development of the Cork Jester's version of Wine Teasers took longer than expected, and that version of the game came to market in 2007.

The Cork Jester’s version of Wine Teasers Wine Game has a simplified game play, more elegant and sturdy packaging, endorsements by many of the world’s top wine producers, and stimulating and accurate content provided by Jennifer Rosen.

About Jennifer Rosen, Cork Jester and wine educator

Jennifer RosenWinner of the 2005 James Beard Award for Internet Writing on Food, Restaurant, Beverage or Nutrition, and 2003 finalist for Jacob’s Creek International Best Drinks Writer, Jennifer is the author of Waiter, There’s a Horse in My Wine, and The Cork Jester’s Guide to Wine, both winners of Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for Wine Literature. Her weekly wine column, called "hilarious," "informative," and "the very essence of wine fun," appears in the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, CO, a network of papers across the nation, and is read around the world by over 45,000 subscribers to her Internet newsletter.

Jennifer’s byline also appears in Wine Enthusiast, The Beverage Network, Wine Country International, Drinks, Wines and Vines, Every Day with Rachel Ray, Broughton Quarterly, Fine Art Registry, The New Zealand Winepress, The Independence Institute and The Wine Club Newsletter.

Visit Jennifer Rosen’s Cork Jester website here.

About Stefan Smith, founder of Fine Wine Games, Inc.

Stefan SmithStefan Smith is an academic librarian. But all is not bookish in his life; with the title of "Outreach Librarian," a 9-month contract and an intense interest in research, wine and fun, he had the time and the skills to create and bring to market the first version of Wine Teasers Wine Game. It didn’t hurt that his specialty was small-group learning (see his peer-reviewed article in College & Undergraduate Libraries, "Designing Collaborative Learning Experiences for Library Computer Classrooms").

After creating the game, Stefan worked with his local Small Business Development Center to develop business plans, conduct focus groups, create marketing strategies, and all the other things that make bringing a new product to market so easy and painless (ha!).

Stefan manages the business side of Wine Teasers through Fine Wine Games, Inc. in La Crosse, WI.

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