Water&Wines puzzles, like this one about Spain, are a compendium of illustration, ingenuity and information about wine
“A conscientious and foolproof gift”. Thus define Water&Wine puzzles its creator, Yamit Viitaoja. Aware because they have been created with recyclable materials and in factories in the European Union, knowing who does what. And foolproof because his illustrations, those that one sees appear when joining pieces, are wine maps of different countries with good information and curious facts.
They have started by the old world, expression by which the wine-producing regions of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa are known among professionals. That is why they inaugurated their catalog of puzzles with three heavyweights as They are Spain, France and Italy.
Water&Wines
Water&Wine puzzles
The New World, for its part, made its entrance on the scene recently and in style: with South Africa and running out of stock in presale. They will arrive in October Australia, Portugal, Germany and California. In the future, they plan to have a puzzle for each of the countries where wine is made and also regional, "to focus on specific wine regions for those who want to learn more."
His puzzles are a festival of beauty, with some hand-drawn illustrations by Derek Fenech , who combines powerful colors, striking fonts and well-defined drawings with geographical data and information about the world of wine. Namely, the main producing regions, grape varieties and the best-known appellations of origin of the country in question.
All this fits in 1,000 pieces and for what there is no room is the box, where you can read grape profiles, aromas, key characteristics and pairing tips. “Obviously I wanted to include a lot more details, but I had to go back as there wouldn't have been a good puzzle. Although we are currently working on seeing how to add more information related to wine for the next editions”, anticipates its creator.
Each puzzle, which can be purchased from 40 euros on the Water & Wines website, it comes with a full-size poster of the design and a stand for the box. For that of looking when one does not know where to go.
If this is the case, its creator recommends starting with the corner and edge pieces. "At the same time, she sorts the pieces by color and shape to break the puzzle into manageable subtasks. Work in build all brands of grapes it's a brilliant way to do it and it's very addictive because you can always find one last one."
Yamit, whose name means 'small sea' and has inspired that of Water&Wines, carries joy as a flag, in his life and at work. Also in difficult times. Therefore, isolated at home due to a serious illness while Covid-19 spread throughout the world, she sought a way to not to forget the knowledge that she had recently acquired at the Swedish sommeliers school Vinkällan and combined it with the activity that was helping her not to lose her mind: making puzzles.
“What started as a meditative activity inspired me to find a new way to share my passion with my family and friends. I also thought it was a good way to keep in touch with my colleagues and with the global community of wine lovers”, Yamit remembers.
This adventure, which began in a year in which many others ended, had such a positive response from the first moment that Yamit decided to add his friend to the team Mathilde Iwar. "So here we are, two women at the head of this company”.
"We simply made the puzzle we dreamed of." Yamit talks about Water&Wines as if it seemed easy, as if it were so obvious to make the leap from putting parts together to creating a company that, moreover, aware of the situation of the planet, aspires to leave the world better than it was found.
“As a company, we are committed to giving back what we receive. The most important thing for us is the protection and restoration of resources and our climate.” Among her plans is that of plant a tree for every product sold and donate a percentage of your proceeds to Charity Water, an organization that tries to improve access to drinking water in the world.