The easiest way to learn about wine, or so you hear over and over again, is to drink it. But it's not really that simple. It helps to talk with other people about what you taste. And it helps to read up on where wines are grown and the styles in which they are made.

Sound a little stodgy? It doesn't have to be. A board game called Karafe promises to make you ''a true wine connoisseur'' in a few evenings. It may take more than that, but if you enjoy board games and play with the right people, it could be a lot of fun.

I grew up a Monopoly addict and would play whenever I had the chance. I enjoyed the strategy of buying property and establishing hotels whenever possible. Life (the game) was another matter. Paying imaginary college tuition for a fictional child I didn't want in the first place was not my idea of a pleasant escape.

Karafe is more like Monopoly in that you have to plan your strategy to earn the most money. But the playing field is much different. ''First, you acquire capital, then you buy acres, then you harvest your grapes, then you bottle your wine and then you sell your wine,'' according to the rules.

In order to do this, you roll a die and answer wine-related questions in a manner reminiscent of Trivial Pursuit. The questions are divided into two categories, one for sippers, the other for connoisseurs.

There are also blind taste tests, which is where the real fun -- and the real acquisition of wine knowledge -- begins.

For this part of the game, you are asked to open three different wines. If a player is challenged, he or she must taste one wine blind (chosen by the rest of the players) and identify it.

For novices, you are told to pick three really different wines. My friends are mostly into reds, so I grabbed a robust, jammy Sonoma County zinfandel, a Paso Robles cabernet sauvignon that turned out to be thin and a rustic, earthy Napa charbono.

Everyone dutifully noted the characteristics of each, and by the second or third challenge, even the players who claimed not to have refined palates could taste the differences.

Wine lovers with a little more tasting experience are encouraged to try wines with more similarities, such as sauvignon blancs from around the world.

If you wanted to get persnickety, you could pour, say, cabernet sauvignons from within Napa County. Can you pick up the eucalyptus from certain areas of Rutherford? The concentrated fruit from Howell Mountain?

The success of any board game depends in large part on the people you play with. We had such a good time getting together that my friends are not only willing to play Karafe again, they've actually asked when the next game is going to be.

Karafe is available only online at karafe.com. The cost is $45.99 for the board game only. You have to provide the wine.

Fred Tasker's wine column will return next week.

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