I enjoy Vino, and think it's an underrated game, possibly because of a rules misinterpretation by some players when the game first came out. The number of bottles in the wine cellar equals the number of vineyards you own and is reset at the end/beginning of the turn. The cellar doesn't accumulate from turn to turn if unsold, so to have 25 bottles in the cellar you must own 25 vineyards at that moment. I like the fact that players concentrate on improving their own situation, rather than destroying the other players. The game is subtler than many family games, and players have to constantly reevaluate the board. The focus of this article is on strategy and tactics of Vino rather than a general overview. For a general description, and to read the rules on line visit the Rio Grand website at www.riograndegames.com.

1) Safe Areas

It's imperative to have one or two regions where you can afford to lose vineyards (through sales of large quantities of wine) and be able to buy them back, ideally at a low price. The best areas are Campania and Lazio respectively. They allow you to buy the first bottle for $30 or $40 and the second for $90, for a total of $120 or $130 for two. In addition the third bottle costs only S 150 so it's not too expensive to lock down control early on. Campania has the added advantage of containing 5 vineyards vs. 4 for Lazio. Liguria only has 3 areas and the 2nd and 3rd bottles are relatively expensive (compared to Campania and Lazio). Its ok early on when you don't sell much and only have to lose one vineyard. But later in the game when you sell enough to have to give up two or three vineyards you'll be limited. Because a safe area is safe, it's wasteful to buy the most expensive vineyards right away. Keep the cash free for more important areas. Anticipate when you will need to give up additional vineyards and make sure you purchase the extra vineyards in advance. (If you plan on selling 9 bottles make sure you've bought the 4th vineyard in your safe area.)

If you have a vineyard in someone else's safe region, try not to give it up. If its inexpensive it will allow the region control ler to take it over and repeatedly buy and give up that vineyard, saving him money. And you will never be able to buy it again. Instead try and give up a more expensive vineyard in your own safe region If you are a close second, trailing the con troller by one or two vineyards, you severely limit his ability to buy and give up cheaply. But if you give up a vineyard or two, you give him a safety margin that allows him to buy/lose additional vineyards.

Be careful about leaving too many inexpensive areas open in a controlled area, because another player may sneak in and buy some of them. At most delay for a turn before buying them back. I don't think it's worth trying to interfere with control of a small area such as Campania, Lazio, or Liguria unless you can usurp control. You don't gain much, probably one vineyard, even though you harm the former owner. You may hurt both your chances of victory by wasting time and money in a small skirmish. Typically I buy from a contested area and replenish a safe area in a turn.

2) Government Giveaways (GG)

It's crucial to get in on a couple of government giveaways. Frequently the player in first place in a region when a GG occurs ends up with a safe region, and has the opportunity to buy a couple more vineyards over the course of the game as others give up expensive vineyards there. Because the third place player can get so many free vineyards it's important for the 1st and 2nd place players to buy the inexpensive vineyards that will be given away. This results in little or no free gain for the third place player. The exception is if the first or 2nd place player can trigger the giveaway when there is no third player. If the first place player is the only one buying in a region he has a unique opportunity.

Don't trigger the GG. If close to a GG, buy the inexpensive vineyards that will be given away, and delay triggering the giveaway. The next turn buy the remaining vineyards, triggering the GG and end up with control of a large number of vineyards, while shutting out the opposition and causing players to waste a region.

Once a region is close to a GG, say with 2-3 vineyards left, the leader should trigger the GG. By delaying he risks the 2nd place player sneaking in and buying up the open vineyards. Even if he doesn't gain a free vineyard he'll deny you those vineyards. This is most common in inexpensive areas like Sardeor a, Calabria, and Abruzzo, in the mid game.

3) Where to Compete

Where there will soon be a government giveaway. Where there are inexpensive vineyards available. And where you can sneak in and buy in another player's safe area. Be careful about buying in expensive areas where there's little competition. Forgoing Abruzo or Calabria and heading north will result in your buying fewer vineyards over the course of the game. This will further reinforce itself as you collect less money for fewer bottles sold. Early on you should compete in Abruzo, Calabria, or Sardegna, as well as solidify a safe area. In my experience Abruzzo has been very important in determining the winner. Frequently the winner of the region has access to much cash early on, and can come back from a deficit in other larger and more expensive regions. Don't let a player walk away with a region. At least contest the inexpensive 50% of the vineyards.

After a couple of turns when you can see who will win the first couple of government giveaways you need to decide where the first big battle will occur. By getting in early, you will ensure you come in at least third in that region. In addition the first few vineyards are much less expensive. If you're short of cash you can always bow out, while maintaining your third place position, and concentrate on another region. Let the two leaders spend all their money buying up all the remaining expensive vineyards that will be given away (to box you out). You always have the option of popping back in to buy later, and possibly triggering the giveaway before the leaders suspect, say with a last second buying spree of 3 vineyards for $1000, that propels you to 2nd place and two free vineyards.

Another factor to consider is what grapes you are concentrating on, and what your opponents have. If only one player has a certain grape, muscle in on it. You will be able to take advantage of his raising its price for you, and will be able to deny him some of the profits by driving the price down. Try to protect your own grapes as well. It may be worth buying a single vineyard in a region you aren't interested in, just to prevent an opponent from buying more of a grape you need. If you and an opponent are competing in Nebolio grapes, try and limit his access to them. The fewer he sells, the less the price will drop.

4) What to Sell & Sequencing

Pay close attention to what will be sold in the next round and where the price marker is. If you are competing with another to sell Nebolio grapes and the price marker is at +300, and you have 10 bottles to sell, its imperative you sell ahead of your competitor. It might be worth your selling $100-$200 less wine in order to sell ahead of him the following turn. In addition to taking advantage of the +300 ahead of him, you will knock it down to +0. This may dissuade him from selling Nebolio, which is important, because you don't want it to drop to -300.

On the other hand, you don't want to sell ahead of someone if the grape you sell will raise one your competitor has. Say you have 10 N and 4 B, and your opponent has 9 M and 5 B. If you sell first, and sell the N and raise the B +300, your competitor will either sell enough M to go before you the next turn (to sell the B), or sell B this turn to take advantage of the +300. Sometimes you can even work deals with a player, you raise his wine price and he raises yours. A symbiotic relationship like this can be beneficial to both players.

Remember that the winner is the one with the most vineyards, not money. This means that on the 3rd or 2nd to last turn it's probably not worth giving up from a region where you won't be able to buy from by the end of the game. Towards the end conduct house cleaning -- buy up all the vineyards in your safe regions.

Try to give up what you can buy back. That means giving up from safe areas, or a contested area if you are the First place player. It may be worth risking control of an area that already had a government giveaway if it would force the opponent to buy a couple of expensive ($300+) vineyards. This diversion of your competitors money may allow you to succeed in the current region. And selling an extra couple of bottles for $200 more may not be worth it if you have to give up vineyards from two regions. Keep in mind the replacement cost of those vineyards as well. Is it worth giving up a vineyard you won't be able to rebuy?

Rarely does it make sense to forego a large sale just to go first in a turn. Going last, but taking in an additional $300 allows you to buy an extra vineyard. So even if another player gets into an area first, you will be able to buy more.

As the rules advise, concentrate on two varieties of grapes. The exceptions being if you have no choice when entering a new area (consider forgoing that area), or only one player is the producer of that grape.