I've often enjoyed wine with meals but while at a business dinner one autumn evening in Europe our host gently chided me for grasping the goblet of my wine glass instead of the stem. I decided to mend my ways and learn something about wine. These are the notes I've collected. If you have any suggestions please send them to me.

Fundamentals
Here are some basics that might seem obvious to many but since no one is born knowing them (at least I wasn't) here they are:

• Red wines are intended to be served around 60°F (about 20 minutes in the 'fridge) which is closer to the optimum wine cellar temperature of 55°F than room temperature.
• White wines are intended to be served chilled to around 45°F. The typical refrigerator temperature is around 40°F so this means letting a chilled bottle sit on the counter around 10 minutes or so before serving it.
• Hold the wine glass by the stem. Holding it by the goblet can cause the wine to warm up.
• Here are some survival tips for when you are confronted by the sommellier (wine waiter) or the wine list in a restuarant.
• Wine lists are usually arranged from most to least expensive.
• A light white wine is good choice to start just about any meal, especially if you know you will be ordering a second bottle later. The second bottle can be matched with what your guests have ordered.
• If you are not sure how to pronounce it, look for the bin number or just smile and point, "this one". (Worked well plenty of times for me)
• Don't bother to smell the cork but do look at it. If you see a dark stain running the entire length of the cork on one side it might indicate the bottle hasn't been stored or sealed properly.
• Look at the sample offered to you before you taste it. Give the glass a gentle swirl while holding it at eye level and watch the wine as it drains down the sides of the glass. It should be free of particulates.
• Taste it slowly. Flaws that would merit refusing the bottle offered are a `musty' taste (cork contamination) or vinegar taste (not sealed properly or stored at too high a temperature) If it's not right they should bring you a different bottle of the same label and vintage.

Matching Food and Wine
Matching food and wine means going for similar tastes. i.e. sweet food, sweet wine. Dry white wines complement seafood in the same way a squirt of a lemon improves the taste of fish. A hearty Syrah can be incredible with a slab of prime rib.

Beef	Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot
Poultry	(White) Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, White Zinfandel, Vouvray (Red) Rosé, Pinot Noir
Seafood	Sauvignon Blanc, White Bordeaux or sparkling wine
Red Sauces	Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Gamay, Beaujolais
Desserts	(White) Asti Spumante, Rieslings, White Zinfandel (Red) Lambrusco, Port

Rating System
The 5 digit rating assigned to some of the wines is calibrated to my tastebuds - which find Merlot Chardonnay Syrah Pinot Grigio Pinot Noir Cabernet to be the perfect wine - so it is probably useless to anyone else. In fact, with this rating system, a glass of grape juice and a tablespoon of pure grain alcohol stirred together with a tea bag might get all 5's.

The idea was to list complementary pairs of tastes and assign each pair a number indicating where it falls within the range between them.