It's time to sit down to a delicious meal with your loved one, and you really want to impress them with your knowledge of fine wine. Unfortunately, you're a little rusty on the finer points of choosing a wine to go with that meal you have just cooked or ordered. Here are a few tips to remember about wines.



Today, you have many choices when it comes to wine - with more than just red, white and blush at your disposal. The many different varietals and types within each of these wine "colors" means that you can much more precisely choose the perfect wine to accent your perfect meal.

Start planning the type of wine you will serve with your meal from the first course - whether that is hors d' oeuvres, soup or salad. Often, this course will work well with a light white wine such as a chardonnay or a pinot grigio. Both of these wines can be served cold, and will be refreshing.

White wine is an excellent starter wine, because many starter courses involve lighter flavors, such as fish or seafood - for example, in shrimp cocktail. Or, you may be serving salad - caesar salad, with its light dressing, also requires a lighter wine such as a white wine to enhance the flavor.

Blush wines are the ultimate compromise. The sweetest variety, they are perfect with any meal, or even just to drink on their own. Many people who are unaccustomed to drinking wine will find that drinking a blush, or ros wine is much more pleasurable, because it is less dry and heavy than other wine.

Of course, nowadays, many people eschew these rules of wine and drink whatever wine they please with their meal. In these cases, it's important to find out what wine your guests prefer and serve it alongside your meal - even if it isn't the "proper" wine for that meal.

Some may choose to serve red wine with a chicken or fish course, even though this is not the standard, due to the fact that so many people enjoy the flavor of a good red wine. In this case, stick to lighter reds and shy away from heavier varieties such as bordeaux.

Wine can even become the dessert - some chefs have been known to freeze wine into sorbets or granitas, serving wines or sherries that have been frozen into soft or crystalline concoctions as their own desserts. These are very popular in some fine restaurants.

The correct pairing of wines with your foods can help to enhance the flavor not only of your dinner or other meal, but also of the wine you are serving. The melding of the two ingredients - wine and food - will make for a great dinner experience.