Help suggest a good wine

[Jerry D Mead]

MT...The natural aperitif wine is champagne, and you can do very well with California brands or you can spend a bit more and go French.

Several good California selections are "J" (that's the total brand name), Mumm Napa Valley (I like the Blanc De Noirs best) or Gloria Ferrer.

A good moderately priced French selection would be Bollinger non-vintage.

Or if you're on a tight budget, a Spanish sparkler like Freixenet (the black bottle) would do nicely.

With the salmon I'd go for a Sauvignon Blanc...two of my favorites being Geyser Peak (a straight-on lemon-citrus style) and Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc which has a citrus flavor base but also a lot of wood complexity notes.

A good bottle of Vintage or Tawny Port to serve after dessert with coffee would be the perfect capper to the evening. Serve in smaller portions as it's the end of the evening and Port is higher in alcohol because it has brandy added.