Guidelines for wine selection

[oldworld]

I spend a lot of time working on the perfect wine/ food pairings, and I can tell you that there is no perfect formula (but it sure is fun to experiment!)
I agree with generalken that one should always drink what he/she likes if you're loyal one particular wine(or wine type). My cousin only drinks Cakebread chardonnay, so when we're having steaks, I pour her a glass of her favorite wine, and a large glass of water. She sips water between the chard and her filet, and enjoys them separately.