wine lists?

[Innkeeper]

This site is littered with the remains of people who first tried to answer an innocent question like yours. However, if you are to get an answer, someone has to make the sacrifice. A book like one of the Wine for Dummies books (hyped on an adjacent thread) will teach you characteristics about various wines. Table wine ranges from dry to sweet and comes in red, white, and rose'. Bubbly wines (e.g. Champagne) can be drunk before or during dinner. Fortified wines (e.g. Sherry or Port) can be drunk before or after dinner. As far as what to have with dinner, the bottom line is anything you want. Most folks like dry wine with dinner and the sweet ones with dessert. Table wine also comes in a variety of "bodies" usually referred to as light, medium, or full. Think skim milk, whole milk, heavy cream. Lighter wines go with lighter foods. Richer foods call for more full bodied wines. The basic stuff in wine is a mixture of fruit, acid, tannin, and sometimes sugar. As you can see this includes all the basic tastes except salty. Tannin (results from exposure to skins, seeds, stems, etc) is the bitter component. You need to pay attention to these elements when matching wine to food as well. You don't want to serve a high acid wine with a high acid dish unless you're ready to pucker up.