What is the best wine for your first time?

[cpurvis]

Welcome Revelator. You're in one of the right places to start learning. If you update your profile w/ your city/state location, then we might be able to give you more specific help w/ what & where to buy.

Another helpful hint for instant gratification: if you have specific questions, first try the "Search" function on this site. Just type in a key word to find out if your question has been addressed previously. If not, then post a new question just as you did this time.

Couple of answers to your questions:

I agree with CCK that the after dinner Moscato d'Asti should be an enjoyable way to start your wine adventure & enhance your celebration.

"Dessert wine" is typically enjoyed with or as dessert after a meal. There are numerous categories including port, madeira, 'ice wine', late harvest wines, etc. These wines are oft discussed on this Board, so you'll find plenty of info in the archives using the Search function.

Re: your wine cooler question, see the following post for a description:
http://www.wines.com/ubb2/Forum37/HTML/000264.html

Hope this helps. cp