At a dinner party your aim is to provide the most interesting and varying array of taste sensations. A plethora of varying tastes will always have your guests applauding you at the end of the evening. Now we think like this about food but don't always apply such thinking to wines.

Firstly, forget the one style of wine for one entire menu rule. That went with the 50's. In many cases you're looking at having to provide one wine with each course of your menu and that means changing wines a minimum of three times during the evening. If you get it right your guests will be drunk with delight by the end of the night .... and you'll be the talk of the town.

Aperitifs and Appetizers

The common wisdom on  before-dinner drinks is that anything too sweet will dull the appetite and the taste-buds. The most popular advice suggests that a sherry or dry vermouth is a good choice for aperitifs which can continue into the transition to 1st course. The three choices offered here will work well in transition with hors d'oeuvres, soups, fish or seafood. Remember that sherries are meant to be consumed very quickly after leaving the winery. Sherries deteriorate with age. If vermouth, ensure a dry vermouth is your choice. The Italian varieties are usually sweet vermouth so look for French dry vermouth where ever possible. Vermouth is 'spiced' with herbs including coriander, peppermint, anise and angelica. The coriander is one which will usually work with great success in Asian entertaining. Another choice here is a dry champagne which can actually be a whole of meal choice if you wish as it seems compatible with almost all foods. 

You may wish to change the table wine as you move through the transition from aperitif to 1st course. This is especially important if your guests bring wine - make sure you incorporate the guest's wine in to the meal somewhere at some point!!! This means you have to think on your feet but you never know when a guest will be insulted by your not doing so. Please see 'main course' below for more detailed advice.

The Main Course

Here is where the choice gets daunting. What wines with what kinds of food? Its a difficult question to answer. While the 'red with red meat and white with white meat' advice is no longer popular I do think that wine and food color is an effective guide to choice. But, as is already clear, its not that simple.

Table wines are generally dry wines (not sweet) so that they don't overwhelm the palate and dampen the appetite.  Generally delicate wines will match effectively with delicately flavored foods. Conversely, rich, big, robust wines will match effectively with rich foods. The decision here is more than just about the meat or vegetables in a dish but should also include the sauces used to spice the dish you're serving. Chicken may generally require a delicate wine such as a young Riesling, Semillon or sauvignon blanc. But it depends. A richer sauce or a barbecued chicken may also work with a Chardonnay (which can have a smoky flavor).   Whereas I've found that Chardonnay is completely incompatible with chili or curry dishes (even chicken dishes) as it gives the overall meal a sour taste. This is a classic example of wine and food competing with each other. Yuk! Makes me want to vomit!!

The issue of color here emerges. You may choose to serve a light red with a chicken dish that's made with heavy or light soy sauce - because the dish, rather than the meat, is a darker dish. Also I've found that light reds are compatible with many stir-fry dishes as they also include soy and other dark color ingredients. Stir-fry is also usually a rich and strong dish so reds seem very compatible.

With spicy beef and pork dishes I find that a rich dry shiraz is particularly effective. However, I also find Chardonnay effective with pork dishes. (I have to confess here my general preference: I tend to prefer a movement from a light dry wine to a very big, rich wine by the middle end of a banquet meal - somehow this feels very natural to me and seems to work well with guests).

Seafood is the big trick. I usually prefer 1st course seafood as, for me, all seafood has a particularly delicate flavor that requires delicate light wine. Riesling seems a very good choice with fish. Pinot Gris, young whites and Sauvignon Blanc seem deliciously compatible with much seafood.

Dessert

Perhaps this is the easiest choice. Dessert wines are abundant and easy to identify. Port is the obvious one and is extremely popular. But you can choose from many dessert wines including tokay and Muscat. Generally sweet wines will work very well with savory snacks served as after-dinner nibbles but usually compete with sweet desserts.