First off, if you really want to get the most out of any wine tasting, it is of the utmost importance that you don't drink and drive. Having taught at Lemon Creek, I can assure you that the opportunities for broadening your culinary horizons are justifiably limited if you are incarcerated.

When you walk into a room with several dozen open bottles, your first thought might not be, "What is my goal here?" But if you have a plan of what you want to taste, you will find the evening more rewarding.

Before you start tasting, ask yourself if you are looking for a better version of what you are currently drinking or if you are looking for something new. Go to every table in the room and see what they are offering and decide which wines you definitely do not need to taste.

You should never pour the wine yourself. It amazes me that people who would never think of going into a restaurant and helping themselves to whatever is in the refrigerator think it is perfectly fine to walk up to a table and pour themselves a couple of ounces of the wine of their choice. Not only is this blatantly illegal, it is unspeakably rude, so don't do it.

Start with the lighter, sweeter white wines and over the course of the evening move to the heavier reds. For example, taste all of the sauvignon blancs and pinot grigios before the chardonnays. For reds, start with pinot noir and work your way up.

Make sure that you take a drink of water - fluoridated or not - between each glass of wine or cleanse your palate with a morsel of bread or a cracker.

Be careful what you eat. Why people associate eating fruit with drinking wine is beyond me. There is nothing like the combination of a really tart green apple and any wine to drive you straight to the Chimay Ale. Cheese, however, makes every wine taste about $10 a bottle better than it really is.

I think that taking notes is important, but most of you will think of it as being a little too obsessive. If you want to put down stars or numbers, that will suffice to jog your memory later.

Speaking of later, don't be surprised if the wine you tasted at the tasting comes across slightly different when you get it home for dinner. An over-the-top and juicy Aussie shiraz will stand out in a crowd, but while a small taste might be intriguing, its style might be a trifle overwhelming when you are splitting a bottle over dinner with your spouse.

• John DeCherney can be contacted at wine@acsalaska.net.