"People are beginning to enjoy more sophisticated and ambitious wine and food dinners. Last month, Bella Trattoria in Tampa threw a five-course meal with matching Italian wines from B-21, a Tarpon Springs liquor store with an extensive wine inventory that draws connoisseurs from around the area. Just last week, Le Bordeaux, the restaurant just across the street from Bella, had a similar banquet with French foods and wines. Both plan to have more.

More often connoisseurs and neophytes gather in the aisles of wine stores to sample and compare notes on new wines at tastings scheduled once or twice a month. They may drive to Tarpon Springs to meet a vintner from Burgundy visiting B-21. 

...Picking the right wine to go with the right food seems as impractical as it is intimidating. What's the right wine for a table where the entrees are creamed seafood, blackened chicken, Thai satay and lamb chops?

Imagine having a winery or a wine store pick out five or six of its favorite wines and asking a top chef to prepare a special course to go with each wine. Matching food and wine makes for some of the most fun events, and they are catching on here. B-21 has actively promoted such dinners.

You can enjoy any kind of wine tasting if you keep the following tips in mind:

Don't try to taste all the wines. If it's a large tasting, look at the list of wines to be sampled first. Pick those you're curious about or think you might like and try them. Don't waste time on wines you already know you like (or dislike).

Specialize if you can: Stick to chardonnays or maybe red wines other than cabernet.

Try whites before reds, dry wines before sweet ones.

Remember that the purpose is to find wines you like. If you find a loser, dump it; but if the wine's a winner, fix it in your memory somehow.

You don't have to take elaborate notes. Just pick up some literature or ask the pourer to tell you about the wine. Everyone will have a story.

At stand-up affairs, juggling a notebook, a purse and a glass is too much, so wear something with big pockets to stick labels and other material into.

If you want to be serious, look at the wine's color, swirl it in the glass and smell the aroma (that's more for sensual fun than snob appeal). Then take a sip. One taste may be all you need. Pour out the rest.

Don't smoke or wear strong perfume or cologne.

Avoid the cheese tray. Fats in the cheese will dull your taste buds and make even bad wines taste better. Stick to crackers, water and apples to cleanse the palate."