Never cook with any wine or spirit you wouldn't drink.

The "cooking wine" commonly found in supermarkets is generally an inferior product and could lack distinction and flavor.

Wine should never overpower the flavor of a dish. It should be a subtle flavor.

Use dry, white wines for seafood and poultry dishes.

Full-bodied red wines are better with hearty meat dishes, stews and dark sauces.

To flavor soups, add a tablespoon of wine for each cup of liquid.

Add a light white wine to melted butter and pour over fish before baking or broiling.

Wine makes a great marinade. Combine it with other marinade ingredients, add the meat or poultry to be marinated, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

Fortified wines contain greater amounts of alcohol (15 to 24 percent). Therefore, they have very strong flavors, so caution is the byword when adding them to food.

When preparing slow-cooking dishes like stew, add a splash of wine 20 minutes before the cooking time is finished. The flavor of wine dissipates during prolonged cooking periods, and the final addition will give it more balance.

Wine makes a great marinade. Combine it with other marinade ingredients, add the meat or poultry to be marinated, then cover and refrigerate overnight.