As the winter holidays approach, many of us make plans to entertain friends and family at our homes, and to join celebrations as guests. Whether we are the entertainers or the entertained, wine many times will be part of the plan. Here are some pointers to avoid some common catches with bringing, receiving, and serving wine.

At large gatherings that are common around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other winter holidays, we frequently offer to bring or are asked by our guests what they can contribute. If what we are bringing or receiving is wine, it can be tricky. We don't want to bring something that will go unused, and we all know the feeling of having a bottle show up on the bar that will go wanting for takers. When folks offer to bring wine, it seems the best bet is to be specific in our instructions. Try assigning a wine to each, to be paired with a particular course or food pairing. Don't be afraid to be specific and say "we really need Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, or any other varietal." It is always good to be conscious of the other person's budget, so suggest a couple of producers at various price points, so all will be comfortable with the suggestion.

If the person contributing is "wine challenged," it is even ok to suggest they go and see your favorite wine professional, so they don't get stressed out over their pending selection. Similarly, if you are bringing the wine to someone else's gathering, ask specifically if there are any needs, or if there is a wine they would like to avoid. A couple of questions and specific answers will leave all with wine they like, and lower the stress level as well.

When we all sit down to our holiday feast, the table takes on a bit more importance. A decanter full of red can really add to the look of your table. Regardless of the wine you are serving, don't be afraid to decant it. It is rare that decanting will degrade the way your dinner wine tastes, and it sure will help the festive look. Like wine, decanters are available at many price points, so no need to break the bank on this one either.

Also, a nice touch at large parties is to add large format bottles to the mix. A magnum or 3-liter allows all at the party to try the same bottle, and like a decanter, the big bottles cut an impressive image on our holiday table.

If you are serving your dinner wine directly from the bottle a no-drip pourer is helpful to use so the wine does not dribble down the side of the bottle, preserving the beautiful linens many of us use. It also makes for a nice hostess gift, we have them from a few dollars up to $12.95 for a more decorative version, and the recipient will appreciate not having a circular red wine stain on their tablecloth.

Occasionally, we may receive a bottle sealed with a wax closure. These bottles can be extraordinarily challenging to open, unless you know one small trick. Chipping the wax off has been known to frustrate many of us for 10 to 20 minutes or longer, and will spray bits of wax across the kitchen. Instead, use the trick of many a sommelier: drive the worm of your corkscrew directly through the middle of the top of the wax, and keep going into the cork. Regardless of the style of corkscrew you prefer, when you pull the cork out the wax will crack around the outside of the cork, and cork and wax will come cleanly out of the bottle.

Inevitably, as our holiday parties wind down in the evening, one more bottle may be needed.

Wine is best ordered starting with our better bottles when palates are fresh, and finishing with some less-expensive ones when palates are fatigued. It always seems to be a bit of a waste when a really great bottle is opened and partially consumed, when many of us can barely taste the quality and nuance of the wine because we have had so many flavors already.

Finally, we may encounter one or more opened and not fully consumed bottles on our tables. Rather than letting them go to waste, we suggest using Private Preserve to help keep the wine vibrant overnight. This inert gas sprays into the bottle and preserves it by elevating oxygen off the wine.

Check with us here at the shop or with your favorite wine professional for other tips to make wine service at your holiday parties more enjoyable and relaxing.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email [email protected], or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the Dinner Party, a wine and tabletop decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George has also worked as a judge in many wine competitions; his articles are published around the country, and he is the wine editor for Coeur d'Alene Magazine (www.cdamagazine.com).

You can learn more about the Dinner Party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles, as well as other great wine tips, by friending us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/#/dinnerpartyshop.