Best wine if you're stranded on a deserted island? 1982 Salon Champagne.

If I could drink only one wine, it would be Champagne.

I'm an entrepreneur first and a wine critic second.

When I was 17 or 18 I wanted to become a wine expert, and my parents wouldn't let me drink. So I was devastated. All I could do was read, and I read and I read. And I'd read something like, you know, 'Subtle hints of cassis.'

From age 16, I lived and breathed wine. I read every magazine and book about wine.

Really, truly, try to figure out what your palate is all about. If you've determined that you don't like dirty old stinky wine - old-world flavors - you probably like new-world fruit bombs. Stick to Shirazes and California Cabernets or Zinfandels.