How to Order Wine

Editor's note: Welcome to our weekly column on business etiquette. If you have a pressing question for Miss Conduct, please send her an email.

You're at a business dinner. It's the end of the day, you're tired, thirsty and hungry, and the first thing the waiter asks you is what you'd like to drink.

You're still on the clock, technically, so your actions here are considered part of your job performance. You would like a glass of wine, but how exactly should you order it in this situation?

The short answer is sparingly, appropriately and indulgently.

Sound like a contradiction? It is. Welcome to the world of alcohol, a stimulant that's a depressant, a pick-me-up that'll run you down, a soporific and an agent of insomnia.

Drink Wine Sparingly

Miss Conduct's first rule of business-dinner behavior is that if you're the only one drinking, you shouldn't be. The fact that you're at a business dinner means it's most definitely not the end of your workday -- yet.

You need to stay sharp, so do not match your companions drink for drink.

However, do allow them to indulge because, as George Bernard Shaw once wrote, "That is the whole secret of successful fighting. Get your enemy at a disadvantage; and never, on any account, fight him on equal terms." Letting your opponent in negotiations booze it up is an easy way to play your strengths.

If you're drinking with an associate, you can have one glass (OK, maybe two). If you're drinking with an adversary, consider drinking only half what he or she does (up to that limit of one).

If you really want more wine, stave off any craving for more by drinking lots of water and promising yourself a glass of something flavorful later, on your own time.

Drink Wine Appropriately

Wine choice is easy, except when it's difficult.

The low-hanging fruit are the choices of wines for celebrations and cocktails: Champagne (which originates in that region in France and nowhere else), or a sparkling wine from any number of global regions, including our own American sparklers.

The appropriate wine at a cocktail hour is whatever you fancy, barring a sticky-sweet after-dinner drink.

The appropriate wine for a light meal or salad is light, of course -- usually a neutral white like a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chablis, even a Chardonnay or a very light rose.

Here's the tough part: The appropriate wine at a full meal is one that complements its flavors.

Unfortunately, pairing wines is an art that few master, although many pretend to.

Formerly fine wine lists were confined to a handful of French regions, but today they originate all over the globe, so the chances of knowing the wines on even an unadventurous list can be slim.

If you're familiar with the wines on offer at a business dinner, pair them intriguingly. The experts at WineExpo.com suggest an Amarone with a Peking duck, whereas the more conservative WineStyles.com makes recommendations like an old Brunello with Italian food and five-year-old Chilean Cabernet with grilled meats.

Just don't get too bold. Save adventurous pairings, like your favorite Montepulciano d'Abruzzo with pulled pork, for your close friends and real wine connoisseurs, if you dare.