My daughters spent part of their childhood here in Spain where it was often customary to give the children a few drops of wine in a glass when it was being poured for the adults at the table. But it was diluted for them with a good squirt of the ever-present mesh-covered squirt bottle of carbonated water that graced most tables during that time. It was used for diluting drinks or drinking straight and was useful for moistening a napkin to mop off any food spills on your clothing while you dined LOL. If you see old photos of Europeans dining in restaurants or even at home pre-1970s you will often see the familiar mesh-covered sifon bottle on the table. I always had one on my dinner table. We would take the empty bottles back to the corner store and for a peseta or two (think cents) get a full bottle in return. (Now does that make me sound old!) This is one way I have made salmon and it was good. I'm accustomed to cooking with wine and wouldn't worry about serving this to children...but you could just give a small amount of the sauce if you were concerned. Here's how it looked when I made it: - Makes 4 servings. 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 (6-ounce) salmon steaks or fillets 2 teaspoons honey 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided 8 cups spinach leaves 1/2 teaspoon minced peeled garlic 2 cups red seedless grapes, halved 1/2 cup dry red wine Combine salt, mustard, thyme and pepper; mix well. Rub salmon fillets with honey and sprinkle with half the seasoning mixture. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet. brown both sides of salmon fillets. Toss spinach and garlic with remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Place salmon on spinach, cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 300°F for 10 minutes. Sauté grapes in skillet used to brown salmon. Add wine bring to a boil, season to taste with remaining seasoning mixture; reduce by half. Serve salmon on spinach; top with grape sauce. Served on a bed of spinach and spiced with garlic, thyme and mustard. Recipe Source: California Table Grape Commission. SharonCb

Thanks for posting this Carol, now I can print out the recipe and get THAT messy instead of my Craig Claiborne cookbook (grin). I used frozen peas and carrots (pre-cut!) or any other veggie I wish as a short cut.

Why not choose wines both you and your fiance like, that way you won't have to worry about buying too much. I don't think 1/2 bottle for prewedding, dinner and post dinner is nearly enough. At the bare minimum I would order at least 18 bottles, that's only 1 1/2 cases. Remember, most places give you a 10% case discount. A lot of your decision will also depend on how many non-drinkers you have. You may also want to have a few bottles of champagne available for wedding cake and toasts. If dinner is going to be something that goes with red wine than 67% of the wine should probably be red. If dinner is roasted chicken or lobster, I would do 100% white, plus champagne. If you run out of wine just after dinner, I suspect your guests will depart shortly after - which may or may not be a good thing! Good luck, jerri

When i was in England My brother in law would drive the mini over to France by the tunnel, and load up with wine as much as he could as it is dirt cheap there, like $2 and $3 a bottle and he would share it with family, he always went thru nothing to declare, and the mini was hugging the road, also he had to remember to drive back on the other side of the road which is a real chalenge.