(FoxNews) - Selecting a bottle of wine or two for a specific occasion can either be a delightful or daunting affair. The veteran oenophile relishes the opportunity discover something unusual but oddly perfect, the grape that steals the show while somehow also elevating and advertising the virtues of the meal. But for the wine neophyte, the seemingly infinite menu of choice is a source of paralysis, and the opportunity is primarily for personal embarrassment. I’ve known friends who were less worried that the family approved of their romantic partner than their wine preference. And in many ways it the explosion of the wine market has made things even harder-there has never been a more confusing array of obscure choices to pick from, assembled from the around the globe. Gone are simpler days when a handful of familiar reds and whites were the only spartan possibilities, generating the relief that paradoxically issues from limitations on our freedom. I was recently in a wine bar that offered a Slovenian Refosk--does that pair well with a Christmas pudding? And since when did Slovenia make wine?