The art of matching wine

I had a thought yesterday. In the middle of a very complicated discussion with a colleague who wanted to know how to best host a formal dinner party, the question of wine pairings came up. If it's not your job to pair wine with food, you may think this is a relatively easy task. Champagne to start, White Burgundy with fish, red Bordeaux with the filet of beef, something sweet, or even an avec, with dessert. Easy-peasy. Right?
No. There's always someone who won't drink dry wines, or tannic wines, or aged wines, or bubbly wines, or sweet wines, or red wines, or white wines, or wines that taste of wine. Bummer, eh? So what do you do when rather than receiving a list of dietary requirements, you're getting a list of beverage requirements?
To me, there are two ways of looking at this problem. At the restaurant we work it both ways, not just because we're hosting a dinner, but because we expect our customers to want to pay the bill at the end of the evening.
1. Pair the wine with the food. Everyone wants an enjoyable dinner, so serving up a sweet wine with your fish appetizer just because there's someone who will only drink sweet wines is a no-go. In the restaurant, this always comes first. The wine paired with a certain course is the wine best suited to serve with that particular dish. This is fairly straight-forward, there are about a billion sites on the net which offer suggestions as to what wine to pair with what food if you're stumped.
2. Pair the wine with the guest. Not as easy, right? Well, if Aunt Magda will only drink Champagne, there are plenty of Champagnes which do more for the world than fill the space between arrival and first course (which we term "aperitif"). There is an entire universe of Champagne of different grape compositions, ages and vintages that can be paired and served with just about anything. This option requires a bit of an open mind and perhaps a bit more effort when it comes to planning, but again, Google is your friend.

Generally, I think that if you're not receiving any monetary compensation for your hosting efforts, you can only cater to your guests likes and dislikes to a certain extent. If someone rolls up and announces that they can't drink wine that tastes like wine, well, tough luck. There is such a thing as bringing your own pop.

Of course. There is a third option. Buy a great big bag in box of whatever vile stuff your guests are requesting, and fill your own glass from a secret bottle in the kitchen. Very Machiavellian, but sometimes it can be oh so worth it.