"Blue cheese is a perfect example, because blue cheese can go with extremely sweet wines like Sauterne – like pop and chips for adults – or blue cheese can go the other way, you can pair it beautifully with a highly tannic red wine," assures Person.
"It's almost a more encompassing cheese than other ones. It's also easier to pair cheese with white wine than red wine. The tannin will usually make cheese either tinny or flat or it'll just overpower to it, so a lot of cheeses in this area go better with white."
For Niagara Region wines in particular, Person recommends charcuterie like prosciutto for light red and rosé varieties.
"Farm pâtés and terrines are just an incredible pairing with Niagara wines."
Breads, crackers, saltines and baguettes are also good edibles to mix with wines but avoid indulging your sweet tooth prior to a tasting.
"The second you have something with sugar in your mouth, everything's going to taste dry or acidic," cautions Person.
There are other interesting wine related factoids you can throw out to your date to earn sophistication brownie points: the fact that location, geography and soil type plays heavily into how wine tastes.
For example, Person explains how Lake Ontario and the limestone-heavy Niagara Escarpment offer ideal grape-growing conditions for the Niagara Region.
"It's the microclimate: Lake Ontario tempers the temperature in both the summer and the winter," says Person. "Because Lake Ontario is so deep, the warm temperatures stay throughout the winter and keep everything cool in the summer.
"And the mineral of the limestone comes out in any Niagara Region wine, whether it's icewine, red wine or white."
Of course, knowing your varietals -- and there are 144 in all, ranging from Agria and Aleatico to Xarello and Zinfandel -- will also impress your partner.
Aside from indulging your date in wine tasting excursions and underground cellar tours, wineries usually offer a variety of activities on their estates, including fine dining and -- during summer months -- jazz and blues festivals, where you can bring a blanket and a picnic basket and cozy up together on the grounds.
The final word goes to Hillebrand's Sheila Person.
"If you want to impress a date at a dining establishment, trust the sommelier," she says. "Trust their choices. They know what goes well with the food. You don't want a wine that's overpowering the food or vice versa.
"Sommeliers are there to help."