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You’ve got to be open-minded to embrace most southern Italian wines, though, given the unfamiliar grape varieties and flavours.alex_ugalek/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A reader of this newsletter recently sent me a rant a bit about stingy houseguests. "When I visit people I always bring a good bottle (or bottles) of wine," this person wrote. "[But] I have friends who will come for an evening (or even days) and they invariably bring the cheapest plonk they can find."

It's not because they're living on a tight income, this reader says. In fact, the cheap friends in question are highly educated and quite well off. "It completely baffles me," this person writes.

Do you ever roll your eyes at the wine your dinner guests bring? Do you have guidelines on how much to spend on wine as a gift when invited to someone's house? Or is it the thought that counts? Send me your view at rcarrick@globeandmail.com and I'll compile them and report back. For me, $20 is a rough range.

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Today's featured financial tool

Should you pay down debt or invest? This calculator can help you find the rate of return needed to make investing the better option.

Ask Rob

The question: "Should my advisor sell stock to cover management fees or should they use cash from my portfolio? Right now they sell a portion of my stock every month to cover the fees."

The answer: "Selling stock sounds like a bad idea if you have to pay a commission to do so. Better to let cash build up and use that."

Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I can't answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length.

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