You can store all wines at 55 degrees, but usually it is best to store red in a little warmer temps (around 60 or so) and whites below (48-52). Never store them in the fridge...it is way to cold in there. It would be best to use a Vinotemp, or other wine fridge to store them. Also, if they have a cork seal, you want to keep the humidity up so the cork doesn't dry/crack. That will ruin the wine if it is being stored for a little while.
I don't necessarily agree with these statements.
Many treat wine like it's some sort of fragile substance, but over the years I've found it's quite resilient. You don't need to worry about a temperature-controlled storage unless you are going to buy expensive bottles and age them for years.
The vast majority of average wine drinkers buy a case or less at a time and consume them within a few weeks. Keeping them out of direct sun and at room temp (68F) or a bit cooler is fine. Also, I wouldn't worry about drying out the cork. Again, this is only a concern for people aging wine for the very long term ... and is easily solved for the short term by just stacking the bottles horizontally.
Storing in the fridge is OK for the very short term ... like several days. And only do this with unopened bottles. For me the issue is not temperature but odor/taste transfer from other foods. Most don't want wine tasting like onions and tacos.
As far as sweet vs. dry, there are no hard and fast rules. There are lots of variations, even within whites and reds. Plus all of us have different palates and sensitivities to sweet flavors. Your best bet is to just try a wide variety and see what you like. Go visit all the wineries in your area and taste what they make.
Personally I don't drink wine while smoking cigars. For me the combination seems to detract from the overall enjoyment of the separate flavors. I do occasionally drink port with cigars - but port is more in the liqueur category.
You pretty much want to drink an open red within a day or 2 of opening. Even using some of the devices available to slow the process doesn't really help too much.
I don't generally agree with this either. I've had young red wines that actually took 24-48 hrs to fully "open up". (Think of this like a rose that takes a couple of days to fully blossom. Wine flavors change the longer they are exposed to air. ) I've also found some wines can taste perfectly fine more than a week after opening. Again, this is more a personal taste thing than a generalization.
Here's an interesting site for you Ciggy ...
http://michiganbythebottle.typepad.com/my-blog/
