Meet more of Bostonist's new writers! Dale Cruse, of Drinks Are On Me, is launching a weekly drinks column for Bostonist that will appear on Wednesdays. Bostonist loves his site, which tracks food and wine trends, and is thrilled that he's joining the team.

The Boston Wine Expo is slated for February 8-10 at the Seaport World Trade Center. Jonathon Alsop, founder of the Boston Wine School, gives us his rules to make sure it’s good to the last drop.

Rule 1: Learn to spit. “If you drink every wine at the Expo you will get drunk, fall down, and die!” Alsop warns. Instead, he suggests we learn “good spit discipline” and use the spit buckets provided.

Rule 2: Go Sunday rather than Saturday. The Expo is less hectic on Sunday. “Sunday is busy,” he says, “but Saturday is crazy busy!” Alsop likens the Saturday experience to “a wine scrum” but said “Sunday is a very different experience – less like a mosh pit.”

Rule 3: Go with a plan. Alsop suggests focusing on one grape or one region to get you started. “This will give you structure and a way to say ‘no.’”

Rule 4: Definitely attend if you’re single. You’ll find other people with discerning tastes. He described it as “fishing for drunk fish.”

Alsop quickly followed his list of “Dos” with a list of “Don’ts.”

“Don’t drive!” he emphasized. Instead, Alsop suggests making a weekend out of it. Take public transportation, treat yourself to a fancy hotel, and eat out at a great restaurant like Troquet on Boylston Street, he said. “Drink whatever owner Chris Campbell is drinking,” Alsop suggests.

He also suggests, “Don’t wear a lot of fancy clothes to the Expo. Don’t drink too much and don’t wear perfume or cologne.” Other attendees want to smell wine – not you, Alsop agreed.

The Boston Wine School is located at 1354 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston. Winter semester classes have begun but plenty of weekend sessions are still available.

Photo from LivingTheWineLife.com.

Post contributed by Dale Cruse. Cruse is a website developer who is helping to change the wine world. He likes to eat, he likes to drink, and he likes to write about both at Drinks Are on Me.