What to drink:

I couldn't begin to recommend wine for drinking; tastes are far too unique and I am not an expert.
I do list what wines we are personally drinking with the menus each week, which are, naturally European.  We don't have access to Californian wines.
For more information on French wines french wine a day is a good site... and they have just bought a vineyard of their own.

What to cook with:

My philosophy (and that of others) is never cook with a wine not fit for drinking.  That said, one is obviously not going to use a $25 bottle of wine in the stew when a $6 bottle will do nicely.  (For me make that a $1.50 - we can get very inexpensive wine here - and, yes it comes in bottles with corks and we can drink it.).

For small quantities, especially if it is going to be used as a marinade with vinegar or soy sauce I keep a bottle of dry sherry and/or dry, white vermouth on hand.  They keep better and can substitute for white or red in a pinch - although usually there is an open bottle left from the week end.  After 2 or 3 days even that $25 bottle is just fine for the stew!

I do not recommend cooking wine.  It tends to have salt added...and it tastes awful!  Why would you want to cook with it?

Wine for cooking:

Any dry red or white wine will work. Normally white wine is paired with fish, seafood, poultry, veal and red wine with beef, but not always.  Pork is either, or beer.  
Coq au Vin, chicken braised in red wine, is a classic example of red wine with chicken.

If the recipe calls for 'white' or 'red', it is referring to a decent, table wine, on the dry side.  If sweet wine or something slightly different is called for it will specify.

Wine substitutions for cooking

Red wine: for 1 cup (250ml)

• 3/4 cup (175ml) red grape juice plus 1/4 (50ml) red wine vinegar
• 1 cup (250ml) beef stock
  
• 1 cup (250ml) liquid from soaking dried mushrooms
• 1 cup (250ml) beer
• 1 cup (250ml) Madeira, tawny or ruby
• 1 cup (250ml) port, tawny or ruby
• 1 cup (250ml) sherry, oloroso

White wine: for 1 cup (250ml)

• 3/4 cup (175ml) white grape juice plus 1/4 (50ml) white wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup (175ml) apple juice or cider plus 1/4 (50ml) white wine vinegar
• 1 cup (250ml) dry sherry
• 1 cup (250ml) white vermouth
• 1 cup (250ml) sake
• 1 cup (250ml) Madeira, pale or dry
• 1 cup (250ml) chicken or vegetable stock

Sparkling wine: for 1 cup (250ml)

• 1 cup (250ml) sparkling cider or grape juice
• 1 cup (250ml) grape juice

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