But the cost of a nice glass of wine at the company dinner or a cocktail while out with your business colleagues would be deductible so long as it meets all of the other tests.

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He likes to begin the evening with a cocktail or glass of wine, sometimes serving it with a light snack of potato chips tossed with crunchy seaweed and sesame seeds and drizzled with soy sauce.

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Cocktails often have a higher alcohol content than a standard glass of wine or beer, so Mr. Arnold cautions against having a full cocktail with each course in a meal.

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So as 2012 begins and we toast the birth of a new year, I invite you to take a sip from the RedNek wine glass, think of Pat Gunkel and write down on that cocktail napkin the happy returns you can expect when you invest in creating a culture of ideas.

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