Re: how to structure your database, think of it this way… if the wine pairings are subjective and don’t follow and hard and fast rules, then you’d need to hand create each pairing entry. However, if the pairings follow specific rules, such as if the meal is x and y but not z, then Wine A or Wine B, then you can put those attributes in the database and generate the pairings based on searches which look for certain combinations of things.
Re: option sets, there are some long posts on the forum which go into the ins and outs of them, but one top level takeaway is that in general option sets are best for smaller sets of data which are static and which don’t need to be behind a password.
On performance and data structuring, I highly recommend the below book. It’s essential reading on how Bubble operates, which then can inform your various database decisions.