If you've enjoyed a Cosmopolitan, Sidecar or Margarita, you've tasted Cointreau, the liqueur from Angers. Debra Fioritto recently toured the Cointreau factory and today she shares a recipe for a cocktail the French call Cointreau Bubbles, a refreshing blend of fresh lime, sparkling water and the zesty orange spirit. Santé!

The immense wine production in the Loire Valley includes over 60 appellations that include every style of wine. Red, white, rosé, sparkling, sweet, dry and everything in between. The style of living and eating in the Loire Valley is as French as France gets, with the juice of Loire Valley grapes being the most popular wines ordered by restaurants in France.

Wineries send wines to Robert Parker with their fingers crossed, hoping for at least a 90 or that "lightning strikes." Lightning is 100—and it struck twice at Jackson Family Wines when he gave Vérité Winery's Le Désir 2008 Bordeaux blend 100 points twice in a row.

Aline Baly is a vivacious 31-year-old who fell head-over-heels in 2005. But this is not a conventional love story. Instead, it’s a tale of a native Parisian who moved to Boston as a child but eventually found her way back to France and discovered her passion for the family business: making and marketing the luscious “gold” wine, Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac.

Côtes du Rhône is the most diverse wine region in France. It produces full-bodied reds of Côte Rôtie in the north and Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the south. It's known for its memorable whites in the Condrieu region. People spend days going from one vineyard to another on tasting tours. Please remember to have a dedicated driver.

Paris sous la neige! Although I am not a huge fan of snow, I must admit that the pictures of Paris iced with snow fired my imagination. In my mind I am sitting next to a tall window on the 6th floor of a Haussmannian building, sipping from a mug of vin chaud and marvelling at the sites of Paris covered in sparkling white crystals.

Pop that cork! It’s the holidays, and what better way to get in the ultimate mood than to taste real Champagne. The only sparkling wine that can call itself “Champagne” is that which is created in the Champagne region of France, where seventy-four thousand acres produce over two hundred and seventy million bottles each year.

Today, three terrific reds from the Rhône valley, big and luscious wines for serious cuisine. Next time, some thoughts about Champagne for the holidays. Santé!

Pouilly-Fuissé (poo-yee-fwee-SAY) is an Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) for a subregion of Burgundy located in Mâconnais, known for its white wine. The villages of Fuissé and Solutré-Pouilly give this wonderful chardonnay its name.