The quest to create the ideal food and wine pairings can intimidate any host, but Cathy Henton of Le Tasting Room in the Loire has simple guidelines and sample menus to ensure success for novice or expert during the holidays or any celebration. Bonnes fêtes!

Last week the Clos de Trias vineyards had two exciting developments: the 2011 harvest began on Friday...and on Sunday over three inches of rain fell in a day. So it goes in vineyards near Mont Ventoux, where writer Madeleine Vedel spent time with Even Bakke during the 2010 harvest at his organic winery by the southern Rhône village of Le Barroux.

All cognacs around the world are brandies made from fermented and distilled fruit pulp and skin, but only about 200 producers in France can market Cognac with a capital C. It's an acquired taste enjoyed by kings and commoners alike for centuries. Today you can visit the greatest Cognac houses in the world when you're in France, as Adam Weiner recommends.

Riquewihr in Alsace is one of the Beautiful Villages of France and it's also known for producing grapes used to make Crémant d'Alsace, a sparkling wine. If you enjoy visiting villages with timbered houses, ornamental iron signs and wine tastings at vineyards, Dali Wiederhoft recommends you take a scenic road trip to the Rhine River valley. Santé!

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.