How many of you see a wine and in fact may order it but have no idea what it’s all about? It is like when you are a bachelor or bachelorette and you pass by the underwear you threw on the floor a day or two ago—you see it but it is just there waiting for something nice to happen. Well, say hello to my little friend, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It translates to “New Castle of the Pope”.

Les Américains might still be teetotalers if it weren’t for Champagne Charles Heidsieck, who filled flutes to the brim across the Atlantic rim when he visited the Etats-Unis. The Age of Innocence didn’t know what hit them when the fun-loving francophone Charles Heidsieck swaggered onto the haute society scene with bottles of bubbly tucked under his arm.

A long time ago, a future BonjourParis wine writer asked about a curious sign posted at Mustards Grill in Napa Valley. He learned that “The Bitch is back" was a nod to Champagne by the good widow Clicquot. Read on as Mo Sussman shares the history of Veuve Cliquot Champagne.

What do Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, Château Haut-Brion and Château Mouton Rothschild have in common? Besides being monster French Reds they were classified First Growths in 1855 (with one exception) by a group of French oenophiles headed by then Emperor, Napoleon 111. I guess he was not a first growth himself. This rating became known as the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.

Ever tasted a wine that has aromas and flavors of ink, tar and pine trees? This wild and crazy wine and the winemakers who produce it are anything but ordinary. Here's more about Pineau d'Aunis and other offbeat French wines you've probably never heard of before.

All we have to do is say Bordeaux and a vision of a rolling vineyard in a picturesque French countryside comes to mind. A picnic blanket spread out with cheese, salami and a wonderful French baguette just waiting to join that bottle of a 2000 vintage of a first growth...say Chateau Margaux.

A recent tasting of mostly Rieslings, hosted by the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., was an excellent opportunity for wine lovers to expand their knowledge. Phil Bernstein of MacArthur Beverages conducted the seminar. So many people registered for it that it had to be given twice.

Gascony’s Château de Laubade celebrates the start of its annual Armagnac distillation with traditional Gascon cuisine, wine from the owners’ five other wine properties, and a drumming, tweeting, tooting Basque band.

OK. Since Wyatt Mason in the NYRB cleverly thwarted both French government censorship and Madame Destouches’ “ban” of her deceased husband “Celine’s” antiSemitic rantings and ravings by doing the translation himself, I will likewise seek to avoid approbation by translating a wine label I encountered today.