For the wine lover, beginner or expert, it is now time for a pleasant seasonal errand. Go to your wine retailer, and lay in a case of twelve reasonably priced French wines that will go perfectly with your summer dinners. Make sure that they are good wines, and that you don’t spend over $125.00, taxes included.

I was reading a column in our local newspaper the other day by “Uncle Matty,” who writes regarding dogs (www.unclematty.com). His theme was the careful choice of an animal for lasting benefit to both the family and the animal, and he wrote following President Obama’s choice of a new family pet. It struck me that most of his precepts, which I have numbered and italicized, could apply to wine enjoyment as well. So here goes.

Two quite different wine tastings in Washington recently gave us the opportunity to become familiar with some quality wines that deserve to be better known. More than that, the grape varietals, Kekfrankos, Gruner Veltliner and Chasselas, are largely unfamiliar, although they are grown in a belt of temperate climate between the 46th and 47th Parallels where fine wines are produced. This belt includes the great regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy. As I was soon to learn, however, wines from Switzerlnd, Austria and Hungary are produced within this same parallel. Exploring these areas therefore offers new possibilities for discovering fine wines.

The French Embassy in Washington, with the indispensable help of the French Wine Society, presented a delicious introduction to wines created by winegrowers devoted to the elimination of additives in winemaking. There was a lecture by Nicolas Joly, a leader in this movement, and some information about the varying practices of the 153 winemakers in 13 countries now said to comprise this dedicated group. More to the point, 47 producers from 10 different nations participated in the tasting. They seem to differ considerably in approach, if not in devotion to making good wines.

Readers of this column will know that I find point scores for wine generally unhelpful, if not absolutely counterproductive. The reasons for this are various, but they were all highlighted a week or two ago, when I received an email notice from one of my favorite wine retailers. It announced the fact that they were taking orders for futures purchases for the 2007 Châteauneuf du Pape, Château de Beaucastel.

This is the season to bring a long saved wine out of your cellar or closet and serve it with a festive holiday dinner. After all, one of the pleasures of having a collection of wine is that you buy them when the bottles are young (and, until recent years, relatively affordable). This is also the time when you will have the best selection of wines from a new vintage. But wines are to drink, not to collect, like postage stamps on an album page.

Have you ever attended a large scale wine event, and wished that instead, you could spend an enjoyable hour or two sipping good wines, and learning about them from a knowledgeable person who enjoys sharing her information? How about if the wine seminar were held in a town mansion, and were reasonably priced?

When we lived in Budapest, I became a convert to a delightful Central European custom. After dinner, we would enjoy chocolate and coffee. It was still the heyday of communism, but in the coffee shops, Hungarians still savored their occasional treats. The brandy then was virtually undrinkable, and the chocolate and coffee were just approximations of the real items. The wistful expressions on the faces of those sitting in world famous coffee shops, such as Ruszworm’s or Gerbeaud’s, seemed to mean that they were remembering previous tastes, not really enjoying what was on their tables then.

Starting the fall wine season off in fine style, the French Embassy on October 4 hosted a Taste of France showcase of wine, spirits and fine foods, with informative cultural and travel highlights also featured. The presenters were very knowledgeable, patiently answering queries from experts and novices alike. They represented a range of fine restaurants and wine dealers. Helping coordinate the day was the French Wine Society, whose smooth operation makes putting on a quality gourmet showcase look easy - which it surely is not.