It is possible, even likely, to spend a fortune chasing memorable wine experiences in Paris. The trick is to enjoy yourself on a reasonable budget. It can be done, with even a splurge or two planned! But, no matter when you come, reserve first. And please remember that some places might be closed for part of August - but so many are open.

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.

I wonder about people who have wine collections. Do they hang them on the walls? Hire curators and conservators? Bequeath them to the nation when they die? How do you collect something perishable—and drinkable? The collector talks of producers and vintages the way art dealers talk about craquelures and provenance. Still, you’d wonder, since he has spent so much time learning pedigrees and lineages of wine, if he’s ever had the time to drink any—but then you wouldn’t drink your Rembrandt or Gutenberg Bible, either.

In these hard economic times, we all look for ways to make our dollars go farther. For wine lovers, a good plan is to take in a wine dinner from time to time. They tend to be somewhat pricey, but much less so than in better times, and since the wines are offered by the winemaker or retailer on a promotional basis for the dinner, you end up paying far less than individual bottles of wine would cost. Plus, there is the interest of the speaker, the chance to taste a series of often exceptional wines, and the enjoyment of a good dinner.

Summer wines, like Beaujolais, are light, flavorable and fruity. They are meant to go with light, informal meals. Winter wines are deeper in flavor, made to complement robust meals, like stews or cassoulet. Like their summer counterparts, they are neither pricey nor hard to find. As a special bonus, although prices are rising, these bottles cost a fraction of their expensive vintage counterparts from Bordeaux or Burgundy, or for that matter, in the case of Côtes du Rhône, their increasingly expensive neighbors from Châteauneuf du Pape.

We’ll take a look at three fine winter wines, Côte du Rhône, Madiran, and Cahors.

Everyone, including yours truly, says awful things about Beaujolais Nouveau (B.N.): it’s all hype, watery, dull, insipid, fruity (not in a nice way), and tastes like shoe leather, cigarettes, under-ripe grapes, bubble gum, Kool-Aid and well, goodness knows what else.

Now is the time not just for attending to everyone else’s Christmas list, but for giving some thought to preparing your own. Who knows, with an artful hint or two, you might actually receive some of your favorite wines!

The cellars of the legendary La Tour d'Argent restaurant, created in 1582 the year William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, run for miles beneath its left-bank location. Those lucky enough to be invited are met by a blue uniformed flunky and escorted, through double-locked iron gates, into the dark, damp, musty warren of alleyways where 450,000 bottles of the worlds' rarest and costliest French vintages lie.

A wonderful friend of mine from another journalistic life calls herself a contrarian or libertarian not a Republican or conservative, despite her ties to the most illustrious conservative operation in America (outside of Fox News) there is.  As I was thinking about my life and wine it occurred to me I should probably define myself this way as well.

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