“Le Nouveau est arrivée!” One may see these words in the windows of wine retailers today, marking the release of the 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau. It is wine made of Gamay grapes and fermented for only a few weeks after harvest before reaching the market. Historically, the wine was for local (French) consumption only until clever marketers at negociants such as George Deboeuf found ways to cash in on the buzz that developed from the tradition.

I am not French, but have had the privilege of attending annual “Nouveau” parties with French ex-pats in the various U.S. cities I have lived in. They were always lots of fun, and until recently I could easily stomach shelling out $10 bucks a bottle for wine that offers a tremendous pucker factor. Beaujolais Nouveau by itself is usually not too enjoyable, and the only reason I would buy it is to use as a ticket to one of these parties.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love wines from Beaujolais. They are generally sold at three levels of quality: Nouveau, Villages, and Cru Beaujolais. The Cru wines will have a specific village designation, such as Morgon, Fleurie or Moulin à Vent. I count Cru Beaujolais as some of my favorite wines in the world. They offer great complexity at a low price. Many are worthy of cellaring; a few years back I popped the cork on a 1983 Moulin à Vent and it was delicious.

I have been watching the Twitter feed today and have seen retailers post prices exceeding $20 per bottle of this young wine. This blows my mind!  If I can offer one piece of useful wine advice all year: Avoid handing over your cash for this wine. Ask your retailer for Cru Beaujolais instead. Chances are you will only need to pay a dollar or two more for far superior wine.  I purchased the wines in the photo from Weygandt Wines in DC, and paid about $21 per bottle and $40 for the magnums (which I will set aside for a few years).  Pictured are wines from reputable producers Chiroubles, Morgon, Fleurie, Moulin à Vent and Brouilly. All represent the best that French Gamay has to offer, but each is distinct in character.  Taste a Cru Beaujolais next to this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau and you will immediately see what I mean.

Was it a good deal? Ask me on New Year’s Day.

The countdown has begun and, unless you’re more prepared than the average ‘significant other,’ you’re still wondering how to bring a smile to your spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend. Hallmark stores will be full and their shelves will be empty, so don’t put your faith in paperstock.

Restaurants have already reserved most of their tables and Mickey D’s is out. FTD and local florists have spiked the prices for roses; you’d think those thorny things were pure platinum. There seems to be an infinite supply of diamonds and gold, but maybe this year’s Valentine’s Day is not the time to drop the “big one.”

Why not be a bit imaginative and bring a sparkle to their eyes? The imagination part is yours, although secluded spaces that specialize in quiet privacy are best. The sparkle comes from lovers’ lore: Champagne and other bubblies.

Sparkling wines are made around the world. In a select part of France, they’re named after the town, Champagne, but other bubblies are made in the U.S., Italy, Spain, and elsewhere. Here are some suggestions, in case you’re spending all your time looking for that “secluded space.”

Bollinger Brut Special Cuveé (France, $65) Scents and flavors of cream, vanilla, and toast; pleasantly elegant effervescence.

Bollinger Brut Rosé (France, $100). Light salmon color, delicate but persistent bead, strawberries and cherries on palate, zesty finish.

Cupcake Prosecco (Italy, $14) Fun and refreshing, light body, medium bead, forward fruit.

Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuveé Brut (Spain, $17). Very effervescent, silky smooth, fine bubbles, reminiscent of fresh, lively fruit.

Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuveé Brut (Carneros, $35). Bright and brilliant, effervescent and lively.

Segura Viudas Aria Estate Brut (Spain, $15) Brilliantly sparkling, hints of pineapple and pear on nose, touch of honey and vanilla bean.

J Vineyards Brut Rose (Russian River Valley, $30). Bright and citrusy, with a hint of vanilla cream.

In the world of wine-food pairing, there are some perfect matches: Sauternes and foie gras, Champagne and caviar, Pinot Noir and pork roast, Banyuls and chocolate mousse, Bâtard-Montrachet and hollandaise sauce, Côtes du Rhône and grilled sausage – but with the holiday season upon us, we have more pressing matters than what wine to pull from the cellar to serve with our dinner.

So, viola! Time to trot out the Champagnes and other bubblies that we’ve waited so long to serve. In fact, these effervescent elixirs have never lost their luster as the principle exemplars of vinous celebration. Ever since Dom Perignon, the blind Benedictine monk, was credited with inventing Champagne (he didn’t really, but the story lives on), European and American societies have associated sparkling wine with parties, award ceremonies, weddings, and New Year’s Eve.

Clearly, adherence to this tradition would not only avoid bad karma as we prepare to turn the page on a new year, but it would also make our lucky house guests very happy!

Champagne is, properly, the sparkling wine made in and around the French village of Champagne. There are many fine bubblies that challenge the French product for quality, like certain California sparkling wines. In fact, sometimes the easy nature of competitors like Italy’s Prosecco and Spain’s Cava is a preferable solution to the obviously more cerebral Champagne.  In the holidays, all are welcome, as can be seen from the recommendations provided below.

Astoria Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Vino Spumante Millesimato (Italy, $20)

Bisol Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Crede Brut (Italy, $21)

Ca’ Montini Prosecco Royal Cuvee (Italy, $19)

Caposaldo Prosecco  (Italy, $15)

Castello Banfi Rosa Regale (Italy, $20)

Costaripa Brut Metodo Classico (Italy, $41)

Freixenet Elyssia Brut Cava (Spain, $17)

Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvee Brut (California, Carneros, $35)

Gloria Ferrer Val de Vi (California, $22)

Henriot Brut Millesime (France, $95)

Inniskillin Sparkling Icewine (Canada, $75 / 375 ml)

J Brut Rose (California, Russian River Valley, $35)

J Cuvée 20 (California, Russian River Valley, $20)

Juvé y Camps Brut Rose (Spain, $n/a)

Le Colture Carlizze (Italy, $30)

Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscati d’Asti (Italy, $15)

Poema Cava Brut (Spain, $12)

Pommery Blanc de Noirs (France, $55)

Pommery Brut Royal (France, $42)

Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs (California, $35)

Schramsberg J Schram (California, $100)

Segura Viudas Aria Estate Brut (Spain, $10)

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rose (South Africa, $30)

Taittinger Brut La Francaise (France, $45)

Taittinger Brut Millesime (France, $90)

Taittinger Cuvee Prestige Rose Brut (France, $70)

Composed principally of tomatoes, seafood stock, herbs, and a range of fish and shellfish morsels, bouillabaise is a richly textured one-pot meal, but with numerous individual flavors and accents. The long-simmering integrates the flavors and brings the variety of ingredients into harmony. While filling the house with mouth-watering aromas – a great payoff in itself – the result is both heart-warming and intensely exotic.

So what wine goes with a dish so complex? A light red wine, maybe a lightly chilled Beaujolais or rosé would fit, and the natural acidity would bring out the flavors in the dish. But my first thoughts turn to Chablis or other, French-style, chardonnay-based wines. (Chablis – at least that made at its origin, in France – is a chardonnay, not to be confused with bottles of generic wine in the U.S. that incorrectly appropriate the moniker “Chablis” for just any white wine.)

The cool, refreshing flavors of the wine match the finely tuned accents achieved by the dish. One caveat, though. Bouillabaisse is a hearty, some say peasant, dish so you need a wine that you can quaff with pleasure. Stay away from the broad palate of the white Burgundies. The affordable line of wines from Louis Jadot are a perfect match for this dish.

Louis Jadot 2009 Chablis ($25). Aromas evocative of fresh fruit and springtime, smooth flavors melding melon and tropical fruit with a tinge of grapefruit tanginess. Score: 87

Louis Jadot 2008 Chardonnay ($15). Finely crafted and smooth, with flavors of apricot and white peach, finishing with a hint of nutmeg. Score: 86

Louis Jadot 2009 Mâcon-Villages ($15). Crisp, clean, refreshing, white peach and ripe pear flavors, soft finish. Score: 86

American playwright Elmer Rice was certainly on to something. Any decent sparkling wine can convey pleasure and elegance, but Champagne will always be a breed apart. And one of the best things about this very special pleasure is that it goes with nearly any food – and any time of day, but more on that later.

We dined with Didier Depond, president of Champagne Salon and Champagne Delamotte, to test this thesis. The meal was at Bourbon Steak, the graceful dining establishment in Georgetown’s Four Seasons Hotel. The fare included oysters on the half shell, Ahi Tuna Tartare with mint and toasted sesame oil, marinated Angus Tenderloin, Nova Scotia Halibut, Glazed Salmon, and Fresh Louisiana Gulf Shrimp with cocktail sauce.

With such a wide range of flavors, any single wine would have struggled to survive. But the sparkle in sparkling wines serves as a perfect foil for the multitude of flavors, simultaneously enhancing the essence of each dish and cleansing the palate between bites.

Fortunately, there were four bottles of Delamotte and Salon bubbly on the table. The non-vintage Delamotte Brut was delicious and nicely balanced, creating a perfect platform for the many flavors at the table. This was followed by a Delamotte 1999 Blanc de Blancs, a wine with terrific body and constant bead, bright Chardonnay fruit to stand up to the food.

In a surprising turn, the Delamotte non-vintage Brut Rosé was served after the 1999, but it possessed some heft and texture that worked especially well with the tuna tartare. We closed out the tasting with the Champagne Salon 1997 Champagne a wine that was both sumptuous and elegant, expertly blending breezy citrus accents with deeper green apple and hazelnut flavors. This wine went beautifully with the glazed salmon and Nova Scotia Halibut.

Now, about that “any time of day” thing: Mr. Depond breezily suggested that Champagne at breakfast is perfectly fine, in fact, quite a wonderful way to start the day. Of course, many Americans hide their Champagne in frivolous drinks like Mimosas and quaff these without guilt. So why not spare Mr. Depond’s wonderful wines the indignity of being blended with orange juice? Why not sip flutes of bubbly with breakfast?

I can almost see your eyebrows raised in agreement.

Few recipes fit this season better than cassoulet, a soulful French dish that easily counters the Gallic reputation for elite-only foods. Cassoulet – an aromatic amalgam of sausage, veal, pork, duck, beans, tomatoes, vegetables, and myriad flavor accents – is first cooked on the stove but then finished in the oven. The result is both exotic and heart-warming, exactly the kind of meal that defines “comfort food.”

Perhaps the best version I’ve had in recent years is served at Bistrot Lepic and Wine Bar (1736 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, 202-333-0111), a cozy restaurant whose fabulous wine selection is a suitable accompaniment for the establishment’s excellence in food. Le Cassoulet du Bistrot Lepic has lamb, Toulouse garlic sausage, and duck confit as the savory components, nestled comfortably in a terrine of cannellini, tomato, herbs and other flavorings.

So what to drink with this wonderful offering? A red from Côtes du Rhône would be fitting, and Bistrot Lepic’s wine list includes the 2007 from Jean Luc Colombo Les Abeilles, an approachable yet elegant wine. But I chose a red from Madiran, a region near the Pyrenees, with deep flavors and rugged textures that matched the room-filling aromas of the Cassoulet. Château Laffitte-Teston 2006 Vielles Vignes, a Madiran red based on the somewhat obscure Tannat grape, worked wonders with the dish. Its full flavors and piquant acidity stood up to the complex flavors of the Cassoulet and was still an exciting finish to the meal when the food was gone.

Dick Rosano has offered his insights on wine in many publications and radio shows, and is a regular contributor to WeeklyWinePick.com.

The Village Pub offers over 2500 selections on their wine list to enhance the seasonal contemporary American cuisine, and they are a winner of the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence.  Alson unique is their ownership of a small farm in a nearby town, from which all of their vegetables are sourced. Winemaker dinners during the months of January through September (before harvest time) are common; August will feature Talley Vineyards of Arroyo Grande.  ”That dinner will be neat.  The winery is bringing our chef vegetables from the winery’s farm to prepare for the wine dinner,” said Valentina.

Below, a picture of la soeur, Alix de Montille, pouring samples of white wine in her cellar.

  Christopher Miller and his staff can help you choose from 1500 selections at Spago.  His wine program has earned the restaurant a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence.

Vareli’s menu is filled with Mediterranean-style dishes created by chef Amitzur Mor, who emphasizes local, seasonal cuisine and creativity.  Richard Bill offers 20 different wines by the glass, and over 100 different wines by the bottle, most of old-world origin.  He seeks out lesser-known wines that are superbly flavored and balanced and come at very affordable prices.