You may be familiar with the French tradition of Beaujolais Nouveau. (In essence, on the third Thursday of every November, all of France “lowers” itself to drink the freshly pressed and bottled wine of Beaujolais, one of the country’s least esteemed wine regions).

It is one of the lustiest holidays on the calendar, after all, it revolves around drinking fresh, fruity wine and lots of it! The tradition has made it to the States. Most every wine shop and bistro chimes in each November with Bacchanalian affairs suitable for saluting the French fruits of the vine.

Sadly, after the debut day of the year’s first wines, the Beaujolais region is generally forgotten for the next 12 months. Unfortunate as that may be for Beaujolais, it is a great thing for savvy wine lovers. You see, Beaujolais is quite capable of producing high- quality, complex wines, wines that fly under the general public’s radar but represent some of the best values from France—not to mention some of the most food-friendly wines, suitable for a grand turkey feast. It is also splendidly versatile. Beaujolais is one of the few styles of red wine that tastes delicious chilled.

Beaujolais wines are made from the Gamay grape and offers flavors almost like a rustic cousin to refined Pinot Noir. The wines come from a tiny region that is technically part of Burgundy, though as a wine region it is really viewed as entirely separate.

If you’ve tried Beaujolais Nouveau, you’ll find yourself surprised when you drink in the aromas of your first glass of non-Nouveau Beaujolais. The wines are voluptuous, very adult, with layers of smoke, herbs, berries, bark, tobacco, spice. A wine salesman I know has a saying, “Why drink Nouveau when you can drink Jadot?” referring to the sexy wines made by one of Beaujolais most prominent producers.

Like all wine regions of France, Beaujolais is divided up into a complicated array of sub-regions. I particularly like the big-bodied, smoky wines of Beaujolais’ Moulin a Vent region, which I find to be the most seductive of the bunch. There’s even a region called Saint Amour and I promise you, every bottle from that area is an aphrodisiac!

In addition to Jadot, quality Beaujolais producers importing their wines to the U.S. include Mommessin and Drouhin. Georges Duboeuf is the most recognized Beaujolais producer, with its confetti-colored Nouveau bottles. But although you may wish to toast with their Nouveau in November, look for some of Duboeuf’s non-Nouveau bottlings for styles you can snuggle up to all winter long.

- By Amy Reiley