INSIDER'S PICK: 2016 JEAN-MAURICE RAFFAULT CHINON 'LES GALUCHES' $16.99

A week's worth of recovery time from your Thanksgiving dinner/food comas should be enough to reintroduce you to tasting wine again. Just in case you have any lingering leftovers in the fridge from doing multiple dinners on multiple days, it makes sense to pull something that would have fit in with our 'turkey list' (which will be up through Christmas). Cabernet Franc from the Loire generally fits a broad dinner table, and the region of Chinon tends to have the most noteworthy and high-achieving producers. A recent string of tough vintages has made it harder to find well made and fairly priced wines here, but the better producers will still persevere. Raffault is probably better recognized in this store during the Spring and Summer seasons for their remarkable Rose that is always among the fastest selling in our selection, but their reds are equal in quality.

Sourced from a single vineyard pushed right up against the banks of the Loire, Les Galuches is always the first of Raffault's reds to get bottled, as it only spends a few months in multi-use barrels before bottling. As such, it is built to be immediately enjoyed, which it promises from the moment the cork is pulled. A youthful purple color in the glass, the aromas have a brief instant of bell pepper but are quickly overtaken by dried cherry and dark red fruits, as well as Cab Franc's tell-tale flowery tones. This is one of those examples where this grape is often at its best when it isn't being built to be supersized, instead kept simple for pure enjoyment. In the mouth the fruit is definitely more to the restrained and savory side, an aspect of the cooler growing conditions in 2016, but does develop flesh and body as it remains open. More of a wine for dining than for sipping, this will go great with that last bit of dark meat and sausage stuffing, of the first batch of stew for the season.

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