Today is the third Thursday of November, an auspicious day in French wine. On this day every year, beaujolais nouveau makes its garish, red splash in wine shops and French restaurants across the globe.

Wine afficionados tend to turn their noses up at this stuff, and not without reason. It’s raw, sweet, ultra-fruity and so young it’s barely wine. Whereas most red wines evoke aromas of complex notes like earth, dark fruits or tobacco, beaujolais nouveau more often gets compared to bananas or bubble gum. Got a white zinfandel lover in your family? Beaujolais nouveau is a red they can appreciate. It’s even best served lightly chilled. Best of all, it’s cheap. And we love the cheap wines.

Coincidentally (and conveniently), beaujolais nouveau is often considered a great Thanksgiving wine. The sweetness is a perfect foil to notoriously hard-to-pair turkey, the tartness of cranberry sauce and the general saltiness of stuffing and gravy. So stock up on your Turkey day wine today! Just be sure to drink it up right away — this stuff is not meant to sit around for long (as in by Christmas). If you see a bottle with a vintage other than 2006, put. The bottle. Down.

If you’ve had your fill of the stuff over the years, Wine Sediments reminds us that beaujolais nouveau is but one of several “new wines” that get released on this day. So if you’re looking for something a little different, keep your eyes peeled for Gaillac nouveau or Touraine premeur. And if you’re simply over the whole vin nouveau thing altogether, Restaurant Widow’s husband proffers up a few options of the real deal — full-on beaujolais bottles that are top-notch, many of which will only set you back an extra buck or two.