The real glory happens after Thanksgiving. More specifically, it happens the next day.  

It’s the real day off from work. There’s no meal to get on the table; the relatives that always say the wrong thing every. freaking. year. have blessedly taken their leave. Your corpus is weary: headache, dyspepsia. And yet you want more of what you stuffed yourself with last night, and not just because the idea of actually cooking a meal seems totally crazypants. When else do you get to jam turkey and stuffing and a lavish schmear of cranberry sauce between two thick slices of toast and spend the day in your pajamas?

It’s time for comfort food. And lighter wines, lower ABVs—hangover wines, really. While maybe throwing a changeup or two into the mix, just because.

WINES FOR THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS

2022 COS Frappato ($30)

Ripe cherries shot through with cranberry and finely crushed silica on the nose. Fresh cherry juice on the palate. Very refreshing and extraordinarily drinkable stuff; a very reliable serotonin-booster of a wine. - Jon Fine

2023 Julien Altaber “La Fleur au Verre” Bourgogne Rouge ($39)

Frizzy at first, but settles down. Sour cherry natural vibe, with a bit of funk, gives way to riper cherries and freshness. Light and sluggable—toes the line between Burgundy and chillable red; plenty of character and fun, and a good soupçon of fruit. And it clocks in at all of 11.5 percent, for when you’ll be grateful to shave a percent or two off of any wine’s ABV. Energetic and fun enough for day-drinking, but enough interest for the dinner table too. - JF

2022 Domaine de Bellivière Le Rouge-Gorge Coteaux du Loir ($40)

Lovely. Minerally and light, alongside cherry and darker fruits. Silky and seductive, and a hit of clean spice. Wakes up your mouth with a bright finish. This classic Loire Pineau d’Aunis is also a good hangover-lunch wine that will bring you back to life, and therefore is perfect for this moment. - JF

2021 Phelan Farm Autrement San Luis Obispo ($52)

A Savoie-esque blend of 40 percent Gamay, 30 percent Mondeuse, and 30 percent Pinot Noir from Raj Parr’s SLO farming project. The three varieties complement each other: gamey on the nose, with dark and tart fruits, savory spices, earth, and a woodsy note. There’s a bit of body and plenty of fruit to chew through, but the alcohol comes in at only 12.5 percent ABV. A perfect hair-of-the-dog to pair with your leftovers. - Sarah Parker Jang

2021 Eperosa Magnolia 1941 Barossa Valley Sémillon ($54)

If you overdid it on red wine yesterday, this is a refreshing white to change things up. A single-vineyard bottling from some of the oldest Sémillon vines in the world, regeneratively farmed in Barossa Valley’s historic Magnolia Vineyard by winemaker Brett Grocke. Notes of gingerbread, ripe lemon, pear, apricot, and almonds ride a wave of acidity and a saline finish. Delicious to sip in between bites of your leftovers sandwich. - SPJ

2020 Domaine Julien Thurel Les Rosacées ($55)

A cider made from quince, apple, and pear. Exuberant, and almost romantically so, with raw honey and hints of herbs leaping out at you. Apples dipped in honey on the rich palate—a very round wine, with plenty of natural sweetness (which never strays into “cloying”). But it’s balanced by a salty structure and a pleasing hint of a bitter note moving in and out of the frame at the end. Real depth and movement to this one, and just 6 percent ABV, so drink up. - JF