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Folks, if you don't live near a Trader Joe's, you should lobby to get one in your hometown! My husband and I hadn't been in to TJs in a while -- living dangerously near to a Whole Foods will do that to you and to your wallet -- so we were pleasantly reminded after a recent Trader Joe's pilgrimage just how much value one gets for the dollar there. We got a serious haul of groceries and a mixed six-pack of wines for well under $100. In contrast, we've been known to enter Whole Foods, spend that same $100 and emerge dazed with only a pint of raspberries expensive enough to have been picked by Baby Jesus and a single pack of recycled, incredibly thin toilet paper.
Many of you weighed in on the previous GMG review of good-value Trader Joe's wines with an average retail price of around $10. Below is another six-pack of Ten Spot wines from Trader Joe's. Remember: Wine at this price point is meant to be delicious, everyday drinking wine, not something you'd stash away for years in your cellar. That said, inexpensive wine doesn't have to be crap, so trust your own palate. Here's the results:
1) Gruner Veltliner, Velt 1 (Burgenland, Austria 2005) - $4.99
I love this grape, Austria's greatest white, but this bottle doesn't showcase its trademark aromatic profile (white pepper, celery, and bay) as well as pricier versions. That said, it's a great summer sipper that is more unique than boring old pinot grigio. Pronounced "GREW-ner VELT-lee-ner."
2) Chablis de Bourgogne, Blason (Burgundy, France 2005) - $8.99
Winner! Real Chablis comes from Chablis, by the way, not from California, so try out this inexpensive bottle to see if you like the style. All Chablis is 100% chardonnay, but in a very minerally, rocky, non-buttery way...the wine rarely if ever has oak overtones. This wine rocked for the price, as it's a fair introduction to Chablis that doesn't require having to break the bank for a $$$$ Chablis Grand Cru.
3) Viognier, La Bergerie, Domaine St. Croix (Vin de Pays d'Oc, France 2005) - $3.99
If a French bottle reads "Vin de Pays d'Oc," it's kind of like those bottles that just say "California" rather than "Napa," "Russian River Valley" or more specific regions. Thus, the viognier grapes for this super cheapie bottle can come from a pretty huge agricultural area and aren't likely to be high quality. Try it to see if you like the viognier grape in general, then upgrade to a bottle that showcases the grape better than this watery version. Open it up, put some in your curry while it simmers, then drink the rest on a Thursday while watching "The Office" on TV.
4) Rosé of Syrah, Josefina Vineyards (Paso Robles, CA 2006) - $4.99
Winner! Bottled in an attractive slender package, this pink wine based on the syrah grape is dry and refreshing, with notes of fresh rhubarb and spice. Buy five or six bottles, throw them in a big cooler and serve them icy cold with barbecued chicken and watermelon slices. Yum.
5) Shiraz, Chasing Clouds (Central Ranges, New South Wales Australia 2004) - $2.99
This is Frankenstein wine, mass-produced bulk shiraz from Australia where they have too damn much of the juice. That said, I found this to be distinctly better than Yellow Tail, which is its nearest competitor. Yellow Tail has crept up in price as it has gained traction in the marketplace, so if you like this style, buy Chasing Clouds for three bucks and feel smart. Very intensely jammy and highly alcoholic.
6) Aglianico, Epicuro, Beneventano (Campania, Italy 2004) - $4.99
SUPER WINNER! This is hands-down the best five-dollar bottle of wine I have tasted in years. For fun, I did a web search on this bottle and was surprised and glad to see how many home drinkers have discovered it and appreciated just how good it is for the price. This gives me hope that the average American consumer is learning to trust his or her own palate. Okay, wine school moment: Aglianico is one of those wacky "only in Italy" grapes that thrives in volcanic soil. To taste, the wines have a smoky cherry quality and are mid-weight with high acidity. We opened this bottle at home; my nanny and I split the last glass three days later, and it was still YUM with a bit of Dagobah dark chocolate (my current obsession, other than my new daughter).
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