Comments on: Guest Post: Is Trader Joe’s a Good Place to Buy Wine?

By: organicgirl

organicgirl — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Oenanist,

There is no grenache in Bordeaux.
The most common varietals are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and sometimes even Malbec.

By: Sandi

Sandi — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:30:10 +0000

Absolutely TJs is worth the trip for stocking up on vino. Luckily for us, we have one next door to a World Market, so I can get the higher end ones there and walk next door to TJs for “second bottles” and pizza wines. Honey Moon Viognier is a favorite & some of their sparklers aren’t bad either.

By: Angela Carlson

Angela Carlson — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:21:51 +0000

Did a C.S. blind tasting for the Crew last year and a lot of them couldn’t tell the difference. (I’m working on them thought!) Paired La Crema vs. C.S. Chardonnay, Geyser Peak Merlot vs. C.S. Merlot and I believe a Clos du Bois Cab against the C.S. Cab. Surprisingly, the Cabs were the hardest to tell apart and the C.S. Cab didn’t make me gag or want to scrap my tongue off like the Merlot did. It’s definitely a fun tasting, I’d think especially with folks with more refined palates. I’ve love to see some of the facial expressions ; )

Yeah, the decent Pinots are hard to find under $15. We’ll definitely be tasting the Castle Rock again soon and we can compare notes. The Robert Mondavi Carneros ($22) is smoky, smooth and yummy.

By: jason

jason — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:04:53 +0000

@oenanist adding the 2007 Chateau Auguste Bordeaux to my shopping list!

@Angela Love the ’07 Castle Rock Mendocino Pinot. Getting ready to post that one tonight. Any other finds?

@rjh @Bob Sounds like you guys are on to something. I’ll let you run with. R.J. let me know when you are planning on it and perhaps I can join you. That said, blogging looks busy and don’t want to be a roadblock

By: rjh

rjh — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:58:34 +0000

let me give it some thought. i think it’s only fair to keep the ca and wa cabs to about $10. anything more than that, we get into territory that i think two buck chuck gets blown away. i’ll get back to you in a few days with ideas – if we’re doing this on both coasts, i’ll focus on easily accessible wines, so we’ll be able to get our hands on it.

glad you like the idea overall – jason, you in?

By: Bob Dwyer

Bob Dwyer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:46:12 +0000

rjh- I love the idea of doing a blind tasting in parallel and then posting our results. I also like your idea of WA and CA Cabs vs. Charles Shaw.

For a WA Cab, Columbia Crest Grand Estates immediately comes to mind- do you think it would be a fair enough comparison to do a couple of $10 wines against Charles Shaw? What did you have in mind for a CA Cab?

Thanks a lot for adding me to your blogroll- I appreciate it.

By: rjh

rjh — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:14:11 +0000

thanks, bob. that’s my next step is to taste a two buck chuck in a blind tasting. for this round, i wanted to see if the wines would hold up in a daily, grab a bottle of wine approach. some held up better than i thought (the cab, chardonnay and merlot) and others were crushed under the $2 pressure (the sb and definitely the white zin). my next blind tasting is a two buck chuck cab, a california cab and a washington cab, to see how the $2 cab holds up – if you have any suggestions on what the other cabs should be, i’d be interested to hear your thoughts. or, even do the same tasting and post on our blogs the results, maybe you me and jason. what do you think?

been following your blog for a while – nice work. you’re now on my blogroll as well.

By: Bob Dwyer

Bob Dwyer — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:27:38 +0000

@rjh Very timely indeed! I had a look at your ratings yesterday and I’ve added your blog to my feed reader. If we don’t include the white zin, your ratings are between 70 and 80, which is fair value for $2! :) Wine Spectator has been between 77 and 83 on the Two Buck Chuck they’ve tasted blind since 2000. I’d be very interested to see how your ratings might be affected if you mixed them in as part of a larger blind tasting. Let’s do it! ;)

Angela- thanks for your comment! I’d love to see Trader Joe’s pass along the savings I presume you get on the volume of wines you buy in the more expensive categories. I do like the product mix (Two Hands Angel’s Share and Sanford Pinot Noir immediately come to mind) but the pricing just isn’t as good as I’d like it to be. I’d love to hear what you find in the tough Pinot Noir category. I’ve found it tough to find a great bottle for under $20.

@oenanist- I don’t think the nuance between using the term “varietal” vs “variety” adds to the discussion so much. Although Grenache is heavily planted, I’ve never seen a Grenache section in the supermarket alongside Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel and Chardonnay. That’s why I called it an unusual varietal wine. Do you think Trader Joe’s is a good place to buy wine?

Thanks again for the comments everyone- I really appreciate them.

By: Angela Carlson

Angela Carlson — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:50:00 +0000

Yeah, y’all can probably find better deals on some of the higher-priced wines when they’re on sale elsewhere, but for many people, they just don’t want to make another trip. My favorites for the most part are in the $10 and under category, with many being $7 and under. It does help being on the Wine Team, so I don’t have purchase before I try something as long as I can wait for that wine’s turn in the Tasting queue. We’re still working our way slowly throught the Pinot Noirs, and I’ll report if anything interesting comes up.

By: oenanist

oenanist — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:48:33 +0000

Oops — “variety” that is. Maybe you’re right that it’s an unusual “varietal.”