Trader Joe's is a unique grocery store and although I love shopping for food at Trader Joe's, I will openly admit that 2-Buck Chuck, really turned me off of their wine department.
Vino: TJ Treasures
Like everything else, if it's cheap, it's usually cheap for a reason. If it's really cheap and popular and suddenly morphs into a wine of cult status for less than $3/btl, there is a problem. The sheer volume makes it nearly impossible to guarantee that the wine is made from good grapes, noble labor sources or without a-lot of chemical adjustments.
I didn't want to be impressed; I went in with a critical eye, looking for flaws and was pleasantly surprised.
Trader Joe's is one of the largest wine retailers in the country, which gives them tremendous bargaining power. With the guarantee of volume, they can negotiate for lower prices, giving them an edge over a smaller retailer.
Some of these great values are: the Mark West Pinot Noir ($9.99), which is well-balanced with lovely cherry fruit. Another good choice would be the Ravenswood wines, which are always crowd pleasures with their big, jammy fruit. TJ's carries both the Lodi Zinfandel ($10.99) and the Sonoma Zinfandel ($12.99).
My favorite wine was the 2002 La Loggio Barolo for $12.99. Barolo never costs $12.99 in fact Barolo tends to be very expensive. I was certain that this wine would be terrible, instead it was delicious; not the powerhouse, age-worthy, king that is Barolo but a good wine that I would drink again.
I finally found a flawed wine in the 2005 Il Valore Marchese Giovani Sangiovese ($3.99) it was sour and disjointed. However the 1995 D'Aquino Chianti Riserva ($5.99) was really good with bright, lively fruit and good smokiness. Another delightful value was the Marques de Caceras Rioja Blanc ($5.99) bright, crisp and clean, this was a great wine with last night's halibut dish.
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my fave TJs wine bargain is their Vinho Verde that I believe is $3.99.
it's light, but packed with flavor, with goregous aromas and light effervescence, it pairs well with everything from fish to wine to steaks and salads
delicious!
but the last time i was there the guy said it was almost gone and they wouldn't be getting anymore
if you see it, grab one!
it's there, it's there! I saw many, many cases of the Vinho Verde yesterday. I wish I'd grabbed a bottle.
Try the Santa Rita 120 merlot 2004
I, too, second the Vinho Verde recommendation. I freely admit, I know virtually nothing about wine, but this was nice and crisp, and if I remember right, a little citrusy. It's really lovely.
I recently discovered Red Truck--a blend of reds. I don't usually go for blends, but this one caught my eye and I was happy it did! It's about $7.99 at TJ's (and retails for upwards of $13 at most other stores). When I was looking for a nice white over the summer, I got hooked on Grigio Luna, which is about $5.50. It's always an adventure trying something new from the TJ wine section--there are certainly plenty of duds, but you can also come across some real gems.
Two buck chuck turned you off? How snobby! A few years ago I was listening to a radio show on wines hosted by some passionate lovers/experts in wine. They discussed the "two buck chuck" and boxed wine and whether or not it was a good thing. One of the speakers said that it was good because it ends up exposing new people to wine who otherwise would not have tried it due to the price or their upbringing, etc. Later on, they will purchase more expensive wines. I don't know when I started liking wine, but the two buck chuck eased me into loving it. It wasn't that I ever bought any Charles Shaw, but I've drunk a fair share at student parties. If this decent wine weren't so inexpensive, we students wouldn't have any wine at parties to begin with. Or worse, we'd have a cheap boxed wine that I would find undrinkable (not that all boxed wine is bad). Thanks to the wine we buy in crates, I have graduated to more expensive wines, travelled to vineyards to taste, and am taking a course on the subject. So thank you, TJ's! I only wish we had one out here.
Michelle: you misunderstand what I am saying. I am not turned off by the price of the wine, rather I think that the wine is of a bad quality and not worth the hype.
I do agree with you though, the sole benefit of $2 Chuck is that it gets more people drinking wine, who will eventually move into other wines.
I am the first to admit that wine does not have to be expensive to be good. In fact, I am a huge fan of box wine, the technology is such that it really preserves wine. I wish that there were more decent bag in the box wines on the market.
Being that you are taking a class on wine, you should look into $2 Chuck and Fred Franzia. From a naturalist perspective this is not a great wine to support.
Yes -- Vinho Verde from TJ's is great -- drank it all summer, and just replenished the other day!
3 buck chuck is okay, but in my experience, if you are willing to part with another dollar or two, there are some amazing wines at TJs!!!
TJ's sells Red Truck? I haven't seen that at my local TJ's here in SoCal. (I usually pick that up at Cost Plus World Market for approximately the same price.) My favorite TJ's wine buy is the Latour-Laguens Bordeaux. $4.99/bottle.
I think Michelle's comments are mostly valid. If two buck chuck exposes more people to wine then it's a good thing. I read somewhere else that the wine industry has done a really poor job of expanding their market share based on the elitist atmosphere they create. I've found this to be less so in other countries. However,...
my mom buys two buck chuck all the time, she purchases it based on price regardless of other qualities that wine should have, which is a dissapointment. I don't think two buck chuck tastes horrendously bad, I think it just tastes horrendously bland & watery. If I wash down a burger with it & eat french fries while chatting to a bunch of people, I think it's entirely acceptable stuff. It tends to be a bit one dimensional. I think it would make fabulous airplane wine when you need to sleep on long distance overseas flights though:)
After hearing the hype on the 2buck chuck I finally bought a bottle. I found it to be unexceptional and nothing I want to open for a nice meal but I will be buying more.
As a student who loves wine but has a very tight budget, I can only buy nice bottles for really nice occasions. Not every day is a special event and it will be handy to have a few bottles of cheap table wine for if friends are hanging out and watching a movie or just to have a drinkable table wine on hand.
Thanks for the recommendation of the Latour-Laguens Bordeaux, Enrique. I'm going to TJ's this weekend to stock up for a few upcoming holiday parties and will definitely check it out. I hope you have or soon get Red Truck at your TJ's! It's been at mine (Boston) for at least the last several months.
On the 2 buck Chuck debate, I can personally testify that 2 buck chuck was my introduction to wine. I drank it for quite a while before being confident enough to move on to other (better) wines. The whole wine section (even at TJ's) can be really intimidating, I think. They usually stock the Charles Shaw right on the edge, so you can scoot by, swipe a few bottles, and get outta there before someone asks you if you prefer merlot or pinot noir. Now I love it when the sommelier comes up to me, but it took a while!