Wine blogger Jason: Top wine picks at Trader Joe's
A very useful resources I've found online is Jason's Wine Blog which lists reviews of Trader Joe's wines as well as regular "Trader Joe's Top Ten" lists (see if your favorites are there!). Jason is a self-described "professional consumer" who writes about what he loved (and didn't). His tasting notes and ratings are accessible and easy to understand. If you're on twitter, you can follow him @jasonswineblog for useful tips and picks. I recently had the chance to interview Jason and get some valuable insights into exploring and enjoying wines from Trader Joe's.
Deana: What makes Trader Joe's wine section stand out for you compared to other stores?
Jason: In a word, value. True, to find it you are searching for the needle in the haystack. In the meantime, my analysis (of 250+ bottles sampled) shows that 98% of Trader Joe’s wines, while nothing special to a connoisseur, are perfectly quaffable to the vast majority of the wine drinking public. And furthermore 30% percent are worthy of buying again. When asked to describe why I blog in a sentence I often fall back to this mantra: “focused on filtering through the masses of wines to find those that deliver tremendous value to the wallet and the palate.” For more on my thoughts you might be interested in reading my guest post on The Wellesley Wine Press: Is Trader Joe's a Good Place to Buy Wine?
Deana: What is your advice to novice wine drinkers who want to explore the selections at TJs?
Jason: Start simple. To quickly get an idea of what you like here’s my recommendation. Pick three wineries, I recommend the following if you are brand new to wine: Charles Shaw, Columbia Crest and Geyser Peak. Buy a bottle each of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. A case of wine with the recommended wineries would run you $72 (in CA). These are the four most widely available grapes you’ll see in both the store and restaurants so best to get to know them first.
Before you open the first one check out Cellar Tracker. A great place to get tasting notes for just about any wine under the sun. More importantly a place to start a log of your own. That’s right. You can start with I liked it or I didn’t but if you want to learn, take notes from day one. If interested, here are some tasting tools to help you along the way. If not, go ahead and skip it, drink up and enjoy.
Deana: A lot of people sweat over how to pair wines with meals. Do you have some basic tips?
Jason: Three rules: 1) Spicy = Sweet (especially with Asian fare. Grab a Riesling or a Gewurzt) 2) Seafood = White or low alcohol red(traditional rules say if red only Pinot but others under 13% or so work as well) 3) Red Meat = whatever you want (from the darkest red to the lightest white almost anything works). Despite these three simple rules I often search for cheat sheets of my own, especially for foreign wines. As of late, Nat Decants Food & Wine Matcher has been my favorite as it allows you to search by food or, in my case more importantly, by wine. If any readers have a source you like let me know in the comments!
Deana: What are your current favorites from Trader Joe's?
Jason: I track my favorites as part of my Trader Joe's Top 10 Wine List. My current top choice is the Castle Rock Mendocino County Pinot Noir. The top rated white at #3 is the King Shag Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Be sure to check the list for the rest and let me know if I am missing any of your favorites…
Deana: For a big party, which wine gives the biggest bang for the fewest dollars?
Jason: Just one, toughie. Though I love many I’d have to choose the Chariot Gypsy ($5). This one is a lively, bright and juicy effort with loads of fruit. Certainly an easy drinking, summer BBQ wine. Easily comparable to a $12 bottle (some say $30) this should be a crowd pleaser.
Thanks Jason! Cheers!
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This is great! I have a few tried and true favorites but beyond that I just take a gamble choosing something off the shelf (usually a label that looks interesting - I know that's probably not the best way...).
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This is great! I almost always ONLY buy my wine at TJ's - such a great deal!
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Hi there - great article - but just be aware - not all Trader Joe's sell alcohol!!!! None sold here on Long Island, NY....
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Thanks for the tips. Great interview. I absolutely love the terrific wine selection at TJ's. I printed out Jason's top 10 list and will be taking it to the store later this week!
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Thanks so much for taking the time to do the interview. It was a lot of fun! Look forward to hearing your readers thoughts on these wines and any of their faves I may have missed...
Cheers,
Jason
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Thanks for these great tips! I always tend to get lost in the wine aisle.
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Wondering if it is possible to post a link to this article on my facebook profile as I am at Trader Joe's Foggy Bottom, DC and many of my friends on FB are employees also and would enjoy the link!!!
steph
#653
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Hi Stephanie, Sure! We'd be pleased to have you link to the blog post. We hope you all enjoy the wine picks, and we'd love to hear about your own favorites.
Deana
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I do the wine demo's on Saturdays, my go to favorite cheap white is the Vinho Verde (3.99$)and a French Table Red wine, L'Authentique (4.99) (though one blog really hated it-sounds like the bottle they tried was skunked). Lot of my favorites tend to be higher priced and not in our college crowd's budget (right by George Washington University)
How do I link to you guys? Is there an easy way to?
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Hi Steph,
You can link to http://blog.cookingwithtraderjoes.com
we also have an rss feed that you can find on the left hand column.
For this particular post, try
http://blog.cookingwithtraderjoes.com/2009/07/07/wine-blogger-jason-top-wine-picks-at-trader-joes.aspx
and for our facebook page,
http://www.facebook.com/CookingWithTraderJoes
That's for the wine tips. I just picked up a few new bottles myself tonight that were highly recommended by a crewmember. Rendition Petite Syrah and Vintjs Mt Veeder Syrah. Looking forward to trying them out.
Send me an email at info@cookingwithtraderjoes.com if I didn't answer your question about linking
Best,
Deana
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Hi,
Nice article.....I need one information , How to open a wine bottle? Is it OK to store wine in a PET bottle / outside the fridge and for how long?
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How can I stop beers & wines bought elsewhere from getting into my pub with the patrons?
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I absolutely love the terrific wine selection at TJ's. Usually a label that looks interesting.
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Care to share the health benefits of wine and its components.
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I really appreciate your work to this site.So thanks for it.
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I absolutely love the terrific wine selection at TJ's. Usually a label that looks interesting.
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You can purchase wine and beer at the Trader Joe's in Westfield, NJ. Not sure why that one is an exception.
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Keep up the good work bro.Your article is really great and I truly enjoyed reading it.Waiting for some more great articles like this from you in the coming days.
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I haven’t ventured to Walla Walla yet, though my husband and I intend to soon. We drive though Central Washington every couple months, so one of these times we’ll take a couple extra nights and head on over.Washington wines are fabulous. Being from the Northwest, I have long appreciated WA and OR wines. There are some great older names, like Leonetti, and a lot of fabulous new makers!
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Continue with the wine and beer hall if all these frozen treats will tempt you to a party last minute of your account. Trader Joe's carries a number of specialty beers and imported beers and wines, but what they are best known for is '2 Buck Chuck', the surprisingly good and very low price Charles Shaw wine label.
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