Category Archives: Trader Joe’s Wine – Reviewed

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Meritage | Trader Joe’s Wine

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Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Meritage Napa Valley 2011 | Trader Joe’s Wine

Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Meritage

Recently I took a gamble on the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Spring Mountain Cabernet and was pretty surprised with the quality-price-ratio. At only $15, it easily drank like a wine costing twice as much if not more. So I went back to the Trader Joe’s Wine Section with the idea that I would stock up on this screaming Spring Mountain Cabernet value only to find that it had already sold out completely!

Apparently the Trader Joe’s wine experience is more similar to that of Shopping for Wine at Costco than I had imagined… So having learned my lesson and not wanting to leave empty handed, I decided to try the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Meritage Napa Valley 2011.

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Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella 2011 | Trader Joe’s Wine

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Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella 2011 | Trader Joe’s Wine Review

Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella 2011

There are so many wines available well under $10 in the Trader Joe’s Wine Section that when you come across a $17 bottle of wine, it actually seems relatively expensive! Typically you might be happy to find a respectable bottle of wine for $17 in a wine shop, as prices of the more desirable selections quickly head north from there.

The Trader Joe’s wine specialist was quick to not only recommend the Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella 2011 but also to reassure me that it wasn’t expensive at all – but rather a steal for what you’re getting beneath the cork – one of Italy’s top red wines at a fraction of the usual cost. Music to my ears! So let’s pop the cork on the Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella 2011 and see just how good this Amarone is!

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Louise d’ Estree Brut Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

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Louise d’ Estree Brut Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

Louise d' Estree Brut

So I’m back in the Trader Joe’s Wine Section looking for another solid sparkling wine bargain after having some success with the La Granja 360 Cava I discovered a few weeks ago. For only $1 more I spotted the rather regal-looking Louise d’ Estree Brut and wondered if it might be another great Trader Joe’s Wine discovery.

The Louise d’ Estree is not Champagne but rather a French sparkling wine. I’ve has some pretty tasty French sparklers from outside of the far pricier Champagne region before so I thought I’d investigate whether the Louise d’ Estree is as royally good as it’s label seems to suggest!

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Spiral Cellars Cabernet Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

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– Spiral Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley | Trader Joe’s Wine –

Trader Joe's Wine

After really enjoying the Spiral Cellars Chardonnay a few weeks ago I was pretty intrigued to try the Spiral Cellars Cabernet offering. It just happens to be from an incredibly good vintage at an incredibly low price, from one of the historically most expensive places to both grow and buy Cabernet Sauvignon.

It’s pretty rare to see Napa Cabernet under $10, but Spiral Cellars and Trader Joe’s have succeeded in making this bottle of Spiral Cellars Cabernet available to us for $9.99. Let’s see if it’s worth your hard earned Alexander Hamilton!

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Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

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Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay | Trader Joe’s Wine

Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay Review

Despite all of the international and intriguing worldly white wine options available to us as consumers, good old Chardonnay is still easily number one. Much like popular but often looked down upon Merlot, arguably some of the greatest wines in the world are made from Chardonnay. Yet it often gets a bad rap as being too oaky, too, buttery, or just plain boring.

Despite this negativity it seems that it’s still Chardonnay, usually Napa Chardonnay, that consumers want. And if the level of searches I receive to from just the Spiral Cellars wines are any indication, this is a very popular choice that I needed to try. So if it’s Napa Chardonnay you want, it’s the Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay 2012 I’ll give you!

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La Granja 360 Cava Brut Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

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La Granja 360 Cava Brut | Trader Joe’s Wine

La Granja 360 Cava Brut | La Granja Wine

I’m always looking for excellent sparkling wines that can be enjoyed without ceremony. Today I wanted to investigate another popular pick in the Trader Joe’s Wine Section: La Granja 360 Cava Brut by La Granja Wines. At under $7 it is a full $2 less expensive than the Rondel Cava Brut that has become so popular both at Total Wine as well as here on The Fermented Fruit.

I have to admit that I am always somewhat skeptical of sparkling wines under $10, and especially so of those with animals on the label. In the case of the La Granja 360 Cava Brut a duck adorns the label. Since La Granja is Spanish for “The Farm”, I guess this is somewhat appropriate. But this particular duck appears to be pretty shaken up so let’s hope my palate isn’t similarly shaken up after tasting the La Granja Cava Brut!

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La Finca Malbec Review | Trader Joe’s

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La Finca Malbec | Trader Joe’s Wine

La Finca Malbec

If you recall from my recent review of the Grifone Primitivo I am on the hunt for the best wine values in the Trader Joe’s Wine Section. According to their in-store wine specialist the Grifone Primitivo topped the list and the second best value available is today’s feature: the La Finca Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina.

The La Finca Malbec is produced from the vineyards of Finca La Cecilia which lie in the foothills of the Argentine Andes. While the increasingly popular Malbec varietal might trace it’s roots to the Cahors region of Southern France, it is Argentina that has succeeded in resurrecting Malbec.

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Grifone Primitivo Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

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Grifone Primitivo 2012 | Trader Joe’s Wine

Grifone Primitivo

While checking out the incredible wine selections at Trader Joe’s I asked the knowledgeable wine specialist on staff what he thought were the absolute top values and the Grifone Primitivo was at the very top of the list. Out of hundreds of wines, the Grifone Primitivo topped the list you say? And so I had to try it myself…

Despite being called “A California Original, grown nowhere else” by wine writers in the late 1970’s , Primitivo, also known as Zinfandel, existed long before Zinfandel ever did in California. In fact, its origins can be traced to a single vine in the garden of an elderly lady’s Croatian Garden as early as the 15th century.

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