The Search for an Inexpensive Dinner Wine at Trader Joe's
In San Francisco, Neil and I lived right down the road from Trader Joe’s. Any of you that shop at this grocery store, would probably agree that they have a pretty good selection of inexpensive wines. Throughout 2015, Neil and I would randomly pick up a 5-10 dollar wine to have with dinner. Since so many of us are on the Search for an Inexpensive Dinner Wine, we thought you would all like to hear our results.
The criteria used to pick these wines were not very specific, some of them just sounded interesting while others I had seen week after week and I decided to give it a try. When it comes to a dinner wine, we were generally more concerned with the price, since we like to have wine with dinner at least 3 or 4 nights a week. A few of these wines we had tried before so we figured we would include those too so we could have some tasting notes for ourselves.
We enjoyed almost every one of these wines but we figured it could be more of a guide to what you may be able to find at Trader Joe’s. And maybe you will find some new favorites for yourself, or at least be inspired to try out a new wine you’ve been eyeing at the grocery store.
Notes and wines found below:
2012 Edition Maximilian Pinot Noir
price: $6.99
origin: Germany
Berries but too sweet for us
2013 Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel, Vintner’s Blend
price: $7.99
origin: California
Dirt, raisin, dry, berries, kind of light
Pretty good
2013 Baron Herzog Old Vine Zinfandel
price: $9.99
origin: Lodi, California
Nice mix of fruit, earth and spice
Average to good
2013 Mouton Cadet
price: $8.99
origin: Bordeaux, France
Tart, lemon lime, sour, better with meal
Pretty good
2012 Salice Salentino
price: $4.99
origin: Italy
80% Negro Amaro
20% Malvasia Nera
Blackberry, some sweetness, hint of spice, prune, dried fruit, smooth
2013 Valréas Cuvee Prestige
price: $5.99
origin: Côtes Du Rhône, France
75% Grenache
25% Syrah
Tasted pretty dry but had with grilled portobello mushrooms and less dry. Not much fruit flavor though. Had with a couple different meals
2011 Rosa Dell Olmo Barbaresco
price: $9.99
origin: Italy
Light body, lots of spice/pepper (but ate with sausage) not much aroma, seemed flat, n tasted alcohol
Second time, dark fruit aromas, dry not spicy
Grifone Rose
price: $3.99
origin: Italy
Smelled like berries initially then tart maybe citrus
Combined with cheeseburger had a softness appear.
Both enjoyed it, still good after a couple days
Chariot VII Gypsy
price: $4.99
origin: California
Red blend
Soft, no spice, cherry cola
on the 2nd day blueberry, blackberry; some spice, cherry cola
2014 Floriana Gruner Veltliner
price: $6.49
origin: Hungary
Mineral and crisp but fruity too. Reminded me of Pinot Grigio
Good on its own