Just How Good Are Trader Joe’s Reserve Wines?

The Wine Pair Podcast

You know when they say “you get what you pay for”?!? That seems to fit pretty well with Trader Joe’s Reserve label wines. Look, you’re spending $10, so you probably shouldn’t expect to be wowed. And the wines we tasted met that expectation. However, when a wine is a private label from a store like Trader Joe’s - similar to Costco’s Kirkland brand - we think you should expect to get 2X the value for the price. In the case of Trader Joe’s Reserve wines, we think you kind of just get the value of the price on the bottle, which is disappointing. And, as usual, we don’t pull any punches when it comes to reviewing these wines. We also dig into why Trader Joe’s wines are popular, and do some sleuthing about where their wines come from, but we end up being pretty skeptical - you know, skep?!?- about the quality of their production and taste of their wines. Quite frankly, these wines are not really for the wine snob in your life, they are wines for Tuesday night cheap pizza night. Keep your expectations in check and you won’t be disappointed. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Arroyo Seco Monterey County Chardonnay Lot #262, 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Zinfandel Lot #265, 2022 Trader Joe’s Reserve Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah Lot #261

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1. Introduction, and explanation of Trader Joe's Reserve wine tiers (00:00:00)

2. Topic: Why are Trader Joe’s Wines so Popular? (00:11:40)

3. Trader Joe’s Reserve Wines We Chose for This Episode (00:16:40)

4. 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Arroyo Seco Monterey County Chardonnay Lot #262 Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review (00:28:20)

5. 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Zinfandel Lot #265 Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review (00:34:12)

6. 2022 Trader Joe’s Reserve Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah Lot #261 Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review (00:40:25)

7. Taste profiles expected from 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Arroyo Seco Monterey County Chardonnay Lot #262, 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Zinfandel Lot #265, 2022 Trader Joe’s Reserve Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah Lot #261 (00:46:47)

8. Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast (00:49:46)