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We were sitting around a table at a midwestern microbrewery. My uncle, after taking a sip of a pilsner that the brewery claimed was brewed according to the Bavarian beer purity law, asked me how much I knew about beer. “Enough to enjoy drinking it,” I replied. He took another sip and said, “Well, you should be a connoisseur of at least something.” I knew he had a penchant for fine wines and enjoyed taking my aunt to Napa, so it made sense he would say such a thing. Personally, I know just enough about beer and whiskey to know what flavors my palate should expect, but I would never consider myself some kind of aficionado. I wasn’t really an aficionado of anything, at least until I started drinking wine regularly.
I discovered that red wine was one of the few things I could drink that was delicious and reasonably healthy. A glass or two per evening is supposedly good for your heart health and doesn’t make you gain weight the way beer and other liquors do, with the exception of rye whiskey. But for a long time I thought good wine required a $20 minimum per bottle price tag. That is, until I started experimenting with Trader Joe’s wine section.
Most Trader Joe’s veterans know the Two Buck Chuck. TJs buys the dregs of expensive wines from nice wineries and sells it for a few bucks per bottle. Decent stuff for the high volume drinker, but I discovered for not much more money I could get even better wine not just from stateside, but from overseas. There were many familiar names from overseas, as European wine for the most part is not over-corporatized with catchy brand names and trendy-looking labels. There were Cotes du Rhones, Tuscan red blends, Bordeauxs, Chateauneuf du Papes (a distinct type of wine from the Rhone Valley), and Spanish riojas. Most bottles were under $15. Hell, many were even under $10 per bottle, and they were all as good, if not better, than any $20-plus bottle of wine I’ve had.
I educated and familiarized myself with some of these wines. I know the difference between Montepulciano the Italian village and the Montepulciano grape, which isn’t even grown near the village of Montepulciano. I know that Italians are good enough wine blenders to make the wine taste like it came from one grape, while tasty French blends are clearly blends, but still taste good. I know Bordeauxs are very sensitive to oxidation, and therefore are best finished within a couple of evenings. What’s crazy is that some great Cotes du Rhones and Tuscan blends you can buy at TJs for as cheap as $5.99 per bottle completely blow away highly rated California wines.
The more you learn, the more you taste, and the more you know, the more you realize that you can drink a fancy glass of wine with your pinkie up without breaking your wallet. More locations are now catching up to the price competition of TJs and are offering similar wines at a similar, albeit not as low, price tag. What’s the point of boxed wine anymore when you can get a tasty, quality wine not loaded with sugar for a similar price?
I love how America has so many options that we can experience many luxuries previously reserved for the very well-to-do at affordable prices. I don’t think it’s grubby. I love that I’m becoming a cheap wine connoisseur among the bourgeois. Leave the high price tag wines for the people who need the status symbol, I’m just in it for the wine..
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@5OClockShadow_
My dad’s friend, who’s a wine connoisseur put it this way, “Any Shmo can buy a nice $50 wine, it takes a real aficionado to find a $15 bottle that tastes like a $50 one.” It’s really stuck with me.
I’m just over here taking notes on wines to try. A true PGP success story.
When I first started reading PGP I thought sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon were the same thing.
You can get actual Champagne from Trader Joe’s for like $25. TJ’s liquor store is the best when you’re on a budget.
I’m all about the budget reds. Italian sangiovese, Argentine malbecs, Australian syrah and I just stay away from most Napa wineries.
Totally agree, I’d put Oregon Pinots on the list as well.
Pinot noir is clutch when you want something that can stand up to a ribeye and the rest of the dining party can’t handle the tannins of a cabernet.
interesting tidbit of information is Australian “Syrah” would actually be spelled and pronounced as a “Shiraz”. Syrah tends to denote a french variety of the grape. I thought it was interesting when I learned about it. Thought I’d share.
@Mr. Rogers. It’s the same variety but it is much more fruit-forward (and a bit more boozey) when the grape is grown in hot-ass Australia. I’m not certain if they made the name change based upon the different taste or just for marketing.
I would like your definitive rankings of MD 20/20, please.
Casillero del Diablo is my favorite budget-friendly cab right now. And always Dreaming Tree too!
I agree with this take. Apothic Red is my new favorite wine. 7.99 a bottle at Kroger and 14% alc, tastes great too
Montepulciano is not only a phenomenal wine, it also makes everyone think you have your shit together if you order it at a restaurant
Unless you’ve slapped the bag while floating the San Marcos river, you just wouldnt get it
Wines from Washington State’s Charles Smith winery are decently priced at Kroger and my usual go-to. Initially discovered by picking a cool label.