WTN: Trader Joe's Blanc de Blanc

Trader Joe's Blanc de Blanc

I will try (almost) anything once. It is hard for me to pass up a $5.99 sparkler at Trader Joe's whose wines I find generally tolerable if not always tasty. In that spirit I picked up a bottle of the house Blanc de Blanc.

Color: Light yellow. Limited bubbles that were not terribly persistent.

Nose: Weak citrusy stuff.

Taste: Bland and astringent. A very unpleasant household cleanser note to it. Finish was quite abrupt.

I promptly grabbed the creme cassis and made Kir out of it. Definitely will not buy again.

Note to self - not all cheap wines have good QPRs. The TJs BdB would not have a good QPR if it were free.

[Robin Garr]

I love trolling Trader Joe's for bargains, and when I see a $6 Barberesco on their shelves, I am physically incapable of resistance. What amazes me isn't that some of them (like this one, evidently) turn out to be plonk, but that so many of them are actually pretty good. How do they DO that?

I agree, Robin. Most of the TJ wines I have tasted offer very strong QPRs. This BdB is the exception.

We buy the del Olmo (?) Barbaresco when they have it. It is a very tasty wine for the price.

Disappointing to hear about this. We've had very good luck with some of their TJ cabernets.

I love trolling Trader Joe's for bargains, and when I see a $6 Barberesco on their shelves, I am physically incapable of resistance. What amazes me isn't that some of them (like this one, evidently) turn out to be plonk, but that so many of them are actually pretty good. How do they DO that?

My philosophy is to buy one to try and go back for more if I like it. I didn't buy this one at TJ's, but I really liked it a lot. The wine is from Airlie wine and is called 7 due to it being a blend of 7 white grapes. It is from Oregon and sells locally for $12.00. I think the thing I like best is how it has a bit of RS making it go well with Asian food plus it pairs fairly well with some mexican dishes too. Plus, it has sufficient acidity to make one keep reaching for the glass.