Written by I’m often asked by people now when they find out that I’m starting a wine business, what the difference is between a great bottle of wine and some of the impersonators….which are good table wine, but not world class quality.
This weekend gave me a good example to use in that explanation. My wife and I were having dinner with someone who although he enjoys wine, perhaps his palate is not as sophisticated as others are at this time. For example he hates Pinot Noir, drops an ice cube in his white wine etc.
So we didn’t want to spend much on a bottle of wine to bring with us, but we wanted to have a drinkable bottle for ourselves at the same time. Over the years I’ve heard good things about the quality/price ratio offered by some of the wine carried at Trader Joe’s, so we thought we’d give it a try. As a plus since moving we’re now in walking distance of a pretty nice Trader Joe’s, which has an active wine selection.
A quick Google search took me to a wine blog dedicated to Trader Joe’s wine, Jason’s wine blog. It’s an impressive site, unlike a lot of wine blogs(this one included) he really gets to the point even offering top 10 lists of his favorite wine for each season at TJ’s. If you’re going to be buying a bottle of wine at TJ’s, I’d highly suggest giving his blog a quick glance…you’ll be glad you did.
Ok, so the selection was pretty picked over when we showed up(around 4pm on a Saturday) so we weren’t able to find anything that Jason had previously recommended as a Buy It….so we tried a label called Epicuro, which he has said he likes.
What we ended up with was the Benevantano Aglianico 2007. My overall impression was that it was worth the $5 we paid for it. On the nose it didn’t offer much, the overwhelming taste was a dark cherry, the texture was quite velvety which was nice. I’m sure a lot of people would describe the wine as smooth….given some of the more traditional Italian wines and their tendency to be overly tannic I was surprised by the bottle. Would I buy it again? Not really sure. Perhaps if we needed a 12th bottle to make a case, although I do think there are going to be other, better options even in that price range. It isn’t that I didn’t think the bottle was a good value, simply that it was neither interesting nor memorable. At any price range I want to have some experience with wine, so this bottle didn’t do it for me.
As always please visit us over at Uncorked Ventures. Have a great week!