Sparkling Wines

Sparkling Wine — It's a gas! And it's the gas — carbon dioxide — that fills this wine with shimmering, tongue-tingling bubbles. Sparkling Wines are generally lower in alcohol than most table wines and some of the most versatile wines to accompany food, especially appetizers. Plus, they are the quintessential celebration libation. So whether it's a birthday, a holiday, or a Monday (why not?!), bring on the bubbly.

Sparkling Wine Classification: Extra Brut (extra dry), Brut (very dry), Extra Dry/Extra Sec (dry), Sec(semi-sweet), Demi Sec (sweet), Doux (very sweet)

White Wines

Why white? Because it's refreshing and versatile. But why is it white? Is it white? (It’s all relative.) Pigments are localized in the skin of the grapes, so the color of wine correlates with how long the freshly-pressed grape juice interacts with the grape skins. When white wine grapes are picked, they are immediately pressed and the juice is removed from the skins with little contact, thus resulting in lucent liquids that range in shades from pale straw to deeper hues of gold. In addition to skin-to-must contact, grape varietal, the use of wood and the age of the wine will also influence the hue.

White Wine Styles Guide

Red Wines

The romance, the reservatrol, the range of styles... ah, red wine. When red wine grapes are crushed, the juice, skins and seeds ferment together before being pressed. The skins' contact with the grapes' juice during this process allows for the dispersion of both color and tannins. The longer the skin-must contact, the darker and more astringent the wine will be.

Dessert Wines

Dessert and wine—best of both worlds. The sweetness of dessert wine helps to "close" the palate after a meal, naturally leaving mouths open for more conversation and frivolity. In selecting a dessert wine to accompany your dessert, it is helpful to match the weight, colors and flavors of the wine to your dessert.

A Look at Trader Joe’s Wine Labels

"Good wine needs no bush." - William Shakespeare

The question is frequently raised; how is it that Trader Joe’s can carry caliber wines for crazy-good prices? In brief, it’s because of how we do business. We deal directly whenever possible, we pay on time, and we take the integrity of our products seriously. Plus, we private label. This part plays in our favor when a prominent wine producer needs to sell some juice - fast - but wants to protect their anonymity for reasons of privacy, perceived value or just plain preference. We’ll bottle the wine under a Trader Joe's brand label, which guarantees exceptional quality for an exceedingly good price. But what do all the different labels really mean? Take a look:

Charles Shaw: The game-changer. This forthright label brought to light the fact that really good wine need NOT cost a lot. Since 2002, our Charles Shaw Wines have garnered a large, loyal following for two simple reasons: 1. The juice is good (in many cases, award-winning). 2. The juice is a really good value. Hence the friendly moniker: Two-buck Chuck. Made for us by one of California's largest winemakers – a real stickler for quality and consistency – these wines are fruity, uncomplicated and meant to be drunk young (and often).
Trader Joe's Coastal: Made by a well-regarded California wine producer (if you’re curious, just look closely), these wines represent the unique qualities of the cooler-climate coastal wine growing regions. Our wine buyers work closely with the vintner to establish reliable varietal characteristics that deliver vintage to vintage. If they don't, we simply won't sell them. They're more than just your everyday table wines, though for the price, they’re an easy bottle to bring to the table, every day.
VINTJS: The label that proves how productive our wine buyers are, even in traffic. Seriously. While creeping along the freeway, our wine buyers were contemplating the plethora of personalized license plates. After puzzling out a few, they started putting together one for play and it quickly became quite practical. Not for our cars, though–for our bottles. Thus was created the VINTJS (that's "vintages") label. It showcases finite quantities of vintages that are purchased directly from wineries of pedigree, who prefer to remain anonymous. Why? That's their business. Ours is the really great wines that you get for an exceptional value.
Trader Joe's Petit Reserve: Every so often, our wine buyers happen upon a deal so incredible and so very much NOT the mainstream, that there is one thing to do – pounce. Generally, these unique offerings are very limited in availability. A big part of the "Petit." Whether it be a Central Coast Pinot Gris or a Russian River Valley Petite Sirah, Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve wines must first WOW the tasting panel, then your pocket book. Once they do, they're bottled with the elegant hibiscus and put on the shelves for you.
Trader Joe's Reserve: Trader Joe's Reserve label is “reserved” for small lot, mostly Estate, opportunities from specific growing regions. While the high quality sources and producers may be really well known, by maintaining the privacy of their profiles, we are able to procure preposterous prices for you. Some might fine this perplexing, others enticing, but any which way you look at it, these bottles are BIG values. And they're always embossed with the signature lighthouse spiral staircase cross section (yep, that's what that sunburst really is!).
Trader Joe's Grand Reserve: Grand says it all. These are prime "grower's lots" of wine from highly sought after AVAs (American Viticultural Areas). Occasionally, a grower has wine in reserve for a contract buyer who, for whatever reason (economy?), can’t honor the contract. Or some other striking change takes place, like the sudden sale of a vineyard, and premium juice is left in limbo. Well, we can’t abide by that. And we don't. Since our buyers have built solid relationships and business reputations in the wine world, we are often well positioned to purchase these first-rate finds for phenomenally GRAND prices, which, naturally, we pass on to you in these black-labeled beauties.

Disclaimer: The labels displayed here are examples. The exact varietal/vintage/appellation may not be available in stores now.

Storing Wines

Drink now or cellar ever after (or at least for a little while longer)? For some, this question is never raised, as the glass always is. For the rest, here are a few, not-so-hard-and-fast-yet-can-be-helpful tips about when/what to store:

• In general, less expensive wines are meant to be enjoyed within a year or so of purchase.
• In reds, the higher the level of flavor compounds and tannins, the longer it is capable of being aged. Many finer quality wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo and Syrah/Shiraz grapes for example, may be aged for five or ten years – sometimes even longer. Wines made from Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese (Chianti), and Zinfandel grapes, on the other hand, are usually best enjoyed within five years.
• White wines are generally not designed to be aged, although you may find some finer Chardonnays that benefit from a few years in the bottle.

Storing Wines "How To":

Tasting Wines

Drinking wine is as simple as tilt glass and swallow. Tasting wine takes a little more focus. Some of the steps may feel awkward or even pompous to the novice, but they’ve been developed over centuries to achieve specific sensory goals. So why not try? By following a basic pattern you can effectively enhance your capacity to perceive a wine clearly, understand your palate preferences better and be able to discuss wines with bravado... or well enough to get the bottle that’ll make you smile.

"It is well to remember that there are five reasons for drinking: the arrival of a friend, one's present or future thirst, the excellence of the wine, or any other reason." - Latin Proverb

Sight

1. Lift your glass up against a neutral background (preferably white) to get a general impression of the color and clarity. Observe how clear and bright the wine looks and take note of any cloudiness. Brillant wines are clear and with no haze to the color. Also examine the degree of color and take note if it is: bright purple (typical of young red wines), ruby and browny-reds (ageing red wines), or brown and dull in appearance (often indicates oxidation).

Taste

4. Take a sip and work the wine around your mouth for several seconds. This is called “chewing,” and should present more flavors on your palate to taste. With the next sip of wine, in addition to chewing it, purse your lips and suck a little air through the wine before swallowing. Feels a bit funny at first, but you should be able to taste/smell even more of the wine this way because you have "aerated" it, deliberately releasing its aromas. After you’ve swallow the wine, note the flavor in your mouth once it's gone. This is known as the finish.

Glossary of (some) Wine Terms: (A Work in Progress)

Acidity: The component of wine that feels sharp in the mouth and gives wine its crispness and vibrancy—too much will make a wine tart and too little will make a wine flabby.

Anthocyanin: Phenolic (related to natural compounds found in plants) pigments that give red wine its color.

Appellation: A designated growing area governed by the rules and regulations established by its central and local government bodies.

Balance: The harmonious relationship of the components of wine – acids, fruit, tannins, alcohol, etc.

Body: The sense of weight (thick, thin, oily, watery) of a wine in the mouth of a taster. Wines are usually described as light-, medium- or full-bodied. The 'body' is essentially the cumulative effect of fruit, tannin and alcohol.

Bright: When describing the visual appearance of the wine, it refers to a high level of clarity and very low levels of suspended solids (cloudiness). When describing fruit flavors, it refers to noticeable acidity.

Brut: French for "dry." A classification term usually applied to sparkling wines.

Corked: A tasting term describing wines with cork taint (a broad term referring to undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine).

Dry: Wines with low levels of residual sugar. Also a tasting term used to describe a wine that is lacking the perception of sweetness.

Legs (aka Fingers or Tears): Streams of swirled wine or spirits that run down along the inside of a glass.

Must: The expressed juice of grapes before fermentation. Must can include pulp, skin and seeds.

Noble Rot (aka Botrytis cinerea): A beneficial mold that can pierce grape skins causing dehydration, thereby concentrating the sugar. The resulting grapes produce sweet wine, generally dessert wine.

Nose: A tasting term for the aroma or bouquet of a wine.

Viniculture: The art and science of making wine. Also called oenology (or enology).

Viniculture: The cultivation of grapes.

Zymology: The science of fermentation.