How Trader Joe's Picks The Wine It Sells And How To Spot Its Best Bottles
Wine at Trader Joe's tends to be a big deal. There are a number of different Trader Joe's reserve wines for sale, and having an aisle full of interesting (and cheap) wine was a big part of the grocery store chain's early marketing strategy. If you're just wandering in looking to grab a bottle of something nice, how do you pick one? The most popular bottles are always placed at the ends, but the employees are also specifically trained to help you decide which wine to buy.
Perhaps as part of its reputation for being the "cool" grocery store, Trader Joe's has a podcast called Inside Trader Joe's. In the episode "Trader Joe's Wine Wonderings," hosts Tara Miller and Matt Sloan break down the company's process for choosing wines. The selection seems somewhat unique to each store: The employees at every Trader Joe's personally taste every wine before they decide to stock it. They call them "tasting panels," and according to Miller, "we taste every single wine that is brought to our attention before we decide whether or not to put it on our shelves in the stores."
Navigating the wine aisle
If the employees taste-test the wine to make sure it's what they like, how can you tell what the customers are actually interested in? According to podcast host Tara Miller, the wines that sell the fastest always go in the stacks at the ends of the aisle, where they are more visibly on display than the other wines. Employees make a point to contrast this setup with other, unnamed grocery chains where wine brands usually pay to have their products placed on display. Think of the stacks as a best-seller list for the wines at Trader Joe's.
If you still need help choosing wine at Trader Joe's, those tasting panels mean the employees have some knowledge about the wines, and they're often trained to explain them in layman's terms. On the podcast, guest Michael Cooney — a store manager in Santa Barbara, California — says he tells employees to prepare simple explanations: "You don't have to describe it to a 'T.' You just need to say, 'I like this wine.' And maybe have two reasons why you like it. Maybe it just, you know, balances out well and it goes down well, whatever, great with whatever food you might like."
The usual Trader Joe's wines
While there will be minor differences in what's stocked at each store, there are a number of Trader Joe's wines that you'll likely find anywhere. What's commonly called the "Two Buck Chuck" is the Charles Shaw branded wine at Trader Joe's that can sell for as low as $2 per bottle (although it has gotten more expensive over the years). It's not known for its taste, which is considered average, but its price point has kept it on shelves for over 20 years.
More fancy is the line of reserve wines that you can always find on shelves at Trader Joe's. When wine is labeled "reserve," it usually indicates higher quality grapes or wine that's been aged longer. It has stricter definitions in certain countries like Italy or Spain, but not in the United States, which gives companies some leeway with how they use the term. At your neighborhood Trader Joe's, the reserve label refers to specific, slightly pricier wines like the Diamond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Like other Trader Joe's products, information about where it was specifically sourced is kept under wraps, but this reserve label is more popular with wine enthusiasts. If you're unsure what to buy, though, just check the stacks.