The Wellesley Wine Press: Slideshow: The Best (and Worst) Wines at Trader Joe's Right Now

Accolades

I was quoted in The Boston Globe about legislation that would permit winery direct sales to Massachusetts:

“This is good news for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, who will now be able to purchase wines they currently don’t have access to,” said Robert Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine. “This is also good news for Massachusetts in general since it will mean new revenues.”

I wrote this article in WellesleyWeston Magazine featuring local food & wine experts like Chef Ming Tsai, Mike O'Connell Jr., Chris Minervino, and Austin Moran. Check it out!

I shared my thoughts on the direct shipment of wine to Massachusetts with CBS Boston during hearings at the State House.

This site was listed as one of the Top 100 Wine Blogs:

https://alawine.com/wine-blog-rankings.html

Our Scoop the Spectator contest was mentioned on Palate Press:

"Bob Dwyer, a Massachusetts-based wine blogger, has created the coolest parlor game in wine, and for once it’s a wine contest that does not involve blind tasting.

I used to think the entire concept of a Top 100 list was silly. This year, mine was the first guess on Dwyer’s site."

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reached out for a quote on the expansion of the number of licenses each retailer in MA can hold:

"Robert P. Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine at thewww.wellesleywinepress.com, calls the state’s liquor laws bizarre and favors a wider availability of wine. For consumers, it would be more convenient to be able to buy wine at a supermarket while shopping for food, he said."

“You have this strange exclusion of wine, which in Europe is considered a grocery item,” said Mr. Dwyer. “Here it’s considered the demon rum.”

Wine Spectator picked up on our 2011 Scoop the Spectator contest with these remarks:

"trying to predict the annual Wine of the Year is a popular parlor game among enophiles. This year, blogger Wellesley Wine Press held a contest, with New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Co. awarding a prize of a Kindle Fire e-reader to the first commenter to correctly guess this year's top wine before it was announced. Unfiltered was impressed with the number of Top 10 wines prognosticated by Wellesley's readers. "Senelwine" guessed Château de St.-Cosme Gigondas 2009, our No. 10 wine, "Mike M" guessed Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro 2008, our No. 7 wine, "James Z" guessed Baer Ursa Columbia Valley 2008, our No. 6 wine, and "RichardPF" nailed it, winning the Kindle, and the respect of his wine-loving peers. Looks like Wellesley's readers know their wine."

Boston's CBS affiliate WBZ-TV stopped by to discuss why wineries still can't ship wine directly to MA consumers more than a year after courts ruled they should be able to.

WBUR, Boston's NPR news station, did an audio interview with me for a piece discussing MA Question 1: Repealing the Alcohol Sales Tax.

The Chicago Tribune's Bill Daley mentioned the site in Rosé: A wine for more seasons. I said "For me, they're like pumpkin spice coffee drinks: best enjoyed early in the season". Bill alsogave the site a shout-out for a piece the Capitol Case Clubcontributed about restaurant wine service. I thought it was a great example of how print wine writers can effectively engage wine bloggers.

The nice folks at Foodista, The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit, named this site Wine Blog of the Day for this entry featuring GoBYO. Thanks!

Budget Bacchus named this site Wine Blog of the Week. Check 'em out!

Boston University wine educator Stacy Woods mentioned this site alongside wine blogging powerhouses Vinography and Fermentation. Wow- that's great company to be in! Thanks- I appreciate it.

WBZ-TV, the Boston CBS affiliate, interviewed me aboutMassachusetts wine shipping laws. It was kind of surreal having a camera crew in our kitchen but we enjoyed it! Check it out:

Wine Enthusiast Magazine called me a "wine accessory guru". Thanks! I appreciate it.

NPR's Public Radio Kitchen linked to my pieces on "Syrah: The Steroids of the Pinot Noir World" and "Watching the Wine Community Rumble". Thanks for that! I am humbled, and I feel just a little bit like the Car Talk guys do when they say "And even though Roger Clemens stabs his radio with a syringe whenever he hears us say it, this is NPR: National Public Radio."

The Boston Globe's website has been linking to my recent entries as part of their expanded local coverage includingWellesley. I truly appreciate that as it has driven a lot of local traffic to this site.

It was really nice of Thomas Matthews, Executive Editor of Wine Spectator to leave a comment and then check back and answer some questions I had. Awesome guy! Check it out here. And here.

Thanks to The Boston Globe for including The Wellesley Wine Press in their list of local blogs in the Food & Drink section. Check it out here.

The Wellesley Wine Press was just added tohttps://wine.alltop.com. Alltop is an interesting topical take on sorting through the best sites on the Internet- check it out and see which sites are listed for topics you're most interested in.

It's been a while since we did our weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, but we did today and I was reminded what a fun place it is. Especially when you haven't shopped there in a while. And especially at the holidays.

The wine assortment hasn't changed much the past few years - other than the vintages. They always bring in a few higher end wines at the holidays but for the most part I'd avoid anything over $20 at Trader Joe's.

See also: Is Trader Joe's a good place to buy wine?

I saw a bunch of shoppers wandering the wine section asking the folks stocking the shelves which wines were best. The wine area at Trader Joe's is a pretty fun environment - probably because the worst thing that can happen is you spend $5 on a wine that's not very good.

See also: Four luscious reds to buy now at Trader Joe's

I zipped around and picked up a few favorites but I thought it would be helpful to share one guy's opinion on this subject for people who might be standing in the store or doing a quick Google search on the best wines to buy at Trader Joe's. If you're looking for luscious, fruit forward crowd-pleasers, here are some of my favorites:

Best Wines to Buy at Trader Joe's - slideshows

If the slideshow fails to embed or you want to get straight to the list, here are the 8 recommended wines in the slideshow:

Castaño Monastrell - $6.99 (best $7 wine on the planet? I think so)
Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet - $7.99 (back with a vengance in 2011 - sooo good)
Dr. L Riesling $9.99 (SOLID German Riesling)
Apothic Red $8.99 (luscious and delicious)
Chariot Gypsy - $4.99 (also luscious and delicious - with a bit of sweetness - and extremely affordable)
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc - Viognier $10.49 (gorgeous - aromatically and otherwise)
Trentatre Rosso $5.99 (incredibly well put together and approachable for an Italian red)
Cocobon Red $7.99 (light and juicy with streaks of mocha)

Note: Listed in order of how highly recommended each wine is (1 is most highly recommended)

And here are four I'd recommend you NOT buy:

Avoid: Blue Fin Petite Sirah - $3.99 (gives Petite Sirah a bad name)
Avoid: L'Authentique French Red - $4.99 (thin and bitter. worst wine ever?)
Avoid: Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc $6.99 (so disappointing)
Avoid: Hangtime Bourgogne - $6.99 (watery and devoid of flavor)

Note: Listed in order of how strenuously I recommend you avoid these wines

And remember Jason's Wine Blog? He hasn't posted lately but I did catch one recommendation from him. If a guy has had a year to think about one wine to buy at Trader Joe's it must be good:

@RobertDwyer Wish I had the time. Still think about what I would write often. Latest from TJ's is Valley of Moon Pinot Blanc. Good for $7
— jasonswineblog (@jasonswineblog) November 17, 2013

Further Reading:

Charles Shaw blind tasting (or: Are we wasting $10 a night?)

Like hearing about deals and great value wines? I'd love it if you SUBSCRIBED to the Wellesley Wine Press for future updates.

Question of the Day: What are some of the best/worst wines you've found at Trader Joe's lately?

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Saturday, November 23, 2013

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