The origins of Trader Joe's and why Americans don't drink more wine

NapaNews ^ | February 26, 2004 | PAUL FRANSON

[Phantom Lord]

Two Buck Chuck is one of the best wines I have ever had. They did a tasting on one of the morning shows a few months back. Two Buck Chuck vs some pretty high dollar stuff. 2 of the 3 wine tasters (professionals!) picked Two Buck Chuck as the best of the bunch!

[Stone Mountain]

Two Buck Chuck is one of the best wines I have ever had.

I totally agree - you won't find a better wine for under $20 anywhere... Have you tried the new Two Buck Chuck Beaujolais? Also very good, although the Merlot is my favorite...

[CatoRenasci]

I remember the early Trader Joe's in Los Angeles when I was in graduate school and law school, they had amazing bargains on wines that hadn't sold (sometimes 'cause they were bad, sometimes 'cause of overproduction or other reasons unrelated to quality), and drank literally hundreds of cases of excellent wines at prices around $1 a bottle. I remember his private label stuff then, too, and it was decent, very decent. On the other hand, I was recently given some Two Buck Chuck and found it truly excreble.

[DentsRun]

I totally agree - you won't find a better wine for under $20 anywhere... Have you tried the new Two Buck Chuck Beaujolais? Also very good, although the Merlot is my favorite...

You're right. I can't drink their Cabernet or Chardonnay, but at $2 a pop their Merlot is amazing.

[Semper Paratus]

"I believe we're returning to the climate of the late Middle Ages,"

In the absence of any reliable proof of GW I'll believe this too.

[DentsRun]

There's another reason Trader Joe's does so well (beyond the cheap wine). Far from the sullen, indifferent and just plain dumb clerks you encounter in so many stores, Trader Joe's people are friendly and intelligent.

[CatoRenasci]

There has only been one Merlot worth drinking produced in California in the past 25 years: the 1985 Matanzas Creek. An exceptional wine, not yet fully mature in magnums, it is reminiscent of a Cheval Blanc in a good year.

[cloud8]

we have a Trader Joe's in town (Arlington, Mass.), but it's mostly health, eccentric and exotic food, not a wine store. Is Trader Joe's stock traded publicly?

[nobody_knows]

"...wine tasters (professionals!)"

Did they have a lisp?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

There has only been one Merlot worth drinking produced in California in the past 25 years...

Yikes! You're out of my league. (Definitely not serving wine when you come over for dinner.)

[BunnySlippers]

I used to love Trader Joe's before it expanded outside of Southern California.

[Katya]

I love my Trader Joe's...cheap gourmet and natural foods with a smile!!!

[AmishDude]

Did they have a lisp?

What are you inthinuating?

[FeliciaCat]

Count me as the 10% of the population that drinks wine. I find this hard to believe only 10% of Americans are wine drinkers. ALL of my girlfriends and many of the women in my family drink wine almost exclusively.

[BossLady]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Cali Merlots are unpalatable... ;)

[Khurkris]

Trader Joes is my neighborhood market. Fortunately there is a fresh vegatble store almost next door to it. If I could get a good butcher shop to open close I would have everything in one place.

TJ's also has some of the best quality/prices on nutritional supplements. They buy in MASSIVE quantity from high quality manufacturers. And they honestly do pass the savings along to their customers. People in the supplement/health food store talk derisively of TJ, but they refuse to meet their prices.

I highly reccomend their "VERY GREEN" product if you do green foods.

[SF Republican]

Great store and very good wine selections; we do about 1/2 of our grocery shopping and 100% of our wine shopping there. I will have to disagree with the Charles Shaw (2 buck chuck)analysis, IMHO it is good but it is very basic.

[justshutupandtakeit]

You wildly exaggerate the quality of 2buck. The red is ok, the white sucks. Neither comes close to other inexpensive wines from Chile for example. Try Marcus James Merlot if you want to taste a really good, inexpensive wine.

I love TJ and find they have great prices on wine but don't drink the 2buck (3buck now.) I rarely pay more than $6 for a bottle of wine.

Living in Chicago I can find inexpensive wine in many places as well as TJ. What I really like there is the bread now that is truly great.