I am disappointed
in this wine. It tasted better when I
was standing in the store tasting it than it did when we get it home and drank
it with dinner. I think this is because
the wine sample lady was pretty cool and explained to us what Trader Joe’s
“Reserve” wines are. She told us that
they are somehow “fancy ass wines” (my words, not hers) that TJ’s gets ahold of
a shit ton of (again, I promise she did not use this phrase in the store, this
is my interpretation of how she explained it to us…) and bottles it up. But they are not allowed to reveal the true names, see, because they are
selling them for less than the hoity toity wine companies are, so they have to
keep it TOP SECRET.
 |
| We are not kidding around here, this is TOP SECRET! |
Now me, I love a secret.
So I played along with the whole “shhhh – it is a RESERVE!” thing. I LIKE that part of this wine a lot. And in the store I also liked the taste of it a lot.
But when we drank it at home, I didn’t like the taste as
much. It wasn’t spectacular or
anything. It was alright. It was chardonnay. It didn’t bring anything special to the
table. The bottle says it has flavors of
“tropical fruits, citrus, and baked apple” but for some reason the tropical
fruit isn’t registering to my taste buds.
David says, “Unless the tropical fruit in question is durian which is famous for smelling
like baby’s diarrhea…”. (While this is
a great joke, I must point out that this wine does not in any way shape or form
smell like baby poop.)
Here is what David thought: Woody.
Sharp. Pleasant. Not too oaky.
I am happy to drink it and normally I hate chardonnay.
 |
| Isn't this a nice chalkboard? This is an example of Trader Joe's Clarendon doin' it right - lookin' great sign maker! |
Overall, this wine doesn’t taste BAD. There is just no excitement to it. It is higher priced than many other wines at
TJ’s. We are not big chardonnay fans but
we thought when we tasted this in the store it might be opening up a new
variety of wine to us. But nah. Not so much.
 |
| Apparently it is vegan, too. And a flyer item in October. |
Before I wrap this review up, I want to mention one other
product that I PLANNED to review but am not going to now. Kouigns Amann (caramelized Breton style
layered pastries) – these were a good reminder to me to “not keep your slip in
a drawer”. That is a phrase often
repeated at our house that we heard once in an NPR story. It means, basically, LIFE IS SHORT. Wear your nice slip. Drink the good bottle of wine. Cuz one day you won’t be around, and if you
haven’t enjoyed it before that, well, you missed out, didn’t ya?? And that’s what happened with this
product. They looked super yummy. I bought them. I lost them in the freezer and found them 17
months AFTER the expiration
date… I went ahead and tried to “proof”
them (letting them rise overnight) but of course they didn’t rise and I had to
throw them away. Let that be a lesson to
us all – DON’T KEEP YOUR SLIP IN A DRAWER!
Dance today. Eat tonight. Celebrate.
And most importantly, ENJOY.
 |
| ENJOY LIFE. For my 40th birthday one of the surprises David had up his sleeve was a HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE. It was remarkable. The whole experience was amazing. It is something I had wanted to do but "never got around to it". So what I am saying is - GET AROUND TO IT. Life is short. Don't keep your slip in a drawer. |
Now for the price and rating of the TJ’s Reserve
Chardonnay.
Price - $9.99
Rating – 3.75
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