The Best Wines at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is renowned for their selection of cheap, private label wines. Unfortunately, some of it is just plain bad. There are; however, gems to be found in this sea of cheap wine and we unveil our absolute favorite picks in this giant list of the best wines at Trader Joe's. Read on for our Complete Guide to Trader Joe's wine.

From Chianti and a basic Cotes du Rhone to even Barolo, Amarone and Napa Valley Cabernet TJ's offers a little bit of everything often at prices that boggle the mind. If you've been wondering if some of those wines can possibly be good, you've come to the right place because we've tasted just about all of them. (We've also dumped a heck of a lot of them down the drain!)

The wines reviewed here are mostly private label ones, simply because these offer the best value. Cutting out the middle man with private labels is TJ's strength, both in terms of wine and their grocery products.

Because the wine names don’t always include "Trader Joe's" look for the "Trader Joe's Exclusive" sign on the shelves to identify these. The reason this is important is simply that the mass market wines sold at TJ's are usually not priced very competitively and many are just there to make the private label wines seem like a better deal. (The folks at TJ's are master marketers, pulling just about every trick in the book.)

For the wines that actually do include Trader Joe's on the label there a number of different "Reserve" levels to look for. From highest to lowest quality they are:

Platinum Reserve - there are not a lot of these and they don't last long, so buy them if you see them!

Grand Reserve - generally very good quality.

Reserve - quality can vary but we have a lot of good picks on our list.

Petit Reserve - can be hit or miss but we have a few recommended ones on our list below.