Have you ever wondered if Trader Joe’s has any good Italian red wine? I did too, so I did the only thing that made sense. I bought every single one of them.
I ended up with 23 bottles ranging from $5 to $36, but I gotta say, I don’t feel too confident about this tasting. Why? Because Italian wine is just weird.
In this video, I’m going to blind taste and score every Italian red from TJ’s to see if they’ve got any gems. I’ll be real with you though; I’m a little skeptical. Italian wine isn’t really my thing, but maybe, just maybe, I’ll become a convert.
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🍷 I Took On 21 Bottles of Trader Joe’s Pinot Noir in One Sitting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhsSc4lx4s
🍷 How I wish ORDERING WINE was explained to me as a beginner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSxtx0vux4I&t=21s
🍷 Sommelier Ranked $400 of Trader Joe’s Bordeaux Wine
🍷 I Tested Costco vs. Trader Joe’s Cabernet Sauvignon: Which One Is Best? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qvuj5zlhWE&t=1s
TIMESTAMP
00:00 Intro
03:08 Grifone Sangiovese 2021 Puglia $4.99
04:16 7 Sicilians Rosso Terre Red Blend NV Italy $5.99
05:23 Grifone Primitivo 2021 Puglia $5.99
06:14 Villa Cerrina Montepulciano D’ Abruzzo 2023 Tuscany $5.99
07:18 Epicuro Aglianico 2022 Puglia $5.99
08:22 Rosa dell Olmo Barbera D’ Asti 2022 Piedmont $5.99
09:19 Epicuro Nero d’Avola 2022 Siciliy $5.99
10:37 Gaetano D’Aquino Chianti Riserva 2019 Tuscany $6.99
12:01 Grifone 1967 Red Blend 2019 Tuscany $6.99
12:52 Campi Rudi Red Blend (Appassimento) 2021 Puglia $6.99
13:19 Susumaniello Ruggero di Bardo 2022 Puglia $9.99
14:15 Casone Red Blend 2017 Tuscany $10.99
15:39 Cecilia Beretta Amarone 2020 Valpolicella $11.99
16:18 D’Aquino Chianti 2023 Tuscany $11.99
18:06 Patroferno Primitivo (Appassimento) 2022 Puglia $12.99
19:07 Rosa dell Olmo Barolo 2020 Piedmont $14.99
19:49 Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano D’ Abruzzo 2021 Tuscany $14.99
21:07 Ca’Storica Amarone 2021 Valpolicella $15.99
24:03 Barreri & Rovati Barbaresco Riserva 2018 Piedmont $20.99
24:50 Poggio Lontano Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Tuscany $21.99
25:43 Barreri & Rovati Barolo Riserva 2017 Piedmont $23.99
28:44 Cecilia Beretta Valpolicella Ripasso 2021 Valpolicella $23.99
29:49 Damilano Lecinquevigne Barolo 2019 Piedmont $35.99
23 Comments
Yeeeees! I've been waiting for a new video from my favorite sommelier!
Fun video! Good job sniping the Apassiamento. Long comment incoming 😛
Disagree about Italian wine, RED Italian wine is slightly overrated. The Whites are very interesting and underrated. However regions like Piedmont, Valtellina and Alto-Adige are loaded with fantastic affordable reds, along with whites. Nizza is a complete gem, Barbera that borderline looks like Northern Rhone Syrah when aged in barriques. Ar. Pe. Pe. is an amazing producer of Lombardian Nebbiolo. There are also some wild men doing great Cabernet in the Dolomites 😛 For Whites look at Manzoni Bianco from Alto Adige(Fontanasanta), Timorasso from Piemonte(I like Vietti), Vernacchia from Tuscany, Soave Classico(La rocca Pieropan) if you want to smile 🙂 Chard from Alto-Adige can be amazing as well(Lafoa is bonkers). I may be preaching to the choir as I don't know your degree of familiarity with Italian wines and if so sorry 🙂
Despite all this I don't doubt that the selection in Trader Joes will be comparatively underwhelming regardless of genre and Italy is much harder to navigate than Argentina or Australia for example, even France would probably yield more B's in these circumstances.
I do have an issue with saying Italy is 'different', because basically France and the new world have the same grapes but every other country in the old world has their own indigenous varieties. Look at Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany etc etc.. There is not a wine producing country in Europe that doesn't champion its native varieties, even Sweden has some! Also many common international varieties are not French(Grenache and Mourvèdre are Spanish, Zinfandel is Croatian and Muscat is Greek :P) and some modern classics in the New World include weird niche varieties like Touriga Nacional in SA, Riesling in USA and Tempranillo in Mexico. If they start replanting Carmenere in Bordeaux to be hip, we will have come be full circle and I will eat my shoes.
About the content; I speak only for myself of course and I probably dont represent your target demo which I understand. However I am not particularly interested in learning about Trader Joe's wine selection, the quality of the content comes from personality, good editing and solid production. I can tell it must take a while to produce these videos. I would prefer you tasting some interesting/unique/noteworthy wines blind, maybe even have a friend pick out a bracket blind. A video blindtasting 11 Chinese wines could go just as far in the algo and be more interesting(to me at least) for example. Also maybe keep in mind that most wine geeks that stumble on these video's may not shop for wine at supermarkets often and that Trader Joe's is strictly American so international viewers are probably more indifferent. Either way I will keep watching because the content is entertaining, just wanted to give my opinion.
You just need to cater a wedding at this point
The best deal is the 4.99 Grifone…that is the first Italian I tried at TJs. Yeah they are all below average. I need to go back and look at your TJ French wines again. Newsletter sounds great. I will subscribe for sure.
The amount of awful wine you tasted for us😂😂😂 That's a giant headache for sure!
Such a fun video🍷😅 Appreciate your devotion
After 25m+ of “this taste of nothing” I’m really curious to know which ones you actually enjoy drinking 😅😂
Happy to see another video from you show up on the feed today. I hope you decide to stick with it because I think you're doing a great job with these videos, and hoping that more and more people will find their way to them.
I've been searching for some more nuanced and serious wine content (mainly France and specifically Loire Valley) but it seems wine content as a whole on YouTube hasn't really taken off. It also feels like there is a market for it, so hopefully just a matter of time.
Plainly you're not a fan of Italian wine flavor profiles. Personally, I prefer Italian wine over French, and the grape varieties over the French varieties even when grown elsewhere. Thankfully, I put this statement in the comments and not the "compliments" just as you requested. No compliments for you! ;P
Drinking a $5 bottle of wine out of a $100 glass. Something seems off.
How would you recommend getting into wine and learning the basics about the different flavors/varieties?
great video. needed one for valentines!
20-something different ways of saying "I couldn't smell it and it tasted bad"
Crushed it again. “I did the only thing that made any sense” and the lines kept getting better LMAO the whole way. Fun and helpful video, THANK YOU!!! Love the straightforward website too. Please keep up the great content.
Awesome tasting. Why don't you blend all 23 wine into a glass and have a taste?
Do more native grape loving countries! (Portugal comes to mind)
I've heard good things about the Espiral Vinho Verde and Tuella Douro both at the sub $6 mark
I’m constantly disappointed by Italian wine. Nice to see I’m not the only one. The king of bland wines it is. I’ve have some good ones but they are rare and far in between. People totally romanticize Italian, wine, food, landscapes everything yes…😅
I hate this video so much, I cant even put it into words!!
If you want to evaluate (say bad things about) any country and their wines, at least do a decent selection, not a bunch of crap from the bottom shelf of a supermaket.
Nice edit, cinemathography and channel concept though 😂
as an italian wine drinker you are doing god's work suppressing italian wine prices with your shit palate, grazie mille
Italian wines are definitely not overrated, but you need to start at the $30 range.
Why didn't I think of doing this. LOL Great video, thanks!
Thanks for tasting and giving your honest opinion. I've had several of those and find them simple but in a good way, very little oak, honest representation, not overly extracted and lower alcohol, lots of things I like and opposite of a lot of goosed up recipe wines. But I'd say a lot of wine drinkers agree with you too.
Pal, this is the D I want! You’re doing the hard work for us, the analogies are on point lol I’m watching this with a glass of Bogle
Based on the Quality of the Video you would have 100 times more subs