Trip to Trader Joe's

Whenever I go to Costco, Safeway, or Trader Joe's, I always browse the wine aisle to see what's on sale.  I've mentioned before that you have to be careful at these retail outlets because they post "list prices" and "sale prices" that indicate significant savings.  However, many times I've found that the "list prices" are artificially inflated to make the savings appear much larger than they actually are.  For example, Trader Joe's had the 2007 Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay on sale for $10.99 yesterday.  Although $10.99 is below the "list price" or "suggested retail price," it is not that much of a discount.  Costco has had this wine on sale for $8.99 several times, and I've seen it a few times at that price at Safeway (Safeway gives an additional 10% off if you buy six or more bottles of wine).

Trader Joe's usually has a lot of Australian wine at very good prices.  Yesterday, they had Jacob's Creek Shiraz for $4.99 and Yellow Tail Shiraz (and all of the Yellow Tail wines) for $5.49 a bottle.  The Penfolds Koonunga Hills Shiraz was $8.99.  You have to try them to see what you like best, but they are very good value for the money IMO.

All of the Two Buck Chuck wines (Charles Shaw Chardonnay, Shiraz, etc.) are also available at Trader Joe's.  A friend of mine swears by the Charles Shaw Shiraz, and it is his regular weekday table wine.  Although I've never been impressed with any of the Two Buck Chuck wines, it's certainly inexpensive to try them out to see if there's a red or white wine you think is acceptable for an everyday drinker.

The best value at Trader Joe's yesterday was the 2006 Beringer "Third Century" Chardonnay that was on sale for $3.99 a bottle.  I bought a bottle and think it's definitely a potential candidate for a weekday white table wine.  I spoke to someone in their wine department and they bought a ton of it to be able to offer it at that price.

Trader Joe's also had the 2007 Perrin "Reserve" Cotes du Rhone for $6.99 a bottle (list price $12).  I've bought it on sale for $7.99, but this was the lowest I've seen it during the past year.

Some persons browse the wine aisle, and their strategy is to try to find the biggest percentage discount off the "list price."  This strategy is flawed IMO for the reasons discussed above.  Again, my advice is that you have to be very careful when purchasing wines at food stores and retail outlets.  Your best strategy is to know what wines you like and their "list prices," so you can tell whether the "sales price" is a good bargain, or not.