The Trader Joe’s Coastal Sauvignon Blanc 2012 is a $4.99 TJ’s exclusive, sourced from grapes grown in California’s Central Coast AVA. Vinted and bottled by Castoro Cellars, who have grown grapes and produced wine in Paso Robles since the early 80s. Vinted and bottled by indicates that Castoro aged the wine and bottled the wine, but it does not tell you who farmed the grapes or fermented the juice. Trader Joe’s own label wines are negociant wines, which is a French term for a business that buys excess wine, juice or grapes and sell them under their own label. The name of the original producer is hidden since the negociant wine is sold at a reduced price. Since you do not know where the wine came from, which is usually essential in choosing a wine, a negociant lives or dies on their reputation. Offer good wine at a good price and folks will keep coming back. The TJ’s Coastal Sauvignon Blanc has an alcohol content of 13%.
The color is pale golden-yellow. The nose is pretty, tropical fruit, lime, peach, pear, apple and a light floral scent. This Sauvignon Blanc is somewhere between medium and light bodied with soft fruit upfront and tart citrus on the finish. It starts with Golden Delicious apple and mix of peach and pear and a hint of lime. The mid-palate adds a good dose not too tart grapefruit juice, lemon and a brush of minerality. The acidity is somewhat subdued, this is more of a sipper, than a food wine. The finish starts off strong and slowly fades away.
The Trader Joe’s Coastal Sauvignon Blanc is a tasty, no-issues five buck wine. It smells like a Sauv Blanc, it drinks like a Sauv Blanc, it even has a touch of complexity. Put a chill on the bottle (but not too much of a chill) and it will go down very easily. If this were an imported wine, say some Italian village wine using a grape you never heard of, that drank this well, at this price, wine geeks would be singing its praises. But since this is a $5 Trader Joe’s wine, you get no cool points for drinking it. Is this the best Sauvignon Blanc on the market, no it’s not. Is the TJ’s Coastal Sauv Blanc a wine that is enjoyable and worth drinking, yes it is.
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