Venus Vines: Robin’s Favorite Sauv Blanc

Venus d Minor Altos Robin Sloan Kristin Bass

A summer wine review from Venus member Robin Sloan (on the left in blue in this lovely photo).

We’ve all heard about 2 Buck Chuck and given the state of the economy, we thought we’d try some.  Well it cost a little over 3 Bucks and it wasn’t very good and we had to cross the river to buy it.  However, during our discussion with the Trader Joe’s wine guy – he may have thought it was flirting, but it was merely a discussion about wine – we (I) discovered several tasty and very inexpensive wines.  Given that I prefer sauvignon blanc from the Marlboro region of New Zealand or some place in Chile, I focused my attention on sauvignon blanc. The wine guy’s favorite is Bay Moon, 2011 from Monterey, California.  Go figure!  At a mere $5.99 a bottle, I decided to take one for a test drive.  It passed with flying colors.  Very smooth and light, not too citrusy – although, I do enjoy the citrusy stuff.  He also suggested Vinas Chilenas Reserve, 2011 from Chile.  Very crisp, lots of citrus, and WAIT . . . is that $3.99 price tag for real????  The only thing that would make this wine better is a twist off top.  So there you have it, two great, inexpensive wines from Trader Joe’s.  Cheers! -Robin