A fair number of people routinely shop for wine at Trader Joe's, and no, I'm not just talking about shopping for "Two Buck Chuck" Charles Shaw wines by the case. I've tried Charles Shaw, and honestly, their moment of fame is long gone. But Trader Joe's offers a lot more; they offer a number of wines from recognizable California, and in Washington, at least, even Washington wineries, and they import wine from all over the world. In the last few years, Trader Joe's has even bottled their own wines, using names like Trader Moon and, recently Trader Joe, on varietal wines from California, South America, and Europe.

Of later I've had bad luck with Trader Joe's own wines, and their special purchases. All but one have been less than enjoyable. They are a bit of a hit-or-miss, and it's the sort of shopping decision that involves trying a bottle, and going back immediately for more if you like it; it might be gone in a week. I've had a decent Tuscan wine from Trader Joe's recently, and used to buy Australian wine there fairly often, back when it was hard to find Shiraz in California. Generally, the wine stewards are friendly, helpful and well-informed, and don't have an ounce of snobbery about them. You can confess that you select wines based on label design, particularly typography and they won't even blink. There's a $5.99 Chariot Gypsy red wine blend that people are down right fanatical about; I've been keeping an eye out for it, and have even asked about it at my local Trader Joe's, but so far, no luck. This particular wine, though, has almost a cult following amongst bloggers. is exclusively available through Trader Joe's.

There are several bloggers who blog exclusively about Trader Joe's wine, and a few who write about TJ's wine and food. Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati have a nifty Website, and cookbooks, based on the idea of "Cooking with Trader Joe's." Their blog features recipes, meal planning, and wine pairings from Trader Joe's. ALBinNYC blogs about "Drinking my way through Trader Joe's Wine," which often features Trader Joe's wine, and food pairings. Brendan's blog is the Trader Joe's Wine Compendium, where he reviews TJ's wines, offers a description, and a thumbs up or thumbs down evaluation. The Cheap Fun Wines blog regularly posts a "Trader Joe's Wine Alert," when there's something particularly interesting. Jason of Jason's Wine Blog was the first blogger I noticed raving about Chariot Gypsy Red. He's a true fan of Chariot Red, and updates a list of Trader Joe's Top 10.