Trader Joe’s

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20 High-Low Late Summer Wines

We have about three weeks until Labor Day weekend, the end of summer. This is my favorite time of year (I love heat) for food and for wine. When the temperature rises I instinctively reach for an aromatic white or rosé. Of all the wines I’ve been drinking this summer, my favorites fall into two distinct price categories: $15 or less, or over $20. Many of my go to wines come from Trader Joe’s and are less than $10.

That got me thinking about fashion, and how the most stylish dressers put together outfits that are high-low combinations. For example, you pair a H&M top at $14.99 with Tory Burch pants that cost $295 and a pair of Michael Michael Kors shoes (his 2nd label, also called a diffusion line) for $120. And you probably get more compliments on the H&M top than you do the pants or shoes.

With high-low wine you can find some fabulous bottles for less than $15 that I bet you’ll get compliments on. But every now and then you want to splurge on a great pair of $300 boots just because. Same with wine, there are just some times when a splurge on a bottle with a price tag of $20 or higher is justified. I’ve made list of 20 wines, with pairs grouped according to the high-low principle. Read more

DRINK – The price is right

I’m always asked what’s a good wine at a good price?  For me, good price is under $20 a bottle.  Under $10 is even better.  Somewhere in between is where Layer Cake falls.  This wine is made by Jason Woodbridge.  The crazy thing is he also makes Hundred Acre, an amazing Cab that sells for $300+  I’ve tried it and really liked it, almost enough to think about buying one bottle.  But Layer Cake fits my budget.  I bought a bottle of Shiraz at Trader Joe’s for $14.99.  It was a deep, rich and opulent wine, especially for this price point.  The Shiraz is grown and made in Australia, under Woodbridge’s supervision, and all the Layer Cake wines are made in a similar manner to Hundred Acre. Even the labels are top notch — great design, raised fonts. I have a bottle of Primitivo at home – also $14.99 at…

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