Trader Joe’s Wine: Penfolds Rawson’s Retreat, 2008

Penfold's Rawson's Retreat, 2008

A Wine Moment with Delaina, the sipping continues….

There are a number of reasons that I choose to purchase a wine. Sometimes it is a recommendation, sometimes because of a tasting (ohhh thanks Trader Joe’s), but there is one more, slightly odd reason…

Sometimes wines call to me and make me purchase because of their labels. If they have a cool label that I like, then somehow I feel that the wine inside will also be to my liking. Another, less glamorous reason that pushes me to buy a particular bottle is based on if the bottle has a cork or screw top. Yes, this makes me really sound like a boozer, but I had a good reason, really!

Here is the full story: We were visiting some friends who are not wine drinkers and I forgot my wine opener.  I remembered this as we were heading off to Trader Joe’s to pick up some appetizers (and wine) to nibble on before dinner. Ugh!

So as you can imagine I bought this wine because it had a screw top. I must admit that I stood and contemplated this purchase for a minute. See, once upon a time I thought wines with screw tops wines were crap!  But now I admit that this is no longer the case. The second reason that made me stop and think about my purchase was that this wine was Australian, and again, once upon a time, Australian wines were too sweet for my tastes.  But that personal myth has recently been overturned, and so I took the plunge and purchased wine that had both a screw top and a “cool” lable.

The wine I purchased was:  Penfolds’s 2008 Rawson’s Retreat, which was a blend of a Shiraz and a Cabernet Sauvignon. WOW, this wine was a pleasant surprise. It is no back alley twist-top yucky sweet wine. This red has a great blend of boldness and only cost 5.99 at Trader Joes.  Such a deal!

Now to be truthful, this is not a wine that I would drink alone, but it pairs nicely with roasted chicken and potatoes. Or if you are having a “tapas night”  it pairs nicely with a sharp cheese such as  Kerrygold Dubliner cheese imported from Ireland sold at Trader Joes and Trader Joe’s Pitted Kalamata Olives- yes we tried it:)   In fact I think this wine would pair nicely with almost anything.

However, having said that, I would not recommend having it with Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken – and yes, I tried it 🙁   The sweet Oriental flavors were not the best match for this bold and dare I say dryish wine, by Australian standards.

Nonetheless, is a great wine that will complement most foods,  but might be a bit too complex for beginning wine drinkers.

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