L’Authentique Red Table Wine: Anything But Authentic
26 Nov
So on my most recent trip to Trader Joe’s I picked up three bottles of wine:
- 2003 Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve “Dulcet” (Cabernet/Syrah) | Napa Valley, CA | $19.99 (sale: $35-$40)
- 2007 Cono Sur Carmenere | Colchagua Valley, Chile | $7.99 (sale: $8.99-$10.00)
- 2007 L’Authentique Red Table Wine | France | $4.99
The last bottle was purely gratuitous. I put it into my cart because I figured it five bucks wasn’t too much to pay for a gamble. I was willing to gamble due to my previous wonderful experience with Trader Joe’s.
I’m glad it was only $4.99.
Two hints that this wine would be terrible:
- No wine worth its salt would be named “L’Authentique.”
- The back label says to store the wine horizontally, in a cool place. So that’s what I’ve been doing wrong all this time!
What a horrible wine. Flat, with a cloying sweetness that just came out of nowhere. Tannins were out of whack; thinnish body. My roommate and I each took a sip of the wine and let out audible groans.
It might have been that this particular bottle was baked–it had the “baked” qualities to it. But I don’t want to pay another five bucks to find out.
To be fair, also, some other blogs have been kinder to this wine.
Please don’t get this wine. I never thought I’d say this, but if you must, pick up a bottle of Charles Shaw instead!
(I’ll be reviewing the other bottles later!)
Tags: France
The prices at Trader Joe’s are great, but sometimes the wines can be “buy at your own risk”.
The fun of learning about wine though is taking chances and making some mistakes. Hopefully this $5 mistake will be one of the few…
Wine snob! Just try finding this wine. It sells out pronto. Why? Because it is a flavorful, lovely, delicate table red that apparently is well appreciated by those who know and understand their buds. Go spin your speak Merlo Man.
Emilio,
Thank you for your feedback. Perhaps I was a little harsh on this wine; perhaps I had a baked bottle. But what about this wine makes it flavorful, lovely, and delicate?
Joon S.
One of the best! I usually drink Pinot Noir but I love this for a change. My mother & two sisters buy it by the case!
I live in Denver and don’t have Trader Joe’s, so I need to know where to find it here.
My guess is yours was baked; I’ve had this and had a very different impression.
Interesting. So many people have stuck up for this wine that I’ll have to try it again. I may very well have had a baked bottle. Thanks for your feedback, Ian and Leah!
My husband and I tried a bottle of this wine and were delighted enough to go back and buy a case.It definately needs to breath for a good 10-15 minutes before serving. This $3.99 bottle in our opinion bested others that sold for $300 from award winning vineyards.
I tried this today, and I have to agree with most of the other comments. Give this one another try! It reminded me of some of the lightly aged Cote du Rhones I’ve had — soft tannins, some depth, subdued fruit and some earthy notes.
It’s not as fine or complex, but it’s damn good for a table wine. There are certainly worse wines receiving AOC and Vin De Pays labellings.
As far as the name goes: Trader Joe’s has a bit of a sense of humor, and I think it’s supposed to be a subtle joke. It may be produced in France, but everything about the label clearly says it’s not “authentique” in a very obvious way.
This seems to be a great wine that really really really does not keep well. My family tried it and loved it ($6, east coast) then went out and bought 6 more bottles. We drank the first 4 on four separate dinners, each as great as the first. we let the others sit in the cool basement, VERTICALLY, and found them 2 months later. “oh boy!” we thought. Boy had that wine skunked. My wife (who is logarithmically more savvy than I about wine — and loved the L’Authentique, btw) did mention the horizontal storage — something about making contact with the cork.
Perhaps letting it breathe is all that is req’d. Thanks, Marie C.!
So. If your see the typical Trader Joe’s feeding frenzy with a crowd buying this wine, pick up a bottle or two and drink it right away. There is a very good chance you will be pleased. If you see a bottle sitting by itself on the shelf, keep shopping.
Thank you for your detailed comment, Jim!
Man–so many people have risen in defense of this wine. I’ll be sure to pick up a bottle the next time I can find it. It hasn’t been at my local Trader Joe’s for months!
Yes the wine is light and fruity, but I found it to be a very pleasant, simple, quaffable wine that would pair well with a wide variety of food. My wife absolutely loved it.
As long as you don’t expect complexity this is a very nice wine. It should especially appeal to those who like their reds on the light bodied side.
I agree with Bob M – not complex but lightly sweet and pleasant. I don’t think it will keep well so plan on drinking it quickly. Not a problem says I!