4 Best Sweet Wines From Trader Joe’s And 3 To Skip

When it comes to affordable wines that punch above their weight class, it’s hard to beat the wine selection at Trader Joe’s. No matter what region, grape, or style you’re after, TJ’s is sure to have a bottle to suit your needs, whether it’s a classic California Chardonnay or an esoteric northern Italian red made from a grape that only wine geeks get excited about. If you’re a white wine lover, with a palate that skews toward the sweet end of the spectrum, you’re especially in luck, as you’ll find an array of sugar-kissed options that range from just barely off-dry to lusciously indulgent.

People assume that sommeliers drink high-end fancy wine all the time, but speaking for myself, that’s far from the truth. I love a wine bargain, so while there are some rare and expensive wines on offer at Costco, I often look to Trader Joe’s shelves when I’m stocking up my personal wine rack. Sweet wines often get maligned by the so-called serious wine community, but real ones know that sugar in wine, when properly balanced by acidity, can create magic. On my last TJ’s shopping run, I grabbed seven bottles of white wine that I either knew or presumed would be on the sweet side. While some ended up being drier than I expected, all have at least a touch of residual sugar (or RS), which is what’s leftover after the wine finishes fermenting and gives a wine sweetness. Read on to see which of these wines I’d buy again, and which ones I’ll leave on the shelf next time.

Read more: 9 Meats You Should And 5 You Shouldn’t Buy From Costco And Why

Methodology

While precise technical information was hard to come by for some of these wines, I used my wine knowledge as a sommelier to narrow down my selection to white wines that were likely to be sweet, meaning they have a noticeable amount of residual sugar. I tasted and analyzed each wine, taking into account all of its aspects: Appearance, nose, sweetness, acidity, body, and intensity.

For each wine, I also recorded my overall initial impressions and assessment of quality. I went back to each wine again later, to see if it or my analysis of it had changed. Once I had tasted all of the wines twice, I looked at their prices and assessed their value, or how much bang you get for your buck. Then I considered how likely I’d be to purchase each wine again.

Buy: Vignobles Lacheteau Vouvray

Vouvray, an appellation located in the Loire Valley in France, is the spiritual home of the grape Chenin blanc. It’s celebrated here in all of its forms — bone-dry to delectably sweet, still and serious to bright and bubbly. Chenin’s versatility comes from its naturally high acidity levels, which are made even more prominent by the cool northern climate of the region. When a wine is high in acidity, it can take on more sweetness and still remain balanced, and that feature is readily apparent in this 2024 Vouvray from Vignobles Lacheteau.

This wine’s subtle nose slowly blossomed in the glass with ripe pear and apple atop a backdrop of wet stone. On the palate, this wine exhibited incredible balance, attacking up front with lip-smacking citrus followed by a round, rich mid-palate that moves from the nose’s orchard fruit to juicy peach to a hint of something more tropical. The stoniness comes in on the finish, with a zip of lime zest, priming your palate for another sip (or gulp, in my case). While this is the second-highest-priced wine on this list, it’s still under $10. It’s not the most complex Vouvray out there, but its impeccable balance and well-crafted quality make it well worth every dollar. For a real treat, grab a hunk of any type of goat cheese, pour yourself a glass of this, and go to town.

Skip: Villa Alena Moscato d’Asti

Villa Alena’s Moscato d’Asti is the third-priciest wine in this lineup, which is definitely a factor I took into account when deciding to make this bottle a skip. I love an aromatic grape, and Moscato certainly delivers in that department — I’m not alone in thinking this, either, as Moscato is a favorite of American white wine drinkers, according to a poll we conducted in 2023. The aromas, as I expect from this style, are gorgeous and intoxicating, with peaches and blossoms and honey buzzing out of the glass. The problem is, I’d rather smell this wine than drink it.

Moscato d’Asti is all about lightness and balance. This style is low in alcohol and high in sweetness as a rule, which can result in a cloying sensation on the palate if the wine doesn’t have enough balancing fizz and acidity. Unfortunately, that’s what I found to be the case here. It tastes like peach ring candy, which, granted, is delicious, but it’s one-note. After finishing my tiny tasting portion, I had no desire to go back for more. This might be better paired with spicy food, or a zippy fresh cheese, but on its own, it falls flat.

Buy: Emma Reichart Gewurztraminer

One of my earliest memories of falling in love with wine was the first time I tried a Gewurztraminer. This grape, common in Alsace and Germany, has one of the most intense and unique aromatic profiles of any variety. Its perfume envelops your senses the second you open a bottle, filling one’s mind with images of exotic flower gardens, brambly rose bushes, and tropical forests. Gewürz is the German word for spice, and you’ll find that too, typically with notes of ginger and warm baking spices. Emma Reichart’s 2024 Gewurztraminer delivers all of that on the nose, along with lychee, passionfruit, musky melon, and a zippy citrus note reminiscent of pomelo.

From the ebullient nose, I hesitantly had high hopes for the palate, and it didn’t disappoint. I found a pleasant surprise with every sip. The sweetness is noticeable but not overpowering, and the rest of the wine’s structure is lively, fresh, and juicy. With some super-floral white wines, I find the aromas to be off-putting, like I’m drinking perfume. With this, the floral notes lingered just long enough to not overstay their welcome. Right in the middle of the pack price-wise, this is a great buy and will definitely be a part of my regular rotation.

Skip: Honey Moon Viognier

While the Honey Moon Viognier had some elements that were successful, I struggled with it as a whole. Perhaps 2024 just wasn’t California Viognier’s year, because this and the other wine featuring the grape both suffered from similar issues. While the nose was expressive, as you would expect from this variety, the wine was rather gaunt on the palate. With Viognier, you should get a full body and lush ripeness, and while the nose was promising, the palate didn’t follow through.

The ripe peach and apricot aromas, accented by a floral perfume redolent with honeysuckle, felt like a tease once I took a sip. There’s an underripe quality to the fruit flavors that gives the wine an unbalanced sharpness and a harsh edge. It made me think of biting into a green mango, or a sour plum that’s a little too firm. I’d be willing to give this wine another shot with a different vintage, but the 2024 will remain on the shelf and not in my cart.

Buy: Love, Olivia Pear

Love, Olivia is a line of wines flavored with fruit that Trader Joe’s launched in 2021. The initial flavors were peach and watermelon, and they recently added pear to the lineup. I opted to try this newest flavor, as it seemed the most seasonally appropriate at the time of this writing. I’m something of a purist and am generally not a fan of modified or flavored wines, so I was taken completely by surprise by how much I enjoyed a glass of this one.

The pear flavor is fresh and natural, not candied or cloying in the least. There’s a touch of fizziness that balances the sweetness and accentuates the crispness. I think it could use a bit more acidity, personally, to bring that element out even more, but overall, it’s a very drinkable concoction. You won’t get much complexity from this wine, but the pear flavor has its own dimensions, and there are some citrus and subtle floral notes. This is the perfect kind of wine for a summer day backyard hangout, and it’ll also make a great spritz. It’s the cheapest wine on the list, too, at $3.99, which makes it a hard deal to pass up.

Skip: Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc + Viognier

I admit, it’s a bit unfair of me to recommend skipping this bottle. It’s been a wine I’ve enjoyed many times over many vintages, but this particular one just missed the mark for me. As the priciest wine on this list and the only one over $10, I wanted this Pine Ridge white blend to overdeliver and blow the cheaper wines away, but it didn’t quite get there. This bottling is a blend of 80% Chenin blanc and 20% viognier, and clocks in at 11.5% alcohol by volume. With a level that low, I expected more sweetness, but it tasted much drier and leaner to me than past vintages I’ve enjoyed.

The lack of sugar normally wouldn’t be a dealbreaker, but I also felt that the aromas and flavors seemed underdeveloped and underripe. With Viognier in the mix, I expected some lushness, but the wine came across as somewhat thin. The finish was muted and truncated as well. I wouldn’t say no if someone poured this in my glass, but there are many other wines on this list that I’d reach for first, if given the choice.

Buy: Joseph Handler Riesling

I’m willing to own up to my bias — I’m a riesling freak. I once sported a temporary riesling sleeve tattoo and seriously considered making it permanent (I still might someday). Riesling is a versatile wine. Sweet, sparkling, luscious, bone-dry, in a blend, however you can make this wine, I love it. You may assume that means picking this wine from Joseph Handler as a buy would be an obvious choice, but actually, it’s the opposite. I expect so much from Riesling as a grape, and I’m so aware of the lofty heights the noble grape can reach, that I tend to be more critical.

For a $7 bottle, the Joseph Handler is a steal. It exhibits the classic semi-sweet German style with textbook precision. The Pfalz region is a northern extension of France’s Alsace region, which is where my all-time favorite Rieslings come from, and while those are typically very dry, there are similarities between the two regions’ styles. The grape’s signature aromas and flavors of lemon and lime, ripe peach, crisp apple, jasmine, and honeysuckle are all here, along with the unique sense reminiscent of drinking from a garden hose or a rocky mountain stream. Riesling is famous for its naturally high acidity, and while I wish this wine had a bit more of it, there’s enough here to balance the sugar and keep your palate refreshed. Bargain bottles of Riesling can often miss the mark, but this one performs admirably. If you’re looking for something to enjoy with it, Riesling pairs excellently with chocolate.

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