CheapWineFinder Podcast
Talking about remarkable wines that pair nicely with your wallet! Because we like to keep it cheap but excellent.
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Budget Bliss: Trader Joe's Raorao Sauvignon Blanc Delivers Unexpected Quality
Uncorking a genuine bargain that punches well above its price tag, we delve into the surprising quality of Trader Joe's exclusive Raorao Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023. At just $5.99, this New Zealand white delivers the vibrant character and complexity you'd expect from bottles twice the price.
The moment you pour this Sauvignon Blanc, its distinctive Marlborough personality leaps from the glass with enticing grassy aromatics. Each sip reveals layers of contrasting yet harmonious flavors - bright grapefruit mingles with soft peach notes, while green apple, tropical fruits, and nectarine dance across the palate. Most impressive is the wine's structure - a pleasantly viscous mouthfeel balanced by crisp acidity and finished with a subtle salty minerality that keeps you coming back for another taste.
What makes this wine such a standout value? We explore how Marlborough's unique coastal valleys create the perfect cool climate conditions for Sauvignon Blanc, allowing for extended growing seasons where grapes develop complex flavors while maintaining vibrant acidity. Whether paired with elaborate salads, seafood dishes, white pastas, or simply enjoyed on its own as a refreshing summer sipper, the Raorao offers exceptional versatility. Perfect for stocking your fridge without straining your budget, this Trader Joe's exclusive proves that with a little knowledge, you can enjoy remarkable wine experiences without breaking the bank. Grab a few bottles while supplies last - your taste buds and wallet will thank you!
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Hey, domain Dave, cheapwinefindercom, Another podcast for wine. We wrote up on the CheapWineFindercom website, as always, three times a week. We write them up and we've been doing it for a long time, and then we hit the microphone and here we are going to talk about it. Today we got a 599 Sauuvignon blanc from marlboro, new zealand. It's the trader joe's exclusive rayo rayo. Marlboro sauvignon blanc 2023. Rayo rayo I think that's how it's pronounced r-a-o-r-a-o. It was a brand that trader joe's had back in 2017, 2018. I checked the website and we missed it back then. For some reason Got it now. It was $4.99 then. Now it's $5.99.
Speaker 1:$5.99 for a good wine is a crazy price, and is it it good wine? Yeah, this is a tasty, well-made, typical Marble Sauvignon Blanc. It's grassy on the nose. It's got a bunch of really I'm going to take a sip and because it's Marlboro Sauvignon Blanc, it's got flavor galore. It's got a nose that jumps out and grabs you. It's got a nice viscous mouthfeel it's got there is a grassiness to it. There is grapefruit kind of mixed with peach, which is kind of a weird thing, but it kind of works together and it's got green apple and it's got tropical fruit. It's got nectarine and it's got a salty sensation and it's got these flavors, that just kind of flow. It's got a salty sensation and it's got these flavors, that just kind of flow, which means the acidity is just fine. The acidity gives it the backbone so the flavors can exist in it and that's kind of the whole thing about Marlboro, sauvignon Blanc.
Speaker 1:The vineyards there are all in valleys around coastal bays that are nice and cool. They have a long growing season. The wine, the acidity in the wine fully develops, the flavors in the grapes fully develop I said wine before, but I mean it in the grapes and it's just a good place to make Sauvignon Blanc. And Sauvignon Blanc, especially in the value price, is a fairly simple wine to make. There are choices that have to be made. You know what, what's yeast or a combination of yeast, because yeast brings out different flavors in the grapes. What temperature you're going to ferment it at, that type of thing. But once you're done, once you make those choices, you age it for a little bit just to let the flavors and the acidity um kind of catch their balance, and then you sell it. So it's um, this is a 2023, which is in 2025 a little bit old, not really. But you know, a 2024 could be out right now.
Speaker 1:Take another sip. I don't know a thing about it. Um, the say who produced it is a bottling company that's from Australia and New Zealand and they don't do wines other than bottling. They do the full-service bottling. But so where it came from and it doesn't really matter, because there are several taste of Marlboro brands out there in the market right now where they just buy grapes from a variety of different vineyards and they put it all together because they're all pretty good vineyards. You know, at this point the any anybody who's not growing good grapes is kind of out of the market. So you're gonna get pretty quality stuff going on.
Speaker 1:And then it's fairly simple, doesn't need aging, it's always. If you go someplace and they're trying to sell you an inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc and it's like four years old, don't buy it. If it's a Bordeaux Blanc, which is Sauvignon Blanc, then it's different, because some of those wines are age-worthy. But these wines are meant to be drunk in the first two, maybe three years, and the sooner the better. They're bright and alive. I mean they'll stay bright and alive for a while. It's not like it's going to you know, it's not like the flame's going to extinguish it for too long. They got some rum, but they can let us up this. That it's that kind of wine you just want to take a sip.
Speaker 1:It's a quality six dollar white wine for the summer period. It tastes good. It's. It's um, you know, is it the greatest sauvignon blanc in the world? No, not really, but it's a good sauvignon blanc and it's six bucks and you chill it and, you know, at $6, you can buy three, four and put it in the fridge when you're ready and pull them out over the course of a week or two and when it gets a little warmer it's not that warm yet, at least not here in Chicago and there you go. I mean, you got yourself a good white wine, plus Trader Joe's is going to have it for a while.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's a limited amount, but if it looks like they're running low, I'd grab a few $6 for an everyday white wine. That kind of brings it without. You know it's not going to be. Maybe it knocks your socks off for the price, but it's. You know it's not going to be a wine you're going to want to splurge for, but it's going to be a wine that's going to taste really good and you're going to want to drink again. I'll take one last sip and we'll think of all I had to say. It's a very sippable wine. You could pair it with fancy salads, you could pair it with shrimp, white pastas, that type of thing, or just sip it. I mean, I think, just sip it is probably just as well. But there you go. This is Domain Dave from cheapwinefindercom. This was the Rayo. Rayo Marlboro Sauvignon Blanc 2023, $5.99. What else can you ask for? A value-priced wine that kind of delivers the goods is a good thing. So, adios, keep it cheap and I'll be talking to you. Adios, bye-bye.