The most expensive bottle of wine at Trader Joe's costs as much as 44 bottle of Three Buck Chuck
Veuve ClicquotTrader Joe's is best known for Two - or Three - Buck Chuck when it comes to wine. However, the budget grocery chain also has some seriously pricey options.
The most expensive bottle of wine at Trader Joe's wine shop in New York City costs a whopping $131.99.
The bottle in question is Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame - a champagne that Wine Spectator has called a "delicately woven tapestry of black currant, piecrust, chalk, spring blossom and lemon zest flavors ends with a lasting note of smoke-tinged minerality." It's a champagne only released in years that Veuve Clicquot's harvest meets the highest standards, worthy of the Grande Dame - Barbe Nicole Ponsardin, Madame Veuve Clicquot, a key player in the champagne's history.
While $131.99 seems like a lot of pay at a place best known for $2.99 bottles of wine, it's a pretty reasonable for La Grande Dame, based on other retailer's prices. When selling non-house brand wines, Trader Joe's keeps costs lower than the competition thanks to its no-frills design and never offering deals - meaning, reduced cost mark up.
Kate Taylor
La Grande Dame is the most expensive of Trader Joe's wine, but there are other pricey offerings to be found in the wine shop. The store's "Fine Wine Cellar" has options like the Chateau Talbot Bordeaux, for $67.99, and the Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, for $64.99, which was popular enough to be sold out during a recent visit to the store.
There are also other Veuve Clicquot champagnes available: the classic champagne brut is $42.99 and the rosé champagne is $56.99.
However, the most popular wine at Trader Joe's isn't these classy options, but the old reliable Charles Shaw.
While Two Buck Chuck became closer to Three Buck Chuck in 2013, currently priced at $2.99 in New York, it's still the cheapest option in the store, thanks to a number of crafty money-saving moves. In 2015, the company reported that it had sold 800 million bottles of the inexpensive and drinkable wine since 2002.