What if a $7.99 French bubbly could challenge your perception of affordable wines? Join us as we uncork the mysteries and charms of the Opaline Pinot Noir Brut Rosé from Trader Joe’s, a non-vintage sparkling delight from the south of France. This episode promises to tantalize your taste buds while offering insights into the fascinating world of Vin de France classification. We explore how small vineyard communes in France defy traditional wine conventions to bring such value-priced gems to the table. Listen in to discover the nuances of its flavor profile, with hints of black cherry, plum, and a touch of creaminess, all wrapped up in a beautifully presented bottle.
CheapWineFighter.com takes you beyond the label as we uncover the secrets behind this pink-hued rosé’s production, shrouded in mystery much like American wine labels. We discuss how it compares with the more prestigious vineyard-focused culture in France and the intriguing parallels with how wines are marketed in the United States. Whether you’re a seasoned wine aficionado or a curious newbie, this episode offers a delightful exploration into a budget-friendly bubbly that boasts simplicity and satisfaction, perfect for any occasion. Grab a glass and join the conversation—your palate won’t regret it!
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0:02
welcome. It's a domain dave. Again, cheapwinefightercom. We're still doing our uh, valentine's day extravaganzas as it is, and this is a $7.99 french bubbly from trader joe's. It's been around a while. It's the opaline. Uh, let's grab the bottle, I can get it all right. It's the opaline pinot noir brut rosé sparkling wine.
Speaker 1:
0:27
It's a non vintage wine from france. It's also a non-location. Uh, trader joe's fearless flyer says, uh, south of france, which is weird for french wine, because they don't do that. They're very location based. They want to know if it's languid, like it's the rhonebased. They want to know if it's Languedoc, it's the Rhone Valley. They even want to know what town it's near. So when you get a wine that doesn't say anything and it's actually a Vin de France wine, which is the bottom classification, they do classify their wines in Europe. In America, it's all table wine, from Screaming Eagle to Two Buck Chuck. In America, it's all table wine, from Screaming Eagle to Two Buck Chuck.
Speaker 1:
1:07
In France, they designate things and this is the bottom one, but that's okay if it tastes good. It's from a large wine company in France. At one point I think they were the largest exporter of French wines. They're big. I've got links to all this on the cheapwinefattercom website and I believe it's hard to get information that this is a wine from a commune which a commune is a group of smaller vineyards of farmers and they band together to get enough resources and grapes to grow not grow produce wine. You know, if they were doing it on their own they'd have very small productions and here they can make because they're a commune. They're not really getting the top dollar. In France it's everything is the vineyard and the owner and the estate. So these communes are kind of well table wine for them In the United States it's kind of common, not communes so much, but wine just to be from a big company that uses a lot of different vineyards.
Speaker 1:
2:19
I'm going to take a sip. It doesn't have a good resume but it tastes good. It tastes real good and for $7.99 fora bubbly it's really nice. It's got a great bottle. It's a prism cup bottle and the label looks nice and in the bottle the wine looks kind of amber because it's got that actually nice texture on the bottle, but in your glass it's really pink. This is a pink rosé bubbly.
Speaker 1:
3:00
It's not the most complex bubbly in the world. It's not the most complex bubbly in the world. It doesn't have the acidity. It's well-balanced, well-controlled. It doesn't really zap you in any way it can.
Speaker 1:
3:11
Sometimes an expensive bubbly can get a little bit too spiky. Here it's not, and the flavors are like black cherry plums, maybe a little spice. I'm getting a touch of cream. I'm not sure where that's coming from. It could be from the first fermentation. There's two fermentations on these things that they stir the leaves, get some creaminess going there. I doubt if there's any oak or anything involved.
Speaker 1:
3:54
Yeah, it tastes great. I mean it's a nice tasting wine. It's easy to drink, simple, um, enough acidity that it makes you want to grab another a sip. You know before too long. It's not something, not a wine you'll forget about. Your palate will be. We'll keep reminding you that it's in your hand and, like I said, it doesn't have any.
Speaker 1:
4:08
It's a commune, it's from a large wine company that specializes in value-priced wine. It's not something that's, and they don't even tell you if it's traditional method or it's a Charmat. Traditional method is how they make champagne, charmat's how they make Prosecco. They don't tell you anything. It's like an American bottle of wine where the label American labels barely tell you the thing. French labels tell you stuff, but I guess the labeling laws here were for the United States. So it's a pretty package and it tastes pretty good and it's $7.99, and it's pretty in pink in the glass.
Speaker 1:
4:56
We did a review five years ago of this wine, liked it then too. It's still. It's non-vintage, you never know. That's why I got on the label or on the title in 2025. Because these non-vintage wines, you never know if they released it six months ago or six years ago. There's some wines on Trader Joe's Fairless Flyer that have been there for three years. So it doesn't give you much reason to believe it's going to be a good wine until you pop the top on it and take a sip and then you're going to go.
Speaker 1:
5:32
I like this, and this is one of those wines that after you have one you might go back to Trader Joe's and buy a couple more just to stick in the refrigerator. I mean it's just this nice little Brut Rose, pinot Noir bubbly. I mean it's just, that's all it is. It's not trying to be champagne, it's not trying to out Prosecco Prosecco. It's not doing anything other than tasting great and looking pretty. So that's it for me. Domain Dave, cheapwinefightercom. It from me, uh. Domain dave, cheap wine fightercom. It's opaline. Pito noir brute rosé in 2025, because that's when we had it one and one that was actually released. I don't know tastes good, so, adios, keep it cheap, and I'll be talking to everybody later. I've got a uh chardonnay coming up, so I'll see you then. Bye, bye.
