The Best Trader Joe's Wines To Drink During Summer

The sun is shining, the days are longer, and the temps are seemingly higher than ever. You're looking for a way to wind down from the work week (or wind up to a fun weekend). Either way, you don't always have to opt for a hard seltzer or a canned cocktail. Opening up a nice bottle of wine is another great way to get the party started. You don't have to make a special trip to a wine shop, though, when there are so many top-notch and affordable wines at Trader Joe's.

As a wine writer and WSET level 3 certification holder, I'm digging into some of my favorite Trader Joe's wines to sip on during the summer months. I've found options in multiple categories, from sip-worthy whites and rosés to refreshing sparkling wines and even chillable reds you can enjoy on the hottest of days. Although many of these wines offer very different flavor profiles from one another, they all have one thing in common: They can be especially delicious and thirst-quenching during the hottest months of the year. So, polish off your wine glasses, find your wine key, and get ready to sip on these wines all summer long. These are the TJ's wines you should have in your glass on the hottest days of the year.

I'm not going to lie: There's nothing I love better than popping open a bottle of Champagne, particularly on a hot day. There's something so refreshing about the yeasty, bubbly wine at all times of the year but especially in the summertime. But unfortunately, Champagne is pricey, and you might not always want to splurge on it for a casual summer sip. That's why cava, like La Granja 360 Brut Cava, is such a good alternative. Cava, which hails from Spain, and Champagne — which is French, of course — are both made in the same way, with a second fermentation happening in the bottle. This results in the toasty notes, like brioche and almond, that these wines are often known for.

This particular La Granja bottle is available at a super competitive price point, but it still delivers that same surprising complexity. There's a lovely creaminess in this wine, along with some beautiful fruity notes that make for a more refreshing touch. And the best part? Because the price is so approachable for this bottle, you don't need to wait for a special occasion to open it.

Espiral Vinho Verde is one of my all-time favorite wines to buy at Trader Joe's. I included it in my list of the best Trader Joe's wines to try on Valentine's Day, and it's making another appearance here as a standout summertime option as well. This light and refreshing wine is perfect for sipping at the pool, the beach, or even just on your apartment balcony. It's zippy and refreshing, with citrusy notes that offer a bracing acidity that's perfect for refreshing your palate on a hot day. It has just the slightest amount of bubbliness, which I find makes it even more thirst-quenching. And another big plus? The alcohol level isn't very high. At only 9%, it's not going to make you feel woozy or too buzzed after a glass or two.

Vinho Verde is a wine that's basically made for summer, and this is an excellent — and very affordable — example. Its affordable price point means that it's a no-brainer for unfussy summer picnics or other casual hangs. Try it once, and it might just become one of your new favorite Trader Joe's wines as well.

When I first saw Vola Schiava at my local Trader Joe's, I immediately found myself getting excited. I've found that schiava, a type of grape, is not super common in the United States, perhaps because it hails from a small region in northern Italy called Alto Adige, also known as South Tyrol. Because this mountainous region offers a cooler growing climate, schiava often takes on a light, fruity, and candy-like flavor that's hard not to love. This wine isn't very tannic, instead leaning toward the lighter end of the spectrum, with fresh red fruit notes like strawberry and cherry, making it perfect for chilling and enjoying during the summer months. Yes, you heard that right: This is a red that can benefit from a few hours in the fridge before serving.

Vola Schiava in particular has a light freshness that makes it super easy to sip even when it's super hot out. If you like how light-bodied a pinot noir can be, then you'll like this wine too, even though it offers less complexity than a typical pinot. A lot of people tend to avoid red wines during the summertime, but you don't have to skip them entirely — just choose lighter-bodied, more chillable options in the summer for more refreshment.

I love opening a bottle of wine on a lazy summer day, but not every day of the season is lazy. In fact, summer is the perfect time of year for outdoor adventures, and sometimes, you want to bring a drink along. However, it's generally not a good idea to bring a glass bottle into the great outdoors. That's where a canned wine, like Simple Wines Rosé, can come into play. A lot of people overlook canned wines and think that they're lower-quality than bottled versions of the beverage. But in reality, there are some incredible canned wines out there, the quality of which depends on the grapes and winemaking methods used — not on the packaging.

This is another not-so-complex wine, but that's what makes it so great for enjoying during an outdoor adventure. You're looking for bright and refreshing flavors, and that's just what this slightly sparkling wine offers, with notes of red fruits that are going to appeal to most wine drinkers. Taste testers also note floral flavors and a hint of sweetness that add an extra pop of flavor to the beverage. And considering that many think of rosé wine as the ideal summer wine, it only makes sense to go with this pink, bubbly canned option. The price point is also excellent for wine drinkers on a budget.

Sauvignon blanc lovers, we haven't forgotten about you. This is one type of wine that just makes sense for summer thanks to its high acidity and balanced freshness. Personally, I like New Zealand sauvignon blancs, like this Nikau Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, during the summer months because of their fresher, greener, and grassier quality. These wines often have somewhat vegetal flavors to them, and when I tasted this TJ's pick, I immediately picked up on a bold jalapeño note (without the spice, of course) that made me want to take another sip right away. There's also some lime on the palate, along with a green apple quality that doubles down on the refreshment factor.

I think that this wine would taste particularly delicious when paired with a fresh summer salad recipe to sort of echo those more vegetal notes. That being said, it's easy-drinking enough to enjoy basically anywhere, with or without food. This is another wine that appeared on my list of Trader Joe's wines to drink on Valentine's Day because of its status as an all-around excellent sauvignon blanc. You can enjoy it any time of the year, and it really shines when the temperatures outside start to rise.

If you're into the whole chilled red wine thing, and you're looking for an alternative to Vola Schiava, Trader Joe's has just what you're looking for with Glou Glou's Chill to Chill Red Wine. As the name suggests, this is absolutely a red wine you can put in the fridge, which makes it refreshing on hot summer nights. It has a nice red fruit flavor, with notes of fresh cherries, strawberries, and raspberries. Though it's not super tannic (tannins are what makes your mouth feel dry when you drink red or skin-contact white wines), it does have a nice, round plushness to it that makes it a bit more substantial than the Vola Schiava. Don't worry, though; it doesn't have any of the heaviness you might expect from other red wines.

This wine is tasty on its own, and it's great for serving alongside pizza or other tomato-forward dishes. But I've also used this wine to make tinto de verano. This simple Spanish cocktail is made with three ingredients: red wine, lemon soda, and ice. This wine is light and fresh enough to pair well with the citrus soda without overpowering it, and its fruitiness becomes even more thirst-quenching when paired with soda. This is a low-ABV cocktail that you can sip all night long — perfect for those summer nights spent with friends.

Canned wines are great for outdoor summer adventures when you're just trying to enjoy a few sips at a time. But what about when you need enough drinks for a whole party? No, you don't have to bring countless, clanking bottles to your next summer picnic. Instead, just grab a box of Block White Sauvignon Blanc. This box holds the equivalent of four bottles of wine, so you're getting a great deal and ensuring that you definitely won't run out of wine at the next hang. Of course, it's an excellent option even if you're not headed to a party, since you can stash it in your fridge for about four to six weeks before it goes bad. Then, whenever you want a refreshing sip, you know you already have some wine in the refrigerator ready to go.

Now, if you're expecting the most interesting, complex sauvignon blanc you've ever tasted from this budget Trader Joe's find, you're going to be disappointed. But reviewers say that it has the green and grassy notes that sauvignon blanc is known for, making it an undeniably refreshing choice for summer. Yes, buying in bulk sometimes even makes sense for wine.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on a bottle of rosé. This Emma Reichart Pinot Noir Rosé, which you can find at Trader Joe's, is the perfect budget-friendly buy. Sometimes, cheaper rosés can fall flat, but what I love about this wine is the fact that it has such a sharp, bright acidity that I wouldn't necessarily expect at this price point. This tartness comes with red fruit flavor notes like strawberry, along with some subtle floral flavors as well. I wouldn't say this is a super bold wine, but rather, it really leans into that refreshing quality. It's the kind of bottle I'd open at a summer dinner party after a few drinks have already been consumed. It may not be the most exciting bottle of the bunch, but it's light and easy to drink, and it'll pair well with just about anything you'd serve at a summer dinner table.

Like a little bit of spice? Then you might want to slice up a few jalapeños to make your own spicy rosé wine. Some wine experts will wince at the suggestion, but I think it's a super fun way to drink a glass of wine, especially if you're the kind of person who usually likes spicy cocktails. This simple, tart rosé provides the perfect background to really let that heat shine.

To round out this list of delicious Trader Joe's wines to drink during the summer, I'm featuring yet another sauvignon blanc. What can I say? It's arguably the ideal wine for the season. This is another Marlborough (New Zealand) sauvignon blanc, and it's one of my absolute favorites — it may be one of my most-purchased wines of all time. It's not the absolute cheapest wine on this list, but it's still competitively priced, which means you don't have to splurge too much in order to bring this wildly refreshing wine to your next summer picnic. It too has those bold, green flavors that New Zealand's take on this grape is known for, with a grassiness that screams "picnic!" whenever you take a sip. At the same time, it offers pronounced, concentrated fruit flavors for a wine that's a step above a lot of budget-friendly wines out there.

For the best results, make sure that this wine is fresh out of the fridge when you serve it, since that plays up its refreshing qualities even more. And yes, according to Martha Stewart, you can absolutely put ice in your wine if you want it to stay as cold as possible while you sip.

To select the wines to include in this roundup, I've pulled from my own personal experiences with Trader Joe's wines and also consulted reviews from elsewhere on the internet. I've tried most of these wines myself, including Espiral Vinho Verde, Vola Schiava, Nikau Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Chill to Chill Red Wine, Emma Reichart Pinot Noir Rosé, and Kono Sauvignon Blanc, and I pulled from reviews for the others. I tried to select wines in multiple categories, and all of the ones in this list are excellent examples of refreshing, relatively light-bodied wines that chill well and are easy-drinking enough to be enjoyed all summer long.