The home of unlimited-refill SLURPEES® and Big Gulp® sodas is now also a home for vintage wine. That’s right: 7-Eleven is launching Trojan Horse, a new wine exclusive to its convenience stores.
Starting a new wine isn’t revolutionary. But who can say no to one more wine option that’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week? As a 7-Eleven exclusive, Trojan Horse is bound to satisfy many late night wine cravings, long after liquor stores are closed.
The Trojan Horse label currently offers two wines, a 2016 Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay from the California Central Valley. According to 7-Eleven vice president of vault Dennis Phelps, the move is intended to appeal to “wine-loving millennials” and their desire for higher-quality wines. With its screw cap, it’s also designed for instant drinkability.
But this begs the question. Is a $6.99 wine actually “higher quality”?
The answer is yes — at least compared to 7-Eleven’s $4 offering, Yosemite Road. Like Trojan Horse, Yosemite Road is sourced from California. However, Yosemite Road is non-vintage, meaning it contains wine from grapes harvested in different years. And the popular consensus is that Trader Joe’s two buck chuck is actually better than four buck Yosemite Road. On wine review app Vivino, hundreds of users rated Yosemite Road Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay at just 2.7 stars. Believe it or not, that’s actually lower than Trader Joe’s two buck chuck, which even after thousands of reviews, earned 2.9 stars for its Cabernet Sauvignon and 3.0 stars for its Chardonnay.
Another promising sign: Trojan Horse wines actually beat popular wine brands in early taste tests. So, Trojan Horse might truly provide a satisfying quick fix to last-minute wine cravings — or more so than Yosemite Road, at any rate.
One caveat: you won’t be able to wine your way to more free food and drinks through 7Rewards®. 7-Eleven’s loyalty program excludes alcohol purchases. However, the sheer accessibility of Trojan Horse compared to other wines is bound to make it a hit. Despite the fact that its name sounds more like a computer virus than a wine, we’re optimistic Trojan Horse will find success at 7-Eleven.
Photo courtesy of 7-Eleven.