Dundee Hills Magic: Trader Joe's Pinot Noir Steal at $14.99

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The wine world is shifting beneath our feet. While premium bottles holding steady, everything else has plummeted a shocking 12% in sales over the past year. But as Domain Dave reveals, this market correction creates a golden opportunity for savvy wine lovers.

Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Dundee Hills Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Noir 2023 exemplifies the extraordinary values emerging from this challenging market. At just $14.99, this wine delivers the distinctive character of one of Oregon's most respected wine regions at a fraction of typical prices. The Dundee Hills appellation, birthplace of Oregon winemaking and known for its volcanic soils, typically commands $25-75 for quality Pinot Noir. This bottling offers that same terroir-driven experience at an unprecedented value.

What makes this wine special? The cooler climate of Willamette Valley (30 miles southwest of Portland, 40 miles from the ocean) creates a leaner, more elegant expression than typical California Pinots. Professional winemakers with decades of experience craft this wine in a Burgundian style—long, subtle, and very dry with that distinctive volcanic soil minerality. While not an estate bottling, it leverages high-quality fruit that would normally command much higher prices. The wine offers sophistication that belies its modest price tag, making it an ideal introduction to Oregon Pinot Noir or a daily drinker for experienced enthusiasts. Ready to explore the silver lining in the wine industry's struggles? This bottle delivers exceptional quality that drinks like wines twice its price—grab it while supplies last and discover why Dundee Hills has earned its stellar reputation.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
hey, it's a domain dave cheap wine findercom again
with another, uh, wine reviewvalue price wine review that's
what we do.
This one is again trader joe'sbecause, um, I'll explain why.
We might be a little traderjoe's heavy, but this one is a
trader joe's.
Platinum reserve dundee hills,willamette Valley, oregon.

(00:25):
Pinot Noir 2023.
And the wine industry lately hasbeen having a tough time.
It is red, where the wines over$50 were up 1% last year and
everything else was down 12%,which is huge for one year.
And there's bargains to be had.

(00:48):
There's people who are going toexpand and had wine contracts
out there who aren't doing thatanymore.
People who are going to make,you know, 50,000 cases of their
wine and then they decided tomake 25,000 instead thousand
cases of their wine and theydecided to make twenty five

(01:09):
thousand instead.
So there's, um and I don't knowif this particular wine is that
way um, I found, I think Ifound the company that is
responsible for it, um, thelabel, the company on the back
of the label just uh, bottled it.
They were, I think, a winery 10, 15 years and now we're just
part of a larger organization.
But Dundee Hills in theWillamette Valley is a sub-AVA.

(01:36):
That's been an AVA on their ownfor 20 years.
Willamette Valley has been anAVA for 40 years and they
started actually wine in Oregon,started in Dundee Hills, and
that was like 60 years ago.
So this is a prime Pinot Noirgrowing region.
Tasting years ago and talkingto the winemakers and they said

(02:04):
that you know that they werevery impressed with the
Willamette Valley because theymake their wines a little bit
cooler up there.
It's about 30 miles southwestof Portland and about 40 miles
from the ocean, so it's not coldbut it's cooler.
It's kind of nice.

(02:25):
I'm going to take a sip of thewine.
The vineyards are all plantedin volcanic rock so you get that
interesting minerality out ofit.
Sometimes minerality is one ofthe hardest things to pick up

(02:47):
when you're tasting a wine.
There's so much going on it canbe missed, but it's there if
you want to look for it.
And while this is a customcrush there I got it out.
Company, they have professionalwinemakers making this wine.
Company, they have professionalwinemakers making this wine.

(03:07):
Now, it might not be the equaland at $14.99, it should not be
the equal to some of the DundeeHills.
You know great wineries.
I mean their wines started atlike $25 and go on up to $75,
$100, more.
You know, and some of theseestates have really terrific
house wines.
They just do great.

(03:27):
So these custom crushed winesare using great grapes and have
you know, and there might not bean estate wine, but it's going
to be pretty good and it ispretty good.
I'll take another sip.

(03:50):
It's long, lean, subtle, verydry.
I think it's made more in theBurgundian style, which is not,
you know, for the Pinot NoirCalifornia.
They might be a little biggerand juicier, but this has got a
little bit more.
I hate to say elegance oranything to it, but it is kind
of more held back, a littlesubtler, but not too much.

(04:12):
It's a good wine.
It tastes great.
I'm going to pour a little bitmore in my glass.
Willamette Valley Pinot Noir isone of my favorites.
If I'm going to buy a PinotNoir and I'm not going to write
about it and podcast about it,I'll get Willamette Valley or
Santa Barbara.

(04:32):
Those are my personal favorites.
So I'm kind of happy right nowwith this $14.99 wine because
it's almost like half the priceit would normally be.
And I don't know and actuallythe winemakers for this, the
company that made this wine, orI'm pretty much sure it made the
wine ours located in the townof Dundee and have been doing

(04:57):
wine since 19, now 20 oh three,so they've got 20s cut something
years in the business.
So you got good grapes, you gotwine making know-how and you
got good grapes.
You got winemaking know-how andyou got Trader Joe's selling to
you for far less than it shouldbe.
So what else can you ask for?

(05:19):
I mean, even though the wineindustry is having problems
right now, if you're a winedrinker, this is a time of
opportunities, and I've got acouple more opportunity wines
coming up in the next few daystoo.
So there you go.
Adios, keep it cheap.
This is Domain Dave.
This wine was Trader Joe'sPlatinum Reserve, dundee Hills.

(05:40):
Well, amet Valley, pinot Noir2023.
It's a long name, but it alladds up to a good wine.
So, adios, keep it cheap.
I'll talk to everybody in acouple