Rediscovering Walla Walla Syrah: Trader Joe's Hidden Gem

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Sometimes the most remarkable wines are hiding in plain sight on grocery store shelves. The Trader Joe's Reserve Walla Walla Syrah 2023 represents everything worth celebrating about today's value wine landscape – exceptional quality from a prestigious growing region at a surprisingly accessible $10 price point.

This blue-labeled bottle comes from Washington State's elite Walla Walla region, an area that wine connoisseurs know produces wines that rival Napa's finest. What makes this particularly interesting is the story behind Syrah itself – once the darling of critics in the early 2000s before falling into relative obscurity after the 2008 economic downturn. Despite its current status as what wine insiders call a "hidden wine," Syrah continues to deliver remarkable quality-to-price value for those in the know.

The wine itself presents a fascinating duality: elegant, rounded fruit flavors upfront that transition to a slightly rustic edge in the mid-palate. This tension creates a complex sipping experience rarely found at this price point. Expect juicy notes of black cherry, tart cranberry, plum, and a distinctive cooling blueberry finish that appears after the spice elements have made their statement. It's crafted by DNA Cellars (Dennis Patton and Andrea Silverstein), who bring over 65 years of combined winemaking expertise and are responsible for some of Trader Joe's most successful wine collaborations.

Looking for a perfect summer wine that offers both easy drinking and genuine complexity? Pick up this Washington State gem next time you're at Trader Joe's – and don't forget to look for that distinctive blue label. After you try it, visit CheapWineFinder.com to discover more exceptional values that prove great wine doesn't have to break the bank.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, welcome, it's the domain Dave.
Again CheapWineFindercom.
We do wine reviews for valueprice wines and today we've got
the Trader Joe's Reserve WallaWalla, syrah 2023.
It's got a blue label which isa little bit different.
I guess they've been colorcoding the different places.

(00:25):
Walla Walla is partly in theColumbia Valley of Washington
and partly in Oregon, but thisone is in Washington.
Syrah is a grape from, well,actually, the Rhone Valley of
southern France.
It was all the rage inAustralia in the 2000s.

(00:50):
They called it Syrahs back then.
It's still Syrah and it was thecritics' darling.
There was more value-pricedwines with 90-plus points and it
was everywhere into about 2008.
And then the big economicmeltdown of 2008, though I read

(01:14):
there were problems going onbefore that.
That kind of caused thecollapse.
Ever since then, syrah has beenkind of a hidden wine.
It was there's a, you know,merlot kind of fell apart after
the movie Sideways, when one ofthe characters said he loved
Pinot Noir and hated Merlot andall of a sudden Pinot Noir,
which was not a big grape,became one of the top three or

(01:37):
four grapes and Merlot kind offell to the side.
So it's weird.
But there you go, and here wehave a Trader Joe's Reserve
Walla Walla Syrah.
It's from DNA Cellars.
That's Dennis Patton and AndreaSilverstein.
They've got like 65 years plusexperience and they've done a

(02:00):
whole bunch of some of the bestTrader Joe's wines in the past
10 years or so.
I got a link to their websiteand they kind of proudly put a
bunch of those labels on theirwebsite.
You know often people who doTrader Joe's wines, you know,
kind of keep it on the down low.
Nope, they're proud of it andthey should because their wines

(02:22):
are some of the better ones.
So this is a.
I don't know anything otherabout this wine other than it's
from Walla Walla.
You don't see too many valueprice wines from Walla Walla.
I have read that Walla WallaCabernet Sauvignon is rivals
Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, thatit's an elite growing area and

(02:45):
Syrah has always been big inWashington State.
I mean it's a great place forit to grow.
So there you go.
So you've got some things goingfor it here.
You've got a good area for thegrape, you've got a good
producer who can makevalue-priced wines.
And let's take a sip.
It's kind of rounded and richup front and then in the mid

(03:17):
palate it starts to get a littlerough edge, which I kind of
like.
Syrah kind of reminds me ofZinfandel in that it can be
spicy and fun, and this one'skind of got elegant up front and
a little rustic in the back andit comes together, which for me
is fun.

(03:37):
It gives you two distinctelements in one wine wine and it
kind of it's fine as long asthe rough edge ain't too rough
edge and you get it got a lot ofodd flavors or weird tannins
and what have you.
But no, this one's just fine.
I'm gonna take another sip.
Actually, yeah, for ten bucksis a really nice wine.

(04:04):
It's a really nice wine.
It's a good Syrah.
It's got rounded red flavors.
You're getting rounded juicyflavors and a little bit of
sourness.
Fruit, maybe black cherry,maybe cranberry, tart cranberry,
maybe some plum.
It's got some blueberry on theedge on the very end.
I mean, after all the spice.
Then you get a little bit ofcooling blueberry, which is a

(04:25):
nice little effect.
You know to actually taste allthese things.
You got to actually, for about35, 40 seconds, just contemplate
your navel a little bit anddrink the wine and then you're
done.
You can just sit there andenjoy it.
But it's um, but you get allthese flavors.
And one thing that's kind of fun, cuz we've been doing this

(04:45):
website since 2008 is that valueprice, not.
Wines now are worthy of takingthe time out to taste them.
They're not just well, that'sthat.
That tastes fruity and sweetand nice.
They're actually well-madewines in their own right.
Are they the same as theSpencer Wines?
No, but in their own rightthey're good wines.

(05:06):
So there you go.
I don't have too much to sayabout it.
I didn't know too much about it.
All I know is that it's from agood area, from a good producer,
and it tastes for 10 bucks.
It's a solid wine.
So you got the trader joe'sreserve walla, walla, syrah 2023
.
Look for the blue label ifyou're looking for a summer wine

(05:27):
that's easy to drink and hassome interest.
It's a good wine.
So, adios, keep it cheap.
Uh.
Domain dave cheap winefindercom.
The website has all the linksto everything.
It's not a bad place to go ifyou want to learn a little bit
more about it.
And then we go plug in themicrophone and we talk a little
bit.
So, adios, keep it cheap andI'll be talking to everybody in
a couple of days.

(05:47):
It's hot, sticky outside, sodrink and air conditioning.
Adios, bye-bye.