Trader Joe's Carneros Pinot Noir: 15 Years of Affordable Excellence

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Discover an unexpected treasure in the wine world with Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2023. At just $12.99, this bottle represents the 15th consecutive vintage of a remarkable value wine that delivers authentic Carneros character without the premium price tag.

The magic begins with location. Carneros straddles the cooler northern reaches of San Pablo Bay, where Pacific Ocean influences create the perfect microclimate for growing exceptional Pinot Noir grapes. Despite its inland position, cold bay waters and winds maintain ideal growing conditions. What many don't realize is that while Carneros carries Napa prestige, about two-thirds of its vineyards actually lie within Sonoma County.

Upon tasting, this sleek, smooth Pinot reveals layers of blackberries, blueberries, plums, subtle cola notes, and exotic spices. The balanced acidity gives the wine excellent length, while its 14.25% alcohol content provides enough body to stand up admirably to casual cuisine. As the wine breathes, it continues developing complexity that rivals bottles twice its price. For food pairings, forget the stuffy rules – this versatile Pinot shines alongside tacos, pork burritos, and gourmet burgers.

What makes this offering truly special is context: comparable Carneros Pinot Noirs typically retail between $20-70, making this bottle an extraordinary value proposition. Whether you're a budget-conscious wine enthusiast or simply curious about exploring Pinot Noir without breaking the bank, this Grand Reserve bottle delivers the distinctive cool-climate characteristics that have made Carneros famous. Pour a glass, let it breathe, and experience how great wine doesn't always require a splurge. Looking for more affordable discoveries? Stay tuned for our upcoming review of a $5.99 South African white wine that might just redefine your expectations.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, welcome, it's Domain Dave CheapWineFindercom.
Again, like always for the last, uh, at least the last five
years.
For the podcast, it's beensince 2008.
For the website, we write upthe reviews on the website and
on the podcast we talk about it.
Here we are.
We basically do wines under 20,except, um, during the holidays

(00:23):
we'll go up a little higher,just because people tend to go
up a little higher.
Then what we have today is a1299 wine.
It's um trader joe's grandreserve, carneros pinot noir
2023.
Now, this is the 15th vintagefor this wine, so this is as

(00:43):
close to a library wine forTrader Joe's as you can get.
Canaros is on the northern,along the northern coast of the
San Pablo Bay, San Pablo Bay.
San Francisco Bay is south,north is San Pablo Bay, and that

(01:04):
bay allows it, even though it'sinland, to be a Pinot Noir
Chardonnay growing area, becausethe Pacific Ocean is cold and
the bay has cold water and coldwinds.
So it's a good place.
Now, I always thought that mostof it was in Carneros.
Carneros was in Napa, Becauseif it has Napa fruit you'd

(01:31):
usually see Napa on the label,or Los Carneros, which signifies
Napa.
But about two-thirds of thevineyards are in Sonoma and
about a third is in Napa.
So there you go, because it'sin both.
So I don't know, I mean itmight be just marketing that

(01:52):
Napa has more cachet than Sonoma, so they got a big deal about
it.
But here we go.
This one doesn't say where it'sfrom, but since it's been going
for 15 years it should be apretty steady source.
This is a $12.99 wine.
Like I said before, Carneroswines don't really sell that

(02:12):
cheap unless it's a store brand.
You're usually talking $20 andabove and sometimes well,
usually well above $50, $60, $70is not unusual.
This was a wine that's reallyhard to figure out who actually
made it.
The back label always says whobottled it, and who bottled it
is probably just a middleman.

(02:33):
That kind of stops you fromfinding out what's going on.
So what's the wine like?
Let me take a sip.
It's smooth and sleek.
It's got nice flavors.

(02:54):
As it opens up it gets evenmore so.
The alcohol was like 14 and aquarter uh percentage and I
think that's holding the wineback a little bit.
Pinot Noir is kind of a lighterbody wine and it's harder to
disguise the alcohol.
I think for this wine to gonext level it needs to probably

(03:17):
go down to 13.5, but I don'tknow if it's going to do that
with.
The tempers are going.
But as it is, it's a goodtasting wine and at $12.99,
there's nothing to complainabout.
I'm just saying that if youwanted this $12.99 wine to be a
$26 wine, it might need a littlebit of adjustment somewhere.
I'll take another sip Blackberries, blueberries, plums, a

(03:48):
little cola, some exotic spice,all sleek, all subtle.
The acidity is balanced, givesthe wine length.
It's a nice Pinot Noir.
That's what it is.
It's a nice Pinot Noir.
It's well-priced, It's's wellworth drinking.

(04:09):
It's borderline next level andas it opens up, I mean this is
tasting 50-some better than itdid when I first popped the top
on it.
So give it some time.

(04:34):
This is a Pinot Noir that wouldgo well with food.
It's got enough.
The alcohol gives it enoughbody.
You know I'm thinking at$12.99,.
You could probably go to apretty good restaurant, but this
is more like tacos, porkburritos, really good burgers.

(04:58):
You know that kind of thing Imean.
A lot of times you think ofthose things.
You want maybe a Merlot or aGab or something.
Now this will do it.
Plus, you know, even thoughit's on the lighter side, it
still has enough body to holdits own with a lot of food.
So there you go.
Domain Dave.
This is the Trader Joe's GrandReserve Carneros Pinot Noirs

(05:19):
2023.
And for the 15th year in a row,it's doing good.
I've got a white wine fromSouth Africa.
I just did it last year, I'mdoing it again because it's
really cheap it's $5.99, andthey've got to ship it all the

(05:40):
way from the southern tip ofAfrica to wherever store you're
at.
And I'm just wondering can theykeep it going, Can they keep
the quality up?
So we're doing it within, youknow, within a year, but just to
see because it was good andwe'll talk about that in a
couple days.
So, adios, keep it cheap andI'll talk to everybody before
too long.
Adios, bye-bye.