The Trader Joe's Reserve Oak Knoll Zinfandel 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Oak Knoll AVA inside Napa Valley. This is a one-off wine; when it sells out, it is gone for good, so if you like it, buy all you need. Oak Knoll is located in the southern part of Napa Valley, just north of Carneros. Carneros, located in both Sonoma and … [Read more...]
Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse 2019
Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe's exclusive, a Sparkling wine made from the Pinot Noir grape sourced from vineyards in Napa Valley. There are a couple of odd details concerning the Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse. First, if you look at the title, the "o" in Rose has the punctuation, not the "e." I checked Google to see if that is actually a thing … [Read more...]
Trader Joe’s Napa Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
The Trader Joe's Napa Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, the actual name on the bottle is Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Lot #97. The name was too long to fit in the title section. Trader Joe's features an array of Napa Valley sub-AVA Cabernets. I saw Atlas Peak, Yountville, Spring Mountain in addition to Oakville. All sell for … [Read more...]
Trader Joe’s Reserve Carneros Chardonnay 2019
The Trader Joe's Reserve Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is actually Carneros Napa Valley Lot #204. There is a Lot #205 which I imagine is from a different producer. Some Trader Joe's get the 204 and others get the 205, both are $9.99. Carneros is an interesting AVA, it is located half in Sonoma and half in Napa. If the vineyards are on the Napa side you almost always see Napa … [Read more...]
Fleur de Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019
The Fleur de Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's exclusive. If Napa Valley is not your first thought when you think of American Sauvignon Blanc, that is ok because Napa has concentrated on the other Sauvignon, Cabernet Sauvignon. But back in the 1960s, Robert Mondavi kick-started they whole Sauvignon Blanc craze with a wine he called Fume Blanc. The story I … [Read more...]