Fast facts: 2022  Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Chardonnay Lot #128, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California ($12.99 @Trader Joe’s, California)   You have heard us say many times that Sonoma’s cool Russian River Valley excels at producing world class Pinot Noir and the same goes for Chardonnay. Chardonnay remains its most planted wine grape, although Pinot Noir is a close second.  This one-two punch of Burgundian heavyweights counters Napa’s mastery of the Bordeaux varieties. It’s a big, diverse AVA that runs from inland Alexander Valley to the town of Jenner, where it em ..read more

Fast facts: 2021  Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Lot #122 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California ($12.99 @Trader Joe’s, California)   Let’s start by unpacking the alphabet soup in our subject line, shall we?  The Russian River Valley (RRV) is an important part of Sonoma, and Pinot Noir (PN) is an important part of  da RRV.  Which is – thankfully – where this Trader Joe’s (TJs) wine hails from. We’re thankful because some of the best Pinot Noir wines in the world come from the hallowed soils of this region. The Russian River Valley AVA is an American ..read more

Fast facts: 2022 Trading Post by Trader Joe’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California ($19.99 @Trader Joe’s, California)   There is something brand, spanking new in the Trader Joe’s wine set.  This is the inaugural bottling under the Trading Post label, and here is how TJ’s introduced it in a recent Fearless Flyer. “Ever since we started carrying wines—lo, those many decades ago—we’ve made it our mission to ensure that every time you make the trek to your neighborhood Trader Joe’s wine shop, you’ll find something wonderful. Whether it’s an everyday gem or one of our limited-qua ..read more

Fast facts: 2021 Upper Eden Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, California  ($12.99 @ Trader Joe’s, California)\   It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since we recommended the 2018 vintage of this wine for your Thanksgiving table.  When we spied it again this year at Trader Joe’s in the run-up to Turkey Day, we were curious if it still warranted your wine dollars.  It does! Don’t look now but Thanksgiving is just around the corner!   And as we close in on the day for celebrating abundance, we wanted to feature a Pinot Noir with a really high QPR.   Fr ..read more

Fast facts: 2021 Valle de Inez Pinot Noir, San Luis Obispo, CA ($9.99* @ Costco, California – Item #1374624) *Net price after $10 in store discount   It’s hard to believe, but we will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States in two short weeks.  Then we’re on the slippery slope to the end of year holidays.  But let’s address things one holiday at a time, shall we? For the next two Thirsty Thursdays, we are going to focus on the one varietal that is the “no brainer” choice for traditional Thanksgiving fare: Pinot Noir. This one is from Costco, next week w ..read more

Fast Facts: 2021 Merlot, Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Lot #123, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, California  ($12.99 @Trader Joe’s in California)   I was really excited to get this wine home and try it. The reason was it had three things going against it. Conversely, this meant this was a wine that had promise to over deliver on the Quality to Price Ratio, aka our beloved Q.P.R.  Let me explain the three things that comprised what I viewed as the “triple witching hour” since this is Halloween week after all. Strike one: it’s Merlot, and for some strange reason, the marke ..read more

Fast Facts: 2022 Cabernet Franc, Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve, Paso Robles, California   ($7.99 @Trader Joe’s in California)   …and let’s be frank: you just don’t see many bottlings of straight up Cabernet Franc – unless you are standing in a Winery Tasting Room.  Cab Sauv?  Sure.  Cab Franc. Not so much… So that is what caught our attention. And it’s a tasty little number, especially considering that a year ago the grapes that went into this wine were almost certainly still on the vine! Speaking of vines… Did you know that Cabernet Franc is the genetic parent of ..read more

Fast Facts: 2021 Kirkland Signature Chardonnay,  Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California ($12.99 @Costco in California – Item #789895)   In her encyclopedic The Oxford Companion to Wine, author Jancis Robinson refers to Sonoma’s Russian River Valley as a “high quality California wine region and AVA west of Healdsburg along that portion of river that meanders through the hills of northern Sonoma County toward its mouth.” Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson! That mouth that she refers to is where the river empties into the Pacific Ocean in the town of Jenner.  If you ..read more

Fast Facts: 2021 Pinot Noir, Trader Joe’s Reserve Lot #241, Santa Barbara County, California   ($9.99 @Trader Joe’s in California)   Pinot Noir has a problem. It’s being loved to death. Its precise rank varies by which list you consult, but it remains securely in the top 5 of all wine grapes, and second only to Cabernet Sauvignon in the U.S. for red wines. It is axiomatic that the more popular a wine grape becomes, the harder it is to find wines that have our much coveted QPR. The result is rivers of Pinot Noir bottlings that, well, don’t taste much like Pinot Noir. We are hap ..read more

Fast Facts: 2021 Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel, Contra Costa County, California   ($13.99 @Trader Joe’s in California) Today’s online edition of Decanter reported that veraison (that celebrated harbinger of harvest when wine grapes begin to blush and change color) has begun in the vineyards of northern California. They talked with winemakers from Napa, from Sonoma – all the usual suspects.  But like many others, did not speak to one of the oldest wine growing areas in California: Contra Costa County. You’d be forgiven for not knowing where Contra Costa is. It is an AVA direct ..read more