Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir

Yet another bargain Pinot Noir, the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir Lot #23.

Pinot Noir from Carneros, California. The wine is aged in oak barrels for 10 months.

The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s and sells for just $12.99.

From Trader Joe’s:

This is our tenth vintage of this lush, luscious wine — we certainly wouldn’t keep coming back for more if the wine weren’t stellar, year after year. It hails from the Carneros AVA, which straddles the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, and is considered one of the United States’ premier growing regions for Pinot Noir. The climate is warm and cool, wet and dry — this unique microclimate makes growing challenging, but the fruits of that labor are well worth the effort. Here, that effort results in a complex and full-bodied Pinot, with plum, blackberry, and spice notes, good acidity, and soft, lingering tannins. It’s aged in oak barrels for 10 months, giving it an ever-so-slight oakiness on the palate.

13.9% Alcohol

The 2018 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Pinot Noir Carneros Lot #23 begins with a very pleasing and pretty classic Carneros Pinot Noir aroma of black cherry, cola and lots of earthy notes plus a little vanilla, mint and more. Tasting the smooth and silky wine reveals similar flavors to the nose with a nice depth of flavor and actually a pretty decent amount of complexity for this low of a price. It ends dry and quite long. This is quite a tasty Pinot Noir and a great example of Carneros without the usual price tag.

2018 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir Lot #23

TASTE: 8 COST: 6

OVERALL RATING: 7.5

Recommended Buy

As always you can find an updated list of our recommended wines from Trader Joe’s as well as more info on their pricing model and some tips and tricks for shopping the store here.