Trader Joe's Grand Reserve SLH Pinot Noir Lot 80

Quite the deal on a cool spot for prime Pinot, the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Lot 80.

100% Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County, Central Coast, California. The wine is aged for 5 months in oak (half French and half American).

The Trader Joe’s Santa Lucia Highlands Grand Reserve Pinot Noir is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s and sells for just $12.99. The wine is vinted and bottled by Avid Winery, who produce a number of the Trader Joe’s offerings.

From Trader Joe’s:

Between California’s Santa Lucia and Gabilan mountain ranges, the fog and breezes off nearby Monterey Bay funnel southeast, creating the cool, ideal growing conditions for the latest vintage of Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Lot 80. The conditions are so ideal, in fact, that this Grand Reserve wine is comprised of 100% Pinot Noir grapes, with no other varietals blended in. It’s aged for five months (half of the wine in American oak and the other half in French oak) then blended and bottled, creating the prized Santa Lucia Pinot Noir profile: bold, fruity, and slightly jammy, overflowing with aromas of blueberry, with a pleasant, lingering dryness.

Expansive on the palate with a long, intense finish, this Pinot Noir is a fantastic foil for roasted meats, earthy cheeses, or savory mushroom risotto.

14.6% Alcohol

The 2017 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Lot 80 begins with a pleasing aroma of black cherry and strawberry plus a little rhubarb, cola, mint and spice. This light-bodied wine needs some time to open up but then it is quite nice. In the mouth you’ll find similar flavors to the nose along with juicy blueberry, well integrated spice, good acidity and a bit of earthiness. Soft tannins lead into the dry, long finish on this first-class Pinot Noir.

The cool climate Santa Lucia Highlands is a great spot for Pinot, but bottles from here typically retail for $20+ which makes this one quite the deal at only $13. Snap it up while you can.

2017 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Lot 80

TASTE: 8 COST: 6

OVERALL RATING: 7.5

Recommended Buy

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