Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon

A chance to taste a wine from an exclusive area of Napa Valley at a fraction of the normal price, the Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 92.

Cabernet Sauvignon from the Diamond Mountain District on the northern end of the Napa Valley, California.

Diamond Mountain is part of the Mayacamas Mountains which divide Napa from Sonoma. Warm weather, slightly higher elevations and volcanic soils make a great combination for varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon.

This isn't an area we talk about much here at Reverse Wine Snob simply because the prices are way, way above our limit. The absolute cheapest Diamond Mountain Cab we could find on wine-searcher was $50 with only a dozen or so even under $100.

The Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 92, on the other hand, retails for just $14.99 exclusively at Trader Joe's. As typical with these wines, there is very little information on the bottle.

The 2017 Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 92 opens with a very spicy nose along with plenty of ripe, dark fruit and touches of vanilla. It's solid when first popped open but it really opens up quite nicely after a couple hours.

The wine tastes pretty similar in the mouth - lots of ripe dark fruit and loads of spice. It also has some pepper and dark chocolate notes and even a touch of minerality leading into the dry, long and bit grippy finish. It was just as good on day 2.

We tasted this one side by side with the 2019 Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (which we can't recommend at this point) and it's amazing what an extra couple of years of age can do. This one is so much more ready to drink now than the Chalk Hill and it should even improve further from here.