Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Dundee Hills Pinot Noir Review

Premium Pinot without the price tag? We review the Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Dundee Hills Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Lot 123.

Pinot Noir from the Dundee Hills of Willamette Valley, Oregon.

Today’s wine comes from the original spot for Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and is still today home to some of the area’s most respected producers. As such, the Pinot Noir here is very expensive, making the paltry $14.99 Trader Joe’s charges for this one almost unheard of.

The producer of the wine, Cultavin Cellars, appears to be part of NW Wine Co., a large producer of both their own and many private label wines, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. That doesn’t give us a whole lot to go on and neither does the bottle:

Lot #123
Dundee Hills
Willamette Valley

Vinted and Bottled by Cultavin Cellars
13.6% Alcohol

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Let’s check out how this one tastes!

The 2023 Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Dundee Hills Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Lot 123 opens with a pleasing, quite earthy aroma of black cherry, cranberry, tomato plant and more. It’s a nice, earthy start.

Tasting the wine reveals it to be smooth and medium-bodied with similar flavors to the nose including all those earthy notes. It also has some added oaky spice. It’s quite good but also still tasting young so it likely still has some further development ahead of it.

It ends dry and a bit grippy on the long finish and was even a bit better on day 2 where it gains a little more fruitiness while still featuring the earthy notes. This is a good one for those who like their Pinots on the earthy side!

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 in our giant guide.

You can also find more of our favorite Pinot Noir here!