Trader Joe’s Reserve Walla Walla Syrah Review

A new gem? We review the Trader Joe’s Reserve Walla Walla Valley Syrah Lot #268.

Syrah from the Washington State side of the Walla Walla Valley. No further info is available on the wine.

The number of wines at Trader Joe’s seems to be nearly endless, with a new label on a bottle of bulk juice appearing almost daily. Will it be an amazing find, or just a decent drink? The hunt keeps many of us coming back.

While you almost always get your money’s worth, there’s often no way to tell which wines might by chance be of a higher standard – perhaps even from a single vineyard or very well made leftover wine from a respected winery who just has too much on their hands to sell themselves.

And while you might think the Platinum and Diamond Reserve labels would be where to find these gems (or even Grand Reserve), we have at times been delighted by wines at the plain old Reserve level. Such is the case today.

We have no special intel or data on the providence of today’s wine other than the appellation, all we know is that this is no wimpy wine – this is cool climate, Northern Rhone style Syrah and we love it! To be fair, it’s still very young and it’s not the most complex wine right now, but keep in mind it is only $9.99 at Trader Joe’s. Let’s check it out.

From the bottle:

Lot #268
Walla Walla Valley Washington

Cellared & Bottled by DNA Vineyards
14.1% Alcohol

The 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Walla Walla Syrah Lot 268 opens with a wonderful, big, meaty aroma full of dark fruit, mint/wintergreen, licorice, earth and a little bacon. This is a very young wine that needs a lot of time to open up, especially when tasting, so plan accordingly.

It just takes one sip to know that this is no wimpy wine – this is cool climate, Northern Rhone style Syrah. Full of tannic grip, it’s almost hard to swallow when first popped and poured but give it a good decant and it improves mightily. It features all those same flavors as the nose wrapped up in juicy dark fruit.

It ends dry, long, grippy and chewy. The wine was probably at its best on day 2 where the tannins mellowed out a bit and the fruit was ripe, rich, and juicy. It gets an 8 Taste Rating from us right now, but it would be very interesting to put a bottle away for a couple years and see what becomes of it. We’re pretty sure this will make it to a low 9 Taste Rating so we’ve rated it accordingly (91-92 points).

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 Syrah here!