The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is $9.99 for Trader Joe’s wine. In doing what research you can do on a Trader Joe’s wine, it seems that the Tanner Park brand may be an older defunct brand, and Trader Joe’s is reusing the name. This Chardonnay uses grapes grown on the Sonoma side of the Carneros AVA.
Carneros is half inside Sonoma and half inside Napa. The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from the Sonoma side, which is fine; there are excellent vineyards and wineries on both sides. Since the sourcing included only half of the AVA, the grapes for this Chardonnay may have come from a smaller selection of vineyards than is typical for this price range.
The Carneros AVA is a premium growing region that is known for its excellent Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It is a cool climate area, mainly because San Pablo Bay is its southern border, and the Bay brings cool ocean waters and breezes. The Bay is an important factor in the growing conditions of Napa Valley and Clarksburg, and Lodi.
A typical Carneros Chardonnay from a winery starts a $25 and goes up, with brand wines starting at $15. The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is produced by ABJ WInes which is a private label wine producer, and they are responsible for several Trader Joe’s wines. They may be an independent company or a branch of a well-known winery.
This wine is a 2019 vintage that was released for sale in the late summer of 2021. A wine vintage and release date give clues to how the wine was produced. A 2020 vintage in 2021 suggests a young wine with little aging. A 2019 vintage in 2021 indicates that this Chardonnay may have had a more complicated fermentation process with a decent length of aging.
The back label of the Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 mentions August Briggs and his 2 sons Tanner and Parker. August Briggs no longer owns the winery, but the winery does offer a 2019 Carneros Chardonnay selling for $32. So, this isn’t very clear; August Briggs is not a part of Auston Briggs’s winery but could be the AB in ABJ wines.
This ten-buck Trader Joe’s Chardonnay is likely from a veteran maker with a great deal of experience in Napa, Sonoma, and Carneros and knows how to make Chardonnay. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 Tasting Notes
The color is a pale butter yellow. The nose is vibrant; the aromas jump out of the glass. There are scents of lemons, green apple, vanilla, peach, butterscotch, soft spice, lime, and grapefruit. The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is a well-balanced, tasty Chardonnay.
It tastes like lemon creme, French vanilla, a slap of spice, tart apple, and grapefruit. The mid-palate offers that salty/nutty “on lees” sensation, along with peach, white pepper, and Anjou pear. The acidity is well-executed; this Chardonnay has good length.
The Summary
- The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is an excellent $9.99 Chardonnay, it is well-made and full of flavor.
- You never know what you are going to get with these Trader joe’s exclusive wines, they all have varing pedigrees.
- The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 looks like it was produced by someone with extensive ties to the region and knows how to make Chardonnay and expensive Chardonnay at that!
