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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This Bubbly is a blend of 84% Pinot Noir and 16% Chardonnay sourced from grapes grown in the Carneros AVA, located inside both the Sonoma AVA and the Napa AVA. Carneros sits on the northern shore of San Pablo Bay, east of Oakland, California.
This is a vintaged-dated Sparkling Wine taken from grapes all grown during the 2019 vintage year. Most Traditional Method Bubbly in the value price range are non-vintage wines. Non-vintage sparkling wine is blended from different years to create a wine that is uniform year in and year out. Vintage-dated Bubbly tends to be created in years when the grapes were excellent and they want to document the vintage. A $12.99 vintage-dated Bubbly from the elite Carneros, which are well known for excellent Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, is very rare.
We do not know the Producer whose name is listed on the back label of the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 did not come up on any of my searches. If you type in vintage-dated Carneros Sparkling wine into Google you will find a small number of likely candidates, but no smoking gun.
A 2019 vintage Bubbly released at the end of 2023 suggests a Sparkling wine with an extended triage (second fermentation). California has no Sparkling wine regulations, but in France Champagne must have a minimum of 18 months in triage. A 2019 vintage can have a 30-month (or more) second fermentation. The longer the fermentation the creamier and smoother the Bubbly gets and the bubbles become more integrated.
But since there are no production notes available for the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019, it also could have been bottled a year or two ago and been waiting for a buyer. Since this is a vintage Bubbly from a top AVA I think the extended triage is more likely, but with no actual info that is a guess.
I am looking forward to the tasting portion of this review, this seems to be a Sparkling Wine at a quality level never seen at $12.99. The alcohol content is 12.5%.
The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 Tasting Notes
The color is silver with a hint of amber. The nose is red berries, a hint of vanilla, slightly bready, a little spice, and citrus. The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 is a crisp Bubbly with rounded fruit on the palate along with balanced acidity.
This Sparkling wine tastes like tart cherry (this is a predominately Pinot Noir bubbly), a shot of spice, a creamy sensation, and a salty sensation. The mid-palate offers a little tangerine, lemon, and grapefruit. The acidity does an excellent job, the flavors fully unfold, the Bubbly has good length, and it sets your palate up for the next sip. This is a good Bubbly.
The Summary
- The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 is Trader Joe’s New Year’s gift to wine drinkers.
- An absolute steal at $12.99.
