The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2023 is a $12.99 exclusive to Trader Joe’s. This is the 15th vintage of this wine, and they seem to offer a Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir during the Holiday months.
The Story
The back label says Carneros Cellars bottled this wine. I looked up who owns Carneros Cellars, and it was a wine company with which I was not familiar. It looks to be a middleman between a company or winery that produced this wine and Trader Joe’s.
Carneros Pinot Noir wines typically start (unless they are store brands) at around $20 and go up. It makes sense that whoever is selling this wine to Trader Joe’s wants to keep it on the down low, since their other wines are more expensive. This is Trader Joe’s version of a negociant wine.
The Carneros AVA is on the upper shore of the San Pablo Bay, and it is located in both Sonoma County and Napa Valley. 6,813 acres are planted in Sonoma and 3416 acres in Napa. The Napa wines are often called Los Caneros.
CWF reviewed the 12th vintage, which was a 2020, and here are those tasting notes.
The alcohol content is 14.25%, which is a little hefty for a Pinot Noir, but is common due to the hotter temperatures in the region. Pinot Noir is a lighter-bodied wine, and it can show its alcohol if the winemaker is not careful.
The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2023 Tasting Notes
The color is a see-through strawberry jelly red with black highlights. The nose is ripe berries, cold coffee, spice, plum, herbs, and violets. The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2023 is sleek and long with subtle flavor.
This Pinot Noir tastes like blackberry, black cherry, exotic spice, plum, cranberry, faint cola, and blueberry.
The tannins are smooth and sweet, and the acidity gives this Pinot Noir Proper length.
The Summary
- The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2023 is worthy of a line of wines that goes back 15 years.
- This is a no-issue, well-priced wine that is worth sipping.
- The more this wine opens up, the better it gets.
