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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021 is $14.99 at Trader Joe’s. This Red Blend is not exclusive to Trader Joe’s since the same wine sells under a different label for about $35.
There were a few clues to the origin of this bottle, the bottle is a very heavy Napa-style. The punt on the bottom of the bottle is so deep you can fit your entire thumb and the final giveaway was the cork.
The cork shows the name “Sideral” (the Latin root word for Constellation). I quickly checked Google and found that San Pedro produces Sideral in the Cachapoal Valley of Chile.
The blend is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Syrah, 9% Carmenere, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc sourced from estate vineyards in a valley in the Andes Mountains, the same as the Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021.
The San Pedro Sideral Red Blend sells for anywhere from $20 on sale to $30 at full price, So TJ’s does provide a nice bargain.
This wine was produced in a far more complicated style than typically seen for value-priced wine. They took their time to produce this wine. The Red Blend had a unique oak program, 90% was aged in small French oak barrels. They used a variety of toast levels on the oak to give the complexity. The remaining 10% was aged in large barrels of different sizes.
Each grape varietal was fermented and aged separately and then blended to taste. The alcohol content is 14.5%.
The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021 Tasting Notes
The color is a black cherry red. The nose is pretty, with ripe red berries, blackberry, a little mocha, spice, toasty oak, and plum. The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021 is medium-bodied and smooth upfront with a nice rougher contrast on the mid-palate.
This Red Blend tastes like extracted blackberry, blueberry jam (but not too sweet), dusty tannins, interesting spice, and plum. The mid-palate offers orange zest, tart cranberry, a little cold coffee, and raisins.
The acidity is well-balanced and gives the wine excellent length.
As a side note, various vintages of the Sideral Red Blend have received 95 and 96 points.
The Summary
- The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021 is an excellent wine at a bargain price.
- This is a wine that is produced in the manner of $30 to $40 wines, which is different than a value-priced wine.
- That alone is worth giving this bottle a try.
