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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 Is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Huichica Hills Vineyard in the title is Duckhorn’s Carneros property.
The Story
Carneros is an AVA located in both Sonoma and Napa, near San Pablo Bay’s northern edge. This is the Bay east of Oakland, California. The Huichica Hills Vineyard is on the Napa side of the AVA. The Duckhorn Chardonnay wines from this vineyard sell in the $60 range.
The back label says this wine is ‘vinted and bottled by Ashford Court”, which looks to be a division of Plata Wine Partners, a large wine company that controls over 20,000 acres of vines in California. Vinted and bottled by only indicates that Ashford Court bottled the wine. What happened to this Chardonnay before bottling is a mystery.
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 has no production or tasting notes, and the one descriptive sentence on the front label seems to be designed to say as little as possible.
There was a Trader Joe’s Reserve Carneros Chardonnay released in November. That is a separate wine from this release.
There was a downturn in the wine industry in 2024, with sales down close to 10%. Many planned new wines were canceled, and the expansion of existing labels was postponed. This $9.99 high-end AVA, single vineyard Chardonnay may be a result of those conditions. Economic problems can mean bargains in value-priced wine.
The alcohol content is 14.2%.
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 Tasting Notes
The color is wheat yellow. The nose is lemon, melon, apple, peach, pear, tropical fruit, and a soft floral edge. The Trader Joe’s Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 is a rich, medium to full-bodied Chardonnay with good length.
This Chardonnay tastes like apple, vanilla, Anjou pear, soft spice, coconut milk, tropical fruit, lemon curd, and a slap of minerality. The acidity is nicely balanced and gives this Chardonnay a finish that lingers
The Summary
- The Trader Joe’s Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 is a tasty and reasonably complex Chardonnay.
- This is a Ten Buck bargain.
- Same vineyard as Duckhorn’s $60 Chards, not the same winemaker (probably) which makes a difference, but maybe not a difference of $50.
