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The Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Miller Family Wine Company.
The SLO in the title is San Luis Obispo which is in the middle of California’s Central Coast AVA, inside the SLO AVA in Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Arroyo Secco, and the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA and a few others.
SLO has the AVA with the coolest temps in California and warm weather more inland AVAs. Chardonnay can come from both types of AVAs depending on the style of wine.
The Miller Family Wine Company owns some of the most prestigious vineyards in California, they also own the Central Coast Wine Warehouse which produced many of the Trader Joe’s wines in the early days.
There are no production or tasting notes available for the Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022, so we will not find out if this is cool weather or warm weather Chardonnay until the tasting portion. Or possibly it is a mix of locations.
SLO County AVA is a rapidly trending wine location and you should keep a lookout for SLO wines. The alcohol content is 14.2%.
The Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 Tasting Notes
The color is golden yellow. The nose is melon, green apple, vanilla, soft spice, grapefruit, a hint of pineapple, and stone fruit, with a floral edge. Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 has a soft mouthfeel with rich flavors. Is this a Chardonnay made with cool or warm-weather grapes? I think it is a mix of both, and it is produced in a very New World California style.
This Chardonnay tastes like a stew of green apple, melon, a healthy splash of French vanilla, nectarine, and a little soft spice. The mid-palate adds juicy peach, dried pear, and apricot.
The acidity allows the flavors to fully unfold and gives this Chardonnay length.
The Summary
- The Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 is a great tasting, decently complex $9.99 Chardonnay.
- It is made in the New World style which means there was malolactic fermentation to round off the treat citrus flavors and enough oak influence to give the wine a creamy texture.
- Try it you will like it!
