South Carolina Wine Joe

My supply of the Kirkland Cotes du Rhone Villages is nearly depleted, so I needed to find a replacement.  The Costco wine folks wisely waited until now to sell Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Reserve 2015 for $9.49 at my local warehouse.  Had they been selling it a few weeks ago, I would have passed it up for the Kirkland Cotes du Rhone Villages selling for $6.99.  I have no objection to the price of Famille Perrin, but I just love the Kirkland. I last reviewed the 2013 vintage of Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Reserve and I do not believe there is much difference.  I found the 2015 wine to be medium bodied and fruity with licorice and mineral tones.  The wine is a little tart and acidic and possibly has more tannins than 2 years ago.  This is still a nice everyday wine that will pair with barbecue or other casual foods. SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points

Our local Costco has had Bocelli Sangiovese for several weeks and actually included it in their pre-Thanksgiving wine sale.  There are just a few bottles left that they are selling for $11.79 and since I have enjoyed this in the past, I grabbed a couple of bottles before it is gone. The last vintage of this wine that I reviewed was the 2012.  That wine was medium bodied with flavors of ripe cherry and a long, dry finish.  I believe that description still holds but with a little more dark cherry and oak than I described in March 2015.  I really like Sangiovese and I really enjoy this wine. SC Wine Joe rating = 89 points                                               Even the nutcrackers like wine at our house!

I previously reviewed Kirkland Signature Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from both 2013 and 2014 and I believe this 2016 vintage warrants a new taste.  The producer (DC Flynt), the winemaker (Anthony Austen) and the price ($12.99) are the same but the wine is not the same. The wine is again a darker than average color for Pinot Noir.  I taste cherry, dark cherry and some rasperry but what is improved this year is a softer, less intrusive oak flavor.  This is now a wine that can be enjoyed with a wider selection of foods and  I even enjoyed it prior to dinner without food.   We all taste wine differently, but this is a wine that I really enjoyed. SC Wine Joe rating = 90 points

The second Platinum Reserve wine featured in Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer is the Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Napa Valley 2016.  Since this wine is from the same producer and from the same sub-AVA as the previously reviewed Platinum Reserve Meritage, you might expect them to be similar in quality.  However, there is a very important difference.  The grapes for the Meritage were harvested in 2013 and the grapes for this wine are from 2016.  That means that the wine was aged in oak for just a few months.  The Flyer says that the aging was in a 50/50 mix of one-year old French and American oak barrels but it is very unusual for a Cabernet Sauvignon from a prestigious region to be aged for this short length of time. I like flavors of vanilla and smoke in Cabernet Sauvignon.  Those flavors come from the oak barrels and in this wine are so dominant that I did not adequately taste the fruit flavors.  The wine is just a little out of balance.  It is certainly a value to buy Cabernet Sauv

Trader Joe's is currently selling three Platinum Reserve wines from Yountville, Napa Valley - Meritage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.  All are selling for the usual Platinum Reserve price of $14.99 and the current Fearless Flyer features the Meritage and the Cabernet Sauvignon. From the label, we know that this Meritage is made from grapes picked four years ago in 2013 which was an outstanding vintage in Napa Valley for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes.  We also know that the alcohol content is shown as an above average 14.9%.  We know that the Meritage is made from Bordeaux grapes but we do not know the blend.  (The Fearless Flyer mentions only Cabernet Franc and Merlot but I think that is not correct.  I am sure there is ample Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine.) Yountville is in the southern portion of Napa Valley where the cool air and fog from San Pablo Bay begins to dissipate.  The milder temperatures lead to red wines with a softer profile than other portions of Na

We have been tasting several bottles of Prosecco from Costco, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for a project I have been working on.  I limited our tasting to Prosecco costing less than $13 and found Cecilia Baretta Prosecco Superior at Trader Joe's to be above the others in taste and quality. The designated Prosecco region of northern Italy includes nine provinces extending from Venice eastward to the border with Slovenia.  Wine from this region is primarily made with the Glera grape.  Most of the Prosecco from this region that is exported to the United States is sparkling wine and it has become a lower priced substitute for Champagne. There are several interesting facts about the wine that can be learned from the front label.  Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore can only be made in the Treviso province of Veneto.  Brut is the designation for the driest Prosecco. This is a dry, crisp and aromatic sparkling wine.  There is great flavor with notes of tropical fruit and