Shopping for wine at Trader Joe's is often like looking for pearls. About half of the time, the wines I buy are not good enough to blog about. Sometimes, the Trader Joe's Grand Reserve or Platinum Grand Reserve are terrific wines. Occasionally, I find very good wines for very low prices and those are the pearls. Emma Pearl Pinot Noir is one of the pearls.
Today, I went to Trader Joe's and found a Fearless Flyer that had not yet arrived in my home mailbox. I skipped past the "popcorn in a pickle" and went directly to the wines. One of the wines was the Emma Pearl Pinot Noir for $3.99. I read the usual story about how Trader Joe's used their immense buying power to buy a supply of great wine for a pittance and passed the savings on to their valued customers. I found the wine on the shelf and was unimpressed until I saw that this Pinot Noir has an alcohol content of 14.5%. While I steadfastly maintain that higher alcohol does not necessarily mean better wine, I also know that sometimes low alcohol equates to cheaply made wine. I will also admit that sometimes higher alcohol does go with better wine. In any case, you have to be skeptical of a wine that costs only one buck higher than Charles Shaw. Since I was not wasting very many bucks, I put one bottle in my cart.
Emma Pearl Pinot Noir has the usual pinot noir taste of cherry and strawberry along with a little oak. I found the initial taste was bright and very enjoyable. There is a light amount of tartness on the finish, but there is little to criticize and much to praise. I did notice a little alcohol on the finish but it was very minor. This is a very good Pinot Noir and is a steal at $3.99. It is a pearl.
SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points plus 2 stars for value.
Today, I went to Trader Joe's and found a Fearless Flyer that had not yet arrived in my home mailbox. I skipped past the "popcorn in a pickle" and went directly to the wines. One of the wines was the Emma Pearl Pinot Noir for $3.99. I read the usual story about how Trader Joe's used their immense buying power to buy a supply of great wine for a pittance and passed the savings on to their valued customers. I found the wine on the shelf and was unimpressed until I saw that this Pinot Noir has an alcohol content of 14.5%. While I steadfastly maintain that higher alcohol does not necessarily mean better wine, I also know that sometimes low alcohol equates to cheaply made wine. I will also admit that sometimes higher alcohol does go with better wine. In any case, you have to be skeptical of a wine that costs only one buck higher than Charles Shaw. Since I was not wasting very many bucks, I put one bottle in my cart.
Emma Pearl Pinot Noir has the usual pinot noir taste of cherry and strawberry along with a little oak. I found the initial taste was bright and very enjoyable. There is a light amount of tartness on the finish, but there is little to criticize and much to praise. I did notice a little alcohol on the finish but it was very minor. This is a very good Pinot Noir and is a steal at $3.99. It is a pearl.
SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points plus 2 stars for value.
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