Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Napa Valley 2016

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 Sauvignon from Oakville , Napa Valley for $15 but this wine is not exceptional. I would choose the Platinum Reserve Meritage every time over the Cabernet Sauvignon.

SC Wine Joe rating = 89 points

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