South Carolina Wine Joe

The current Trader Joe's Fearless flyer features Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Yountsville in Napa Valley.  I reviewed the 2015 vintage of the wine a year ago and I liked it, but not as much as I expected to.  Since, I generally enjoy the Platinum Reserve wines, I wanted to try the 2016 vintage. The first thing you notice about this wine in the glass is the very dark color.  The color and the aroma alert you that this will be a rich, dark flavored wine.  Indeed there are flavors of blackberries.  There is some smoke and vanilla but those flavors are much more in balance with the fruit than last years wine.  The tannins are also in balance and the finish has some licorice flavor, even reminding me of black jelly beans.  The wine has 14.5% alcohol.  This is a terrific wine which I found far superior to the 2015 wine. SC Wine Joe rating = 91 points

The best wine pairing for the typical Thanksgiving turkey dinner is a lighter, fruit flavored wine.  This will enhance the flavors of the food rather than overpower it.  Some choose Riesling, Pinot Gris or some other white wine but in recent years I have chosen a lighter bodied Pinot Noir.  This year we will accent our dinner with a Rose' of Pinot Noir.  A good choice is the Acrobat Rose' of Pinot Noir which I reviewed in September,( https://scwinejoe.blogspot.com/2018/09/acrobat-rose-of-pinot-noir-oregon-2017.html ). The wine that we will have this year is Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Rose'of Pinot Noir.  This is a dry, medium bodied Rose' with flavors of red cherry and some tropical fruit.  The bright acidity makes this a great pairing for our turkey dinner.  I purchased this wine from the winery ($24) and you will not likely find it at your retail outlet.  You likely can find the Acrobat mentioned above or some other Rose' of Pinot Noir.

Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer for November 2018 is featuring their VINTJS Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, which they are selling for $8.99.  They are anticipating that you might select this Pinot Noir to accompany your Thanksgiving turkey or ham. For the past several months, we have been enjoying several Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs and I have written on this blog about several of them.  I can assure you that none of them cost under $10.  So, I had to bring home a couple of bottles to see if this is a fantastic Trader Joe's bargain (or not). Neither the Fearless Flyer nor the bottle give any useful information to judge the wine.  As with most Trader Joe's wines, we do not know who grew the grapes or made the wine.  The bottle says the wine is vinted by ABJ Wines, Geyserville CA.but that is just a paper company to hide the actual maker of the wine. The first thing you notice is that this is a 2017 vintage, so it is very young.  The second thing you notice in the glass is

Costco is now selling their Kirkland Signature Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 for only$8.99.  This may be the first release of this wine since I have no notes about any previous vintage. The bottle names the wine maker as Brandon Rice, who is director of winemaking for Wahluke Wine Company.  The wine was aged for 16 months in French and American oak and is said to have 14.5% alcohol. I taste blueberry, blackberry and a little vanilla.  The wine is generally smooth with some tannins in the decent finish.  There are not many $9 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignons worth buying but this is an excellent choice for a midweek casual dinner.  Costco has another winner. SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points