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

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

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