Trader Joe’s Reserve 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley

May 30, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2009, Buy-A-Case, Dennis Patton, Mazzocco, Trader Joe's Petit Reserve, Woodenhead 4 Comments

Trader Joe's Reserve 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley

Firstly, apologies about the delay in putting up another post; believe it or not, it can be tough to find the time do these! But I think it was worth the wait, because we get to talk about a wine I really enjoyed: Trader Joe’s Reserve 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley.

The Wine: On the back label, this wine clearly states its origin, Mazzocco Winery, in Dry Creek Valley. This past weekend, I saw a Mazzocco advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle for $99 cases of wine; I think this winery might be riding out rough economic waves, which would make sense why they are putting some of their product under the TJ’s label. (UPDATE: Mazzocco had purchased another winery and was trying to clear a lot of that winery’s inventory.) Mazzocco (to me) is known as a Zinfandel House, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a Cab offering from them. I haven’t been that taken by the last few Cabs I’ve had, so I looked forward to trying a brand I’ve liked before.

The Experience:

Color: Very nice plum and violet color. Not too dark, not too light.

Nose: Great nose of dark berries, spiciness, little black olive, oak barreling and over all very inviting and youthful. Not complex, but not flawed.

Palate: Fruit is going to hit you square in the tongue. Lots of rich dark berries, not too much depth on the mid-palate, but shows some dark olive notes; drying tannins of Cab Sauv make themselves known in a very pleasant way. On the finish, I pick up a slight vegetative component.

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying/Buy-Half-A-Case

I really liked this wine. There is a higher amount of residual sugar in this wine and not so much acidity, so I’m led to believe these grapes may have been picked a bit late in the season. But the end result is a wine which will be widely accepted by Chardonnay drinkers and red wine drinkers. The alcohol was restrained to 14.7%, which could have easily gone higher. This is not a ‘hot’ wine, which is nice. This wine went awesome with the pizza I cooked up. How did you find this wine?

Trader Joe’s Reserve 2008 Barbera Mendocino County

April 27, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2008, Barbera, Dennis Patton, DnA Cellars, Give-A-Try, Mendocino, Trader Joe's Reserve Leave a comment

Trader Joe's Reserve 2008 Barbera Mendocino County

The Wine: Here’s a wine which was released at Trader Joe’s quite sometime ago; but I keep seeing it on the shelves of several TJ’s in the area. This wine stems from a very well known winemaker in Mendocino County, Dennis Patton and his DnA Vineyards. He’s the master mind behind several of my favorite TJ’s wines (Benefactor Cellars, for example) and carries some clout in the Mendo area, being one of the pioneers of a proprietary blend of Mendocino grapes called Coro-Mendocino. It’s Mendocino’s attempt to have an Appellation-Controlee system like they do in France, but just for this one blend in order to maintain consistency and set the parameters for the winemakers. Having tasted several examples, it’s a fantastic wine and I like the concept. But the wine we are talking about today is Barbera. This probably puts into context why this wine is still on the shelf, while the Cab Sauv and Syrah from Dennis Patton were released at the same time as this wine, they are long sold out. If you aren’t drinking Barbera, I suggest you get involved; it can be really good wine.

The Experience:

Color: Medium garnet hue of violet and some red.

Nose: Rather young fruit and spicy nose, with tones of smoke coming forward.

Palate: Sour cherry, raspberries. Semi-heavy mouth feel, but rather light body. The finish picks up in intensity with acidity and some vanilla.

Bottom-Line: Worth-A-Try

I was a bit let down by this wine. I was expecting/hoping for a bolder, more well rounded wine. The wine really lacked a good tannin structure which is (over) compensated for with acidity. However, the 13.9% alcohol was a welcomed treat since my mouth was not burnt. I’d give kudos to this wine for the denser mouth feel, but lighter body and more intense finish, which was a nice sensory play. So it kept me thinking about the wine. On that grounds, I liked this wine. If you like more one dimensional (single, straight forward flavor profile) wines, with zingy acidity, this could be a wine to check out. I hate to toss it into this generic recommendation category, but this is a BBQ wine. Would I stock up on this wine? No. Would I serve this at a BBQ? Yes. What do you think of this wine?

Wine Info:

  • Price: $10
  • Alcohol: 13.9%
  • Cellar/Winemaker: DnA Vineyards, Dennis Patton
  • Appellation: Mendocino County, California

Benefactor Cellars – 2009 Mendocino – Red Wine

January 15, 2011

Matt $5-$9 Price Point, 2009, Benefactor Cellars, Buy-A-Case, Dennis Patton, DnA Cellars, Mendocino, Red Wine , 11 Comments

Red Wine, Red Wine, Red Wine… In my site’s short history, this will be the third Red Wine blend we are looking at.  The Benefactor Cellars’ 2009 Red Wine has deep roots in DnA Vineyards and is attached to wine makers Dennis and Andrea Patton; their past releases through TJ’s I have really liked, particularly both the TJ’s Reserve Medocino Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera. Dennis and Andrea are long time Medocino wine makers, so they know the land, know the people and people know them.  Tom Fish from Wine Spectator says about Dennis: “Patton is as concrete a symbol for modern Mendocino wine as Mondavi is for Napa. Both men are energetic, passionate and unblinkingly outspoken about the place they call home.” …this exactly the kind of wine I want to be trying and look forward to future releases.

The Wine: This blend is comprised of 50% Zinfandel, 40% Syrah and 10% Carignane – so I’m expecting some power and spice behind this wine. Carignane (Carignan elsewhere in the world) at one point was the third most planted grape in California, but this is a grape of yester-year and today is generally used in the production of jug wines due to its very high grape yields. In 1988, it was also the most planted grape in France, but it’s not necessarily known for it’s high quality juice – so France (and California) pulled much of these vines. But don’t discount this grape; here’s a Wine Dork Article exploring a Renaissance and increasing respect for Carignane in California; worth a read. OK this wine has piqued my interest, so how is it?

The Experience: Color – Out of the bottle you are presented a very deep plum purple wine; this wine clearly has some substance to it. Nose- Right out of the bottle I could sense this wine was being constrictive on the nose giving only a little berry and coco components, so I pulled out my new favorite wine pal, my decanter. After 20 minutes or so this wine opened up some to reveal light raspberries, dark berries with an air of mint. Palate- On the first sip, you know this wine is well made; it has decent acid, tannin, fruit and oak balance in the form of a medium-ish bodied wine. With Zin and Syrah providing the backbone, no doubt you’ll pick up a nice amount of spicyness, dark berries, light pepper and distinctive vanilla flavor on the finish. I’d describe the finish as being medium-short and what you should expect from a wine like this. You’re going to want another sip.

The Bottom Line: Buy-A-Case

Dennis Patton has set the bar very high for wines now occupying the $5 price point. This wine is a reflection of both a great wine maker and grapes with a strong connection to their region. I found this wine better than a $10 bottle of Boggle Zinfandel or a more price conscious alternative, but not as robust, as the $10 Tribunal, if you can still find it… What we have here is solid wine within the price reach of almost any wine drinker passing through the doors of Trader Joe’s. Do yourself a favor, buy more than one bottle of this wine, I have a feeling this wine won’t be around too long.

Wine Dork Info:

  • Price: $5
  • Appellation: Medicino County
  • Wine Maker: Dennis and Andrea Patton
  • Cellar: Benfefactor
  • Grape Varietals: 50% Zinfandel, 40% Syrah, 10% Carignane
  • Alcohol: 14.9%
  • pH: 3.78
  • SO2: 78 ppm
  • TA: 5.8 g/L
  • RS: <3 g/L
  • Fining Agent: None

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