Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve 2009 Meritage Napa Valley

December 28, 2011

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2009, Buy-Half-A-Case, JBA Cellars, Meritage, Napa Valley, Trader Joe's Exclusive, Trader Joe's Grand Reserve 7 Comments

Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Meritage 2009 Napa Valley

The Wine: One of my first wine reviews was of the 2008 Grand Reserve Meritage. And to be honest, it was the wine which got me to cross the Rubicon and start this blog. Trader Joe’s has some wines worth talking about. I was excited to see Trader Joe’s kept its relationship with it’s ‘super’ source in Napa Valley for a sequel vintage of Meritage. This wine must have been a success and there is now a choice between a 750ml bottle and 1.5 litre (two bottle) Magnum for the 2009 vintage. But 2009 presented some challenges to Napa Cab growers. Two storms in October presented a fork in the road and wineries/vineyards had only two choices: Let the fruit hang and risk rot/mold or harvest not fully ripened Cabernet Sauvignon. Will this wine live up to the great 2008?

(A quick refresher, a Meritage is a proprietary blend of Bordeaux grapes – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, etc… Click here for more info.)

The Experience: *Wine was decanted by Menu aerator - it wasn’t a sample.

Color: Fairly deep purple/garnet – young.

Nose: Kinda wound up and not offering up too much. Some dusty notes, dark fruit – but oddly, no real noticeable barrel tones. (Vanilla, espresso, wood, etc…) The austerity and non-’green’ or ‘black olive’ components to this wine are leading me to believe this is not a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant blend, Merlot or Malbec dominant perhaps? Is this wine from grapes which were harvested too early?

Palate: Like the nose, austere. Some young and grippier tannins, and not really fruit driven. Typical dark berries, but toned way down. It’s clearly a younger wine. There was even a very noticeable lack of barrel tones to this Napa Valley wine, which was a nice treat. The alcohol heat was also rather in check at 14.30%. Balanced for the most part, but lacking distinguishing features.

Bottom Line: Buy-Half-A-Case

I like’d the 2008 more. BUT! This wine has ‘super’ origins from Napa Valley, literally. I’m giving this recommendation to someone who likes pricer wines ($20+) and is searching for a suitable Tuesday night wine or a’second’ or ‘bottle that isn’t going to break the bank at $13. I had this wine along side some $45+, 93-94 Robert Parker point wines and its lack of ‘great’ concentration showed, but it wasn’t a total wash out by any means. The 2010 Cocobon however… no one revisited it. It’s holiday time, people are opening nicer and additional bottles of wine, this should seriously be a wine to consider.

Wine Tech Stuff: 43% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Saugvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec.

**Note: I revisited the 2008 Meritage over the holidays; it’s drinking quite nicely but starting to lose structure. It should be drank in the next 12-18 months.


Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

March 9, 2011

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2008, Cabernet Sauvignon, Maxwell Creek, Napa Valley, Trader Joe's Grand Reserve, Worth-Buying 4 Comments

Trader Joe's Grand Reserve 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The Wine: I really like the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve line of wines. It’s really speaks for the quality of business people TJ’s employees on their wine sourcing side. These wines are almost always sourced from very reputable vineyards/wineries who have too much juice or juice which doesn’t quite fit into a vintage’s program. The result, great or very good wine needs to be sold under a new name costing much less than the pedigree sister. This wine is no different. TJ’s has/had several bottlings by Maxwell Creek, and I’ve really liked them all. You’d be ‘Super’ ;) impressed by this wine’s origins, but how does it play out in the glass?

The Experience:

Color: Rather dense plum violet. Still looking very young.

Nose: Right out of the bottle, the nose is really restrained on this wine. I’m only able to pick up notes from barreling, I’m led to believe this was aged in new French oak. Some red fruit comes through, but at first, I thought I had a dirty glass with the amount of dust I was sensing, oh wait, this is Napa Cab!

Palate: Just like the nose, the barrel dominates this first impression of this wine. Lots of vanilla, but you’re treated to a rather crisp and tight experience of tannins on the mid-palate. Not much in the way of nuance with this wine. It’s an oaky wine. You’ll pick up some rich dark fruit, some toast, 10-15 second barrel driven finish and a decent amount of acidity with this wine. At 14.1%, this not an alcohol driven wine, I like!

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying/Buy-A-Few

I’m really on the fence with this wine. I wish it wasn’t SO atypical Napa Valley Oak Monster, as Gary Vaynerchuck would say. This wine has some great potential in it, but the oak just really dominates what is otherwise really good wine. It’s not going to get Old World Winos excited, but it’s going to sing well to New World Winos. The only real flaw in my opinion is the amount of oak. Otherwise, this wine is really good. It’s crisp, has just the right amount of tannins and acid, but the oak hides the fruit; decanting helped somewhat. The main reason I’m on the fence is trying to determine if this wine is worth $13. I think it’s more approachable as a daily drinker than most of the $20 Napa Cab counter-parts and has a few years left in it before it’s at its prime. I’ll more than likely grab 1-2 more bottles and forget about them for 2-3 years.

Wine Info:

  • Price: $13
  • Appellation: Napa Valley
  • Alcohol: 14.1%
  • Vintage: 2008
  • Cellar: Maxwell Creek

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve – 2006 Sparkling Wine Demi-Sec – Napa Valley

December 30, 2010

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2006, Buy-A-Case, Give-A-Try, Napa Valley, Sparkling, Trader Joe's Grand Reserve 4 Comments

The holidays brings out some wines I don’t drink very often through out the year.  Sparkling wine of any sort is not a wine I drink often and I’m not sure quite why; it’s almost always under great or ‘in keeping with tradition’ settings corks are popping.  Sales of sparkling wine after a tough two-years are on the rise; we all might be seeing more sparkling wine on our tables in near future.  Oh, and it’s New Years tomorrow.  What could you be drinking?

A wine which has been on my list for more than five months but could never close a sale on myself was Trader Joes’ Grand Reserve – 2006 Sparkling Wine Demi-Sec – Napa Valley.  But things are going great as of late, I did my homework on this wine and it’s the holidays; I bought this one after my shift.

This is a $16 sparkling wine.  Some gawk at that (too high/low) price; to me it’s in the middle.  I’d spend much more for a truly spectacular sparkling wine after tasting it, but I’d gamble under $10 random selection, so I put in extra moves to ensure I get a good mid-priced wine without tasting it first.

The Wine: Demi-Sec is a medium “half-dry” sweet Champagne which often can be referred to as a Crémant if its origin is outside of the Champagne region, but adheres to the traditional Methode Champagnoise production process.  Similar to my post on Meritage, Crémant is a designation of which carries certain high standards and expectations.  Wikipedia turned up a decent introduction to Crémant.  It’s given sweetness often through the use of Chardonnay grapes.  Cool.  Here’s a Wine Dork Chart if you really care to learn about how residual sugar (RS) determines how ‘dry’ or ‘sweet’ different kinds of sparkling are.

The Experience: The cork fit very snuggly into the bottle and took some extra work to free it hearing the classic popping sound.  The bubble display was everpresent and was absolutely surrounded an inviting crisp golden color.  You can tell this wine has seen a rich dose of oak barrel aging and probably has both aged Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay.  The nose with apricot/pear preserve, apple cider layers also reflects the described wine’s  appearance with the addition grassy notes to it which remind me I’m not about to drink Cook’s ($2?).

The flavor and wine are richer than I’m used to in a Brut driven market and wine section.  I recently had an aged Gewürztraminer from Napa and this reminded me of that – mild salt water taffy qualities to the preserved apricot/pear, apple cider and honey flavors with emerging and slowly fading thick bubbles.  Sweet, but not too sweet.  Savory.

This wine’s origin is from a very well known Napa source.  If you came into my store, you wouldn’t have to look very far from the TJ’s Grand Reserve to find its brother and sister from the same winery and $15 more.  I like wine deals, a lot.

Bottom Line: Give-A-Try/Buy-A-Case: Are you staying at home this NYE?  Make this the after dinner Crémant to be slowly work on a long countdown to midnight.  It’s a rich and heavier sparkling wine, which might be a new experience for many.  This bottle and dark bitter chocolate could be dessert.  Or if you’re cooking up some spicy Asian food, this would pair very well with it.  Sometimes it’s worth splashing out $16 bucks, this wine is one of those times.  I love finding something different, good and fairly priced.

Question: When are you enjoying some sort of sparkling wine this NYE?  With dinner?  After dinner? At midnight?  All night?!

Wine Dork Info:

  • Alcohol: 13%
  • pH: 2.91
  • SO2: 35ppm
  • TA: 8.8 g/L
  • RS: <3.5g/L
  • Fining Agent: None

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve – 2008 Meritage – Napa Valley

December 29, 2010

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2008, Buy-A-Case, Meritage, Napa Valley, Red Wine, Trader Joe's Grand Reserve 3 Comments

Here’s is a wine with a few things to talk about.

The Wine: Firstly, what kind of grapes does a Meritage consist of?  Isn’t it just another Red Wine?  Not exactly.  A quick glance at Wikipedia will tell you Meritage is a Bordeaux styled wine consisting only of grape varietals from that region of France.  Secondly, wine makers must join an association called ‘The Meritage Alliance’ in order for their wines to carry the Meritage designation.  And they take maintaining brand quality and consistency pretty serious.  For you lawyer types or those interested in legal jargon and definitions, here’s a link to the contract wine makers must sign in order to carry the Meritage label.  These are key indications that the juice inside these Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve bottles is going to be of a higher quality.  And does this wine is just that, high quality!

During a Wine Crew tasting about a month ago, we paired the TJ’s Grand Reserve Meritage ($13) against a Sterling 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) and BV Georges de Latour 2006 ($90) with great results.   Unanimously we all preferred the Meritage the most.  It’s not that the other wines weren’t good, but this wine just beckons you for another glass since it’s so friendly and inviting to drink.  I was recommending this wine to a customer in the market for a deal at about the $10 price point as a wine worth the extra $3 based on how he wanted to just enjoy a wine sans food; another customer dropped the comment behind us that this wine is amazing and pulled six bottles off the shelf for his cart.  I don’t think I could have asked for a better deal closer; he took two.

The Experience: By just looking at this wine in a nice red wine glass lets you know you are going to like it; it shows such a deep ripe plum purple with hues of dark red velvet.  The nose of this wine has got some depth and interesting tones to it.  I was picking up cigar box, ceder, smoke, Irish peat, sea breeze, dark fruits, vanilla and really enjoyed it all.  The palate delivers in a big way, too.  Juicy dark berries which develops into jammy flavors then sour cherries finished by friendly tannins.  I even picked up this faint lime peel flavor which was a nice addition.  Returning to this wine after trying the dusty and tannic Sterling and Georges de Latour only highlighted this wine’s fruit and velvety texture.

The Bottom Line: Buy-A-Case:  This wine brings reassuring faith in the quality Trader Joe’s can source for their private label selections.  I’ve done the research on this label on the TTB’s website and found the origin of this wine;  I think most people would be super impressed with this source.  I’ve read a few blogs who have been critical of past TJ’s releases and I completely agree with some of the observations.  Not all have been winners.  That’s why I’m building this blog on my own time and very often my own dime.  I enjoy the thrill of the hunt for great wines at steal prices.  Personally, saving $20+ bucks tastes damn good to me.  The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve is one of those wines.  Buy this wine before I get it all.

Question: Has anyone ever tried a very premium Meritage and tried this wine?  I’d like to hear your thoughts and observations in the comments.

Bonus Dork Info

  • Grape Varietals – 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec.
  • Alcohol – 14.1%
  • pH – 3.68
  • SO2 – 96 ppm
  • TA – 6.5 g/L
  • RS – <5 g/L
  • Fining Agent – None

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