Lost Sonnet 2007 Meritage Napa Valley

Lost Sonnet 2007 Meritage Napa Valley

The Wine: As of late, I’ve been seeing a lot more Red Wine blends on the shelves of Trader Joe’s; and it makes good sense. Grape growers or wine makers or grape brokers need to move some of their inventory, so they create a blend which results in enough cases for a national or regional grocery store chain, like Trader Joe’s which openly embraces the private or fictitious label wine scene. It’s us, the curious consumer who can really benefit from this sort of situation. Our wine today, Lost Sonnet from ‘Our Cellars’ is no doubt another perfect example; it comes from the same producers as Hamilton Stevens and another Trader Joe’s Reserve Petite Sirah. So, how is this wine?

The Experience:

Color: Fairly rich/dense strawberry, plum hue.

Nose: Quite fragrant berry preserves, vanilla, smokiness, little herbaceous, some wood and baking spices.

Palate: Pretty decent tannins quickly dry your mouth, then a layer of dried berries followed by coco, vanilla, little herby, spiciness and moderate acidity to the finish, which really begins to fall flat after about eight-seconds.

Bottom-Line: Worth-A-Try/Worth-Buying

Here’s a wine that is not really flawed, but nor is it brimming of original character; it’s a result of technical wine making. The appellation is Napa Valley, so it’s true to the appellation with a heavy dose of oak treatment on both the nose and palate. Is this bad? Not necessarily. But you will probably end up saying ‘This tastes like other wines I’ve had from Napa before’. But, probably paid a lot more for! So, on that account, this is good. If you’re looking for a revolutionary wine, this is not the right choice. If you’re looking for a bargin on a Napa Red Wine, this is certainly the right choice. What do you think of this wine?

Wine Info: 

• Price: $10
• Alcohol: 14.5%
• Grape Blend: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
• Appellation: Napa Valley
• Cellar: Our Cellars, Healdsburg.

Trader Joe’s Reserve 2009 Syrah Paso Robles

Trader Joes Reserve 2009 Syrah Paso Robles

The Wine: Syrah is a varietal which I’m increasingly enjoying more and more. This is a grape which is off the radar of many people and whose wine takes up barely two shelves at Trader Joe’s; which is more than often mixed in with its (perhaps) distantly related cousin, Petite Sirah. Syrah can be a ‘big’ wine whose flavor profile can often be described with words such as “gamey”, “bloody”, “spicy”, “dark berries” and “earthy”. Syrah is a grape which thrives in both cooler and warmer climates, meaning it can offer the consumer a diverse set of flavor profiles, depending upon where it is grown. Syrah is most famously a backbone grape in wines from Northern Rhone, in France. Last year, I had the 2007 TJ’s Reserve Syrah from Paso Robles and really enjoyed it. This wine stems from Familia Nueva Vineyards, who also produces another TJ’s highly acclaimed wine, Liberté  Cabernet Sauvignon. But how does this Syrah from Paso Robles stack up?

The Experience: 

Color: Very dense violet.

Nose: Sweet dark fruit (currant berries) driven with slight spice/pepper. Similar notes to grape soda in the sweetness.

Palate: Mega fruit forward upon opening. Spine of white peper on the mid-palate. Again, dark currant berries and pretty firm tannin structure. This wine opened up nicely after two days, the fruit and tannins were much more balanced.

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying

I tasted this wine with a friend along with both the 2008 and 2009 Tribunal, this was our favorite of the three wines. The 2009 Tribunal is primarily made of Syrah grapes, but leaps and bounds larger than the TJ’s Reserve Syrah because of all the other grapes used in the blend. If you like Syrah, you will more than likely enjoy this wine and its $10 price tag isn’t too bad. If pressed to find major faults in this wine, I’d say I could get an equally, if not better Syrah currently on the shelf at TJ’s, it’s called Lockwood Vineyards’ 2008 Estate Syrah, $6 bucks.

Wine Info:

• Price: $10
• Alcohol: 14.6%
• Producer: Familia Nueva Vineyards – Creston, CA.

Three Knights 2008 Chardonnay Russian River Valley

Three Knights 2008 Chardonnay Russian River Valley

The Wine: There’s chatter about California Chardonnay these days. The topic is the amount of oak which is forwardly present in many of California’s offerings. Oak is not a characteristic to be feared, but for anyone who has had a Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay ($30+) knows, that stuff tastes like rich buttered popcorn, no exaggeration. Forget the fruit, that’s alllll oak. And heavily oaked wines often are expensive because new oak barrels which impart the most flavor are expensive. Today we have wine which pleases both the oak and fruit sides of the palate, Three Knights’ 2008 Russian River Valley Chardonnay.

The Experience:

Color: A more golden yellow, clearly from the oak aging and perhaps a late(r) harvested crop.

Nose: I found the nose a bit restrained, but you can sense its richness. Apple, floral notes and you guessed it, some oak.

Palate: Fresh apples with an oak and woody finish. Nice flavors, slightly boozy, but a sweeter wine, again, perhaps a later harvested wine.

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

For $7, this is a decent wine. It won’t ring the bells of refined Chardonnay palates, but it will ring true to the typical California styled Chard drinker. If you planning on barbecuing this summer, snag a few bottles for gatherings; this wine will go over well with your group and what ever BBQ food you serve up. This wine would be one of my top choices in the sub-$10 white wine category for a general crowd pleaser.

Wine Info:

• Price: $7
• Alcohol: 13.8%
• Appellation: Russian River Valley

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

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

Canard Sauvage Petite Sirah 2009 Dry Creek Valley

If you’re a faithful reader of my website, you’ll recall I recently reviewed the Zinfandel from Canard Sauvage; this wine remains my favorite Zinfandel from TJ’s, so I’m definitely excited to be trying another offering from Canard. This is a label you can only find at TJ’s – you know that since you’re a TJ’s Wine Insider. Thanks for all who participated in my poll last week and selected Petite Sirah as one of the next wines we’ll be talking about.

Canard Sauvage 2009 Petite Sirah Dry Creek Valley

The Wine: Petite Sirah is one of my new favorite wines. This is not the same as Syrah. Petite Sirah gets its name because they are related to Syrah, but the grapes are smaller, meaning they are more dense and concentrated, making this a ‘bigger’ wine. But I find this a juicer wine than Cabernet Savignon, but finer tannins/acid than Zinfandel, so I find this a grape which blends two components of wine I enjoy. How’s Canard’s Petite Sirah?

The Experience:

Color: This wine has some dense color, almost too dense for light to pass through. The color is a real deep, thick plum hue. I like.

Nose: Directly out of the bottle I pick up coconut, which I’ve found in a few wines as of late. The barreling really comes forward quickly and powerfully emanating vanilla and oak, but mainly dense vanilla. There is a good about of ‘dark’ and ‘red’ fruit, but I didn’t make note of anything in particular.

Palate: Not very much fruit jumps forward on this wine, it’s the barreling which really comes out dominate on this wine. It’s a really dense experience of vanilla, oak and a toasty finish consisting of a nice chalky component. There really isn’t much in the way of prickly tannins on this wine and there is no alcohol burn, since this wine is 13.7%. This is a Petit Sirah which lays heavier on the juicy and dense side.

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying

I think this is a pretty good bottle of wine to buy. It’s not the best, but that’s OK. It’s a $10 bottle of wine. It doesn’t redefine my benchmark for this grape, but that’s OK. I think this is a good wine to buy if you are having red meat or pizza. It’s available daily at TJ’s so no need to stock up. Pick-up this wine and move on, you’ve selected a good wine.

Question: Tell me about what you like about Petite Sirah

Wine Info:

• Price: $10
• Appellation: Dry Creek Valley
• Alcohol: 13.7%