CheapWineFinder Podcast
Talking about remarkable wines that pair nicely with your wallet! Because we like to keep it cheap but excellent.
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Trader Joe's Diamond Reserve: The Secret $20 Napa Cab Worth Three Times the Price
The unexpected bargains of wine industry disruption take center stage as Domain Dave explores Trader Joe's Diamond Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2023. At $19.99, this single-vineyard wine represents the upper tier of Trader Joe's offerings, yet delivers value far beyond its price point.
What makes this bottle particularly intriguing is the mystery behind its origins. While Trader Joe's typically provides subtle hints about their premium wines' sources, this label remains conspicuously silent—suggesting a particularly prestigious pedigree. The clues are tantalizing: it's a single-vineyard Napa Cabernet from a specific sub-appellation, aged 14 months in French and American oak, with classic Bordeaux-style blending (touches of Petit Verdot and Merlot). All signs point to a wine that would typically command $50+ at retail.
The current wine market echoes conditions last seen during the 2008 recession, with major players like Duckhorn, parts of Coppola's Del Cato, and Constellation Brands shedding assets and canceling contracts. These disruptions create opportunities for value-minded wine enthusiasts willing to explore. As Dave explains, wines never intended for value channels suddenly appear at bargain prices when producers face financial pressure. This Diamond Reserve Napa Cab drinks well immediately but shows potential for further improvement with six months of additional aging. The challenge? As a limited-edition release, it won't be available for long.
Have you noticed other unexpected premium wines appearing at value prices recently? The current market conditions suggest we might see more such opportunities. While you contemplate this Napa Cabernet, stay tuned for Dave's upcoming review of a $6 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Remember to keep your wine adventures affordable without sacrificing quality. These distress sales from premium producers represent perfectly timed opportunities for savvy wine lovers.
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Hey, welcome Domain Dave CheapWineFightercom. Again, another value wine. This one is a little bit more expensive. It's $19.99. It is the Trader Joe's Diamond Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2023. The Diamond Collection is their upper end and they say that even though it's $20, that it is maybe a wine that originally would have sold for two or three times the price. And that could possibly be true. It says Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which is about as generic as you can get for one of these wines, because you actually as generic as you can get is putting California on there. And they could do that for a Napa Valley wine, but no one would because Napa's a selling point. But this is actually a single vineyard wine, which means it's from a sub-AVA. And since it's a single vineyard wine, it's probably an estate wine. That's how estate wines go. Or if it's not an estate wine, the grapes were purchased. It's purchased from a pretty fancy vineyard that you would not want to add anything else onto. All of that says 1999 is a bargain, it's got 14 months in both French and American oak barrels.
Speaker 1:They don't do any detail. They literally say that we can't tell you what this is all about. They often will give hints on their diamond and platinum reserves. They're kind of obscure hints and you can never be 100% sure, but it can point you in the right direction. Here we get nothing.
Speaker 1:The back label says Vinted and bottled by Vino Ecology. I think it is Vino Ecology I think it is which is a website that has everything you ever needed in making wine. In there you can hire employees, buy equipment, buy the grapes, find distributors, find people to help you make the wine Everything. I just scratched the surface, what they do. But they vented and bottled by me. As they bottled it. They have a bottling line.
Speaker 1:So what is this? This is a hundred percent. Well, not 100%. This is Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Petit Bordeaux and a touch of Merlot added on, which is the Bordeaux style. Those are the other two grapes are that and Cab Franc are the Bordeaux grapes.
Speaker 1:So what's going on here? I don't know How's it taste. I'm going to take a sip. Tastes good actually. It's very flavorful and it's got good length.
Speaker 1:You know I'm not an expert at all on anything at all, but when it comes to wine, you know I know more about value-priced wines. I know that I don't know. I've had them, but I don't study them Expensive Napa wines. But if you ask me, this wine could use maybe another six months of age just to let it. You know, pull it out around Christmas. But the problem is this is a limited edition wine. When this is gone, it's gone. So you're going to have to make that decision now and hopefully, because this might well be a $50 wine or more or whatever. You know, single vineyard Napa wines are usually kind of pricey. 2023 might be a little bit early, not too early. It drinks, it sips well. I'm not saying it doesn't sip well, it does just fine. But I think there's more for this wine to give with a little bit of time. So there you go.
Speaker 1:So what's going on here? Duckhorn got rid of some of their brands. Part of Coppola Del Cato shut down a winery facility. Castellation Brands sold off a bunch of their brands. It's happening everywhere. There's brands being mothballed. There's contracts being canceled with vineyards. There's wineries that we're going to be doing making so many wines. They're not making them anymore, and it's all happened kind of suddenly. There's been a downturn in the market. I don't think they were planning on it, so there are bargains to be had. Back in 2008, when we started out the website. There was a major worldwide recession and there was crazy bargains $60 wines for $10. $40 wines for $5. I remember Bronco Wines had a Merlot that a winery needed quick cash and they only wanted to sell him one year's worth of grapes and he made them do two and he sold it for five bucks just because he could. And that kind of stuff used to be happening all the time and it's starting to happen again.
Speaker 1:Like I said, this is not a wine that was ever meant to be a Trader Joe's wine. This is a single vineyard. Napa sub AVA has such a good pedigree that if they told you, people would start rush to the store and buy this or wouldn't buy the original bottles, which is kind of how the negotiant works. But you know, negotiants sometimes wink, wink, nod, nod. Let people know where it comes from. This might not have the full winery production going on. It might be, you know, somebody else might have took over. So it's not that all together, but it's still under $20. So there you go. This is Domain Dave Chewinefindercom.
Speaker 1:This is the 1999 Trader Joe's Diamond Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2023. There's more here than meets the eye, but it does meet your taste buds. So it's 1999, which is about the upper reach of Trader Joe's wines. You might think twice about buying it, but this might be one of the better diamond reserves around. In the past there were wines that probably didn't have the distress sale sign on them. So here we go, we're getting a bargain. So, adios, keep it cheap. I'll be talking to everybody. In a couple of days. I've got a Sauvignon Blanc coming up from New Zealand. I almost couldn't pronounce it, but we have one coming up in a couple of days and it's like a $6 wine. It should be a fun one. Adios, keep it cheap, bye-bye.