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Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve: Unveiling a Premium Piedmont Bargain at $20 Off

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Wine lovers, prepare for a revelation that might have you sprinting to Trader Joe's! We've uncovered an astonishing value hidden on their shelves - a $14.99 bottle that rivals wines selling for more than twice that price.

This Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve from Italy's prestigious Nizza DOCG region isn't your typical private label wine. It comes from Bersano Estate, a 123-year-old family-owned winery whose comparable bottles fetch $35 under their own label. What makes this find spectacular is its pedigree - from one of only 18 villages in the elite Nizza designation, produced from their finest Generala vineyard, and aged meticulously following strict DOCG standards (minimum 30 months with at least 12 in barrel).

The Barbera grape has a fascinating history in Italy's Piedmont region. While Nebbiolo (of Barolo fame) gets the glory, Barbera produces wonderful everyday wines that, when grown in premier sites like Nizza and treated with respect, develop remarkable complexity. This 2019 vintage shows beautiful balance with dark, brooding fruit rather than bright juiciness - perfect for pairing with grilled steaks, roasts, or barbecue as summer approaches. The wine's depth comes from proper aging and traditional winemaking methods (80% in large old barrels, 20% in newer oak).

How did such a premium bottle end up at Trader Joe's for $20 less than retail? Likely a combination of challenging wine market conditions and TJ's savvy buying team. Whatever the reason, this represents one of the best wine values we've encountered this year. Have you found similar hidden gems at Trader Joe's? Share your discoveries and let us know what you think of this Italian bargain!

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Speaker 1:

hey, welcome. It's a domain dave. Cheapwinefindercom. Another wine review today for a wine we wrote up on the cheapwinefindercom website, like we always do, and this one is a 1499 trader joe's platinum reserve wine. That needs a little bit of explanation because it's not like their typical platinum reserve or gold reserve or reserve reserve. You never know a damn thing. Oops, I swore you never know anything about their wines. It's always hush-hush. Sometimes you can kind of figure out who made it, maybe not.

Speaker 1:

This one is from the Piedmont in Italy. It is from Bersano Estate, a 123-year-old family-owned winery. It's changed hands a few times but it's still privately owned. It's from the NISA. N-i-z-z-a-d-o-c-g DOC is a governing body for Italian wine. G is guaranteed. They guarantee the quality. They're not going to guarantee you like it. And this is a Barbera.

Speaker 1:

Nisa was part of Barbera d'Asti, which is part of the region, and in 2014, it broke off into its own kind of top-notch area. There's like 160 different villages for the Barbera d'Asti. There's only 18 villages for the Niza and there's more stringent requirements. You know how many. What the yield can be. Um needs. It has to be 100 percent fire bearer. The rest of it has 90. They can blend and uh and aging. Um has to be at least, uh, 30 months aging, with at least 12 months in barrel. And uh, what do we got here? So we know who made it, we know where it was made. We know there's a town nearby. It's the Generalisa, generalosa, one of those names, I don't have it. I can look at it up here. What do we got here? Generalisa, that's their vineyards. You know which vineyard it came from, and this is one of the. This is a Bersano's elite vineyard in Niza. It's an old vineyard. It's where the Barbera comes from. So, barbera, what's up with Barbera? Because you don't really see a lot of it in value price wine In Piedmont. Nebbiolo is the leading grape there and Nebbiolo makes Barolo, and Barolo is the wine of Italy. It is the equivalent of a Bordeaux red blend, a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. It's the top notch of the wine and Barbera is seen as something a little bit lesser, more like a value price wine which is right up our alley. Except, this is the Barbera from this region. That's got all the bells and whistles it's got. You know what the vineyard is, you know what town it's near um, you know who made it? Uh, like, a long time used to be a og wine estate. Well, this is the top and plus it's a 2019. This is 2025.

Speaker 1:

It's been aged for a while, which might have been one of the reasons that Trader Joe's has it, because I went online and I found Bersano's own wine and that one sells for $35 under their own label. But this is the same thing, same vineyard. I mean, there's the same type of thing. How they make the wine they use. 80% of it is aged in these big old barrels. 20% of them are newer, modern barrels. That's how they make their other wine. This is basically Bersano's Niso Barbera Preserva, just with Trader Joe's label on it, and Trader Joe's sells for $15. They've sold theirs for $35. This is $20 off. Now they said that wine was aged for a minimum of 12 months in barrel and 12 months afterwards, so there's a few months they're missing. So I think that's probably about 18 months in barrel.

Speaker 1:

And where has it been for the last couple years? Because that was, uh, should have been ready a couple years ago, which is might be it barbara. In the united states people don't know what it is and one of the reasons is back in the 1980s, some unscrupulous wine dealers had a Barbera. That wasn't right. It didn't have enough sweetness and they cut it with glycerin I think that's the story I've heard which is what the ingredient is of antifreeze and you put too much in. That ain't't good and it killed about eight people. So for a long time, barbara, no one would drink it because it killed people. I mean, it's one of those things the grape itself had nothing to do with. It was these nitwits who put poison in the wine, but it kind of stunted.

Speaker 1:

This is. This was 1984, 1985, and barbera still hasn't kicked in. Now in Italy it is a cheap wine finder wine. If you want a $10, $12 wine, barbera is right where you want it to be. I'm going to take a sip.

Speaker 1:

But this is like I said, this is aged and they went all out making the wine. This is a little bit more dark and brooding. It's got good red fruit. It's very balanced. It's not bright and juicy like a California drink-it-now wine would be. This has got like I said, it's got more age to it. So if you're interested in like an aged Italian wine, this might be just the one you're looking for. I mean, it's just at 20 bucks off for a top notch. If you're looking for Italian Piedmont Barbera from Nyssa. You're starting at the top with this one.

Speaker 1:

How Trader Joe's got it it, I don't know. It could have been sitting around. They need to get rid of it. And they got a deal because, you know, wine wine's been off like 10, telling you, I mean, uh, european wines off even more. Just, the wine industry hasn't been having a lot of luck lately and I think you know, with tariffs, everything else, it might get even worse. So there's going to's going to be some fun wines coming up. You know we're taking advantage of other people's misfortune, but when you can drink their misfortune, that's a little better than just you know gloating. So there you go.

Speaker 1:

This was the Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Rosano Nisa Barbera Reserva 2019. It is a top-notch Barbera. This is as good as it gets in that region and it tastes pretty good. It's more dark and brooding than bright and bubbly, but it's a good-tasting wine. It sips well. I would probably pick it, choose it to have a meal with. It's getting warmer out there. You can throw a couple steaks in the grill. You've got to roast, you get barbecue. This stuff would work really well with that, just because it's got a little more depth to it. I think that's where it goes. So, adios, keep it cheap. I'll be talking to you in a couple more days, so stay safe, cooler, warm, whatever's out there it's.