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Duckhorn's Vineyard for $10?

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Have you ever stumbled upon a wine that makes you do a double-take at the price tag? That's exactly what happened when I discovered the Trader Joe's Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 – a $9.99 bottle sourced from the same prestigious vineyard where Duckhorn produces their $65 Chardonnays.

This remarkable find represents the fascinating behind-the-scenes reality of today's wine market. The Huichica Hills Vineyard sits in Carneros, that coveted region straddling Napa and Sonoma where cool breezes from San Pablo Bay create perfect conditions for Chardonnay. When I tasted this wine, the quality was immediately apparent – medium to full-bodied with beautifully integrated oak providing subtle vanilla notes without overwhelming the fruit. The flavor profile showcases classic Carneros characteristics: vibrant lemon and apple, hints of Anjou pear, white stone fruits like nectarine, and even subtle tropical notes reminiscent of coconut milk. Most impressively, it delivers the lengthy finish typically reserved for wines at much higher price points.

The story behind this bottle reflects the current wine industry downturn, with consumption dropping approximately 10% in 2024. These market conditions have disrupted normal supply chains, creating situations where premium fruit originally destined for high-end bottlings becomes available for opportunistic projects. Produced by Plata Wine Partners (under their Ashford Court label), a company controlling some 20,000 acres of California vineyards, this wine demonstrates what can happen when quality fruit meets skilled winemaking, regardless of the price point. If you appreciate Chardonnay with balanced acidity, complex flavors, and remarkable value, don't walk – run to Trader Joe's before this exceptional bargain disappears from shelves.

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Speaker 1:

Hey, domain Dave CheapWineFightercom, welcome. Today we've got an interesting Trader Joe's a new one. This is the first time I saw it in Trader Joe's. It's the Trader Joe's Reserve Wine. It's the I don't know the pronunciation. It's a Huchica Hills H-U-I-C-H-I-C-A Hills Vineyard, canaros N, napa, chardonnay 2023. Now they just came out with a Canaros and this is a Chardonnay. They just came out with a Canaros Chardonnay in November, in time for the holidays.

Speaker 1:

But this is completely different bottling and what's interesting about this one is Kuchika Hills Vineyard is Duckhorn's Canaros Vineyard, the big Napa producer. They do Merlots and that type of thing and then but they have, this is from their vineyard. Canaros is in both Sonoma and Napa, but it's mostly in Napa and it is above the northern portion of the San Pablo Bay, which is east of Oakland, and it gets these cool breezes from the bay which is a part of you know, even though it's cut off a little bit from the Pacific Ocean, it still has the cool temperatures of the water and the winds and that type of thing the cool temperatures of the water and the winds and that type of thing, which is why San Francisco and Oakland are cold, because you've got Pacific water on both sides of them and it's a really elite place for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This is a $9.99 bottle of a wine that's from Duckhorn's Vineyard. I mean, typically speaking, when you get a vineyard named on the label that costs some bucks to put it there, I mean that is kind of elite. I mean, if you look at the expensive wines, they'll usually have a vineyard named there or whatever. And if you look at value price wines, it's almost never there on a label like that. It might be in their tasting notes that they got a single vineyard wine or whatever. This is a high-end, oh and. And duck horns of chardonnays from this vineyard are in the 65 dollar range. At least they list for 65. I don't know if people pay that much, but it's not 9.99. Um.

Speaker 1:

So where do these wines come from? And here is a little bit, and I'm not sure I don't know the details. Platter Wine Partners. It says Ashford Court vented and bottled it on the back label. Vented and bottled just means they bottled it. What happened to it before they vented and bottled it? I don't know. And Ashford Court is part of Platter Wine Partners, which is a large wine company in California. I think they're based in Napa, but they control 20,000 acres of vines. They're no small wine company. But how they got this wine or what the details are, did they always have a contract with Kushka Hills Vineyard and something fell through so they made it for Trader Joe's. I don't know, but it's a. But Platyca, platy Partners is a. They do a couple of the better Trader Joe's wines too the Cotillion and a couple of other ones.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to take a sip. Other ones, let's take a sip. This is a medium to full body but I think there's some oak, because I'm getting some vanilla, but it's not over oak. It's not one of those kinds of wines. It's got length that lingers for a while. It's got lemon and apple and maybe anju pear one of those pears that aren't overly juicy peaches, tropical fruit I'm getting a little bit of like coconut milk type thing going on, like white fleshed stone fruit, maybe like a nectarine, maybe a hint of a tangerine or blood orange, one of those things, just to hit a little bit of that in there. It's got a lot of flavor and it's decently complex and as a finish it lingers, which are all good things for a well any wine actually, but for a $9.99 Chardonnay. So these grapes from this vineyard were never made to be sold for $10.

Speaker 1:

And in the last year well, 2024 was a bad year in wine. There was a downturn that was down as much and maybe more as 10% in some places, and contracts and vineyards people who are planning on expanding their line decided against it. People are coming up with new brands. Didn't come up with new brands. If you notice, there's not a lot of new wines. There might be the tried and true wines are still there, but new wines not. Might be the tried and true rinds are still there, but new wines not so much, which is kind of like Trader Joe's. They have to walk the line because if they do something new, it better be a bargain. It better be some people talking about it because people aren't drinking as much. So they've got to be careful. It's a tightrope they're walking, but I think this is a pretty good tightrope.

Speaker 1:

I also saw a Rutherford Napa for $20, which is going to be something that. Where did that come from? So I'll look into that too. So this is a really nice Chardonnay. It's in time for the holidays. Easter Chardonnay does well with the meal.

Speaker 1:

This is a tasty one with good acidity. It's well made Plata Partners. If Plata Partners did more than just bottle it, they know what they're doing. Their winemaker is actually pretty good, so there's nothing. This is a wine that is a bargain Ten bucks for a Canaros single vineyard. Fancy Winery owns the vineyard, so they don't play games with their vineyards. This is all good stuff. I'm taking the last sip here. So there you go. The Trader Joe's Reserve, uchica Hills Vineyard. Uchicuchi Hills. Canaros Napa Chardonnay 2023. Buy itader Joe's Reserve, uchica Hills Vineyard. Uchicuchi Hills. Canaro's Napa Chardonnay 2023. Buy it. It's a bargain. There's no reason not to. I've got a French Burgundy Pinot coming up in a couple of days. So there you go. Stay safe and warm and cool Weird out there, and I'll be talking to everybody in a couple of days. Adios, keep it cheap. This is Domain Day for Cheap Wine Finder. Bye-bye.