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Oregon Columbia Valley Pinot Noir?@ Trader Joe's
Discovering exceptional wine values is always exciting, especially when they come from unexpected places. The Sunshine Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 from the Columbia Valley of Oregon represents exactly this kind of delightful surprise - a $14.99 Trader Joe's exclusive that punches well above its weight class.
What makes this Pinot truly special is its origin story. Unlike the typical Oregon Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, this single-vineyard wine hails from about 60 miles east of Portland where the Columbia Valley extends into Oregon. This distinctive microclimate boasts volcanic soils and approximately 300 days of sunshine annually - dramatically different conditions than you'd expect in typically rainy western Oregon. These unique growing conditions contribute to a Pinot Noir with remarkable character and complexity.
The wine itself reveals classic translucent garnet coloration and that wonderfully funky, complex nose that Pinot enthusiasts crave. Unlike most value-priced Pinot Noir that aims for immediate approachability, Sunshine Mountain presents as more individual and complex. It starts somewhat tight, with sharp edges and spicy notes that might challenge your palate initially. But patience is rewarded - give it time to breathe, swirl your glass, and watch as beautiful fruit flavors emerge to balance those initial sharp notes. This evolution in the glass, typically found only in more expensive bottles, transforms it into something truly special.
Produced by Precept Wine Company (through their Northwest Collective subsidiary), the largest independent wine producer in the Northwest, this bottle delivers what Trader Joe's suggests would normally compete with wines in the $20-30 range. Whether you're a casual wine drinker or a dedicated Pinot enthusiast, this bottle offers an opportunity to experience a distinctive expression of Oregon terroir at a fraction of the expected price. Give it the time it deserves to open up, and you'll discover why single-vineyard Pinot Noir from unique growing regions creates such passionate devotees.
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Hey, domain Dave CheapWineFindercom. Here again with another wine review. This one is a little bit different. We'll get into that in a second. It's the Sunshine Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023. It's $14.99 at Trader Joe's and there's a story here. I don't have the whole story, but I've got bits and pieces of it.
Speaker 1:This wine is from the Columbia Valley of Oregon, not the Columbia Valley of Washington. In about 60 miles east of Portland along the the border with Oregon and Washington State, part of the Columbia Valley comes down into Oregon and there's even the Columbia Gorge going down there and this Sunshine Mountain vineyard is on a mountain overlooking the Columbia Valley and it's a single vineyard wine. This is an area since it's 60 miles east of Portland. Willamette Valley, like the premier noir area, is just south of Portland, so this is up north into the east. This is an area that has got a lot of volcanic soil. The climate changes from being rainy every other day to dry most of the time and they said the vineyard had 300 300 days of sun, so it was in the drier section exactly where this is a wine from a precip wine company. They're a big brand, the largest brand in the northwest, independent brand, the northwest and a northwest collective which is part of them made this wine, because it actually says produced and bottled, by which means they made it and bottled it. So there's a northwest collective which is out of dundee. Dundee oregon is in willamette valley.
Speaker 1:Now here's the weird part. The sunshine mountain vineyard winery is a winery in san marcos, cal. California, which is in the hills north of San Diego, a long way away. You don't normally see a wine with the same name as another winery. Now none of the San Diego wineries' wines say Sunshine Mountain. They say Sunshine but not Sunshine Mountain. So that's kind of a weird thing. You don't see that you can't directly compete by taking another wine's name, and I recall a wine a few years back that got sold out on cutout because they accidentally had the same name of a wine from Australia. So is this being sold at Trader Joe's? Because at Trader Joe's they're not competing with the other people's wines, even though you don't find San Diego wine in the stores. That often Don't know, but maybe that's why this is 14.99. Trader joe says this wine should compete with wines in the 20 to 30 range. So getting a 10 discount is a nice deal here, whatever the reason.
Speaker 1:So, um, where do we go from here? Oh, um, this region that's 60 miles east of portland, like this region that's 60 miles east of Portland, like Willamette Valley, is predominantly Pinot Noir. It's warmer out that way and it tends to be Cabernet Sauvignon. You know Bordeaux varietals. It's not the biggest Pinot Noir area.
Speaker 1:We're going to take a sip of this one. This is it's got that really see-through color, the garnet color. It's got that funky, cool nose. This is the wine that kind of opens up as you drink it. There's some sharper flavors. There's some funky spices. Some flavors are delicious. Some flavors are kind of hard to get your palate around, which is Pinot Noir. A good Pinot Noir is going to be something in there. You're going to go hmm, I don't know, in other wines. You go, give me more of that. Oh, and other ones. You go, let me give me more of that.
Speaker 1:If I were to guess, I would say this is a 20 to 30 dollar pinot noir selling for 14.95. Because value price. Pinot noir tends to be made to be familiar. They're not all the same, but you kind of what you get is kind of what you're expecting to get, or the more expensive pinot noirs tend to be more individual like this. This person makes it this way, this person makes it that way, this growing region. You know this is not the same old same old it's. This is kind of an interesting pinot noir. It is well worth drinking for 14.89. You should give it a try.
Speaker 1:It's from a boutique area. If you go to your the Pinot Isle and your local wine shop, you're probably not going to find another Oregon Columbia Valley wine there, but for $14.99 at Trader Joe's from a good, good producer. Precept makes Gruet and Brown and a couple. Oh, they make a bunch of wines. Yeah, the more it opens up, the more delicious it gets. Yeah, the more it opens up, the more delicious it gets. It can be a little tight and it can show the rougher edges and then, as it opens up, it really gives the fruit flavors and those things kind of come in and balance it out, which is something that a more expensive Pinot Noir does and a value price doesn't really do. The value price is ready to go right away.
Speaker 1:So there you go, sunshine Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023. It's available at Trader Joe's, I think, exclusively. It tastes more expensive than what it is. It's interesting, it's worth drinking, let it open up, swirl your glass around and you have a good wine. So, adios, keep it cheap. This is Domain Dave. Cheapwinefindercom Like us. We like your podcast. Got more wines coming Talk to everybody in a couple days. So, adios, keep it cheap and I'll be talking to you. Bye-bye.