Big name Bordeaux at a budget Trader Joe’s price. We review the new Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Lot 109.
There’s no indication on the varietals or aging but wines from Saint-Emilion in Bordeaux, France are almost always focused on Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The Grand Cru status means is has an extra 14 months of aging before release, which could be in the bottle.
Following on the heels of the Trader Joe’s Diamond Reserve Pauillac, Trader Joe’s has released a couple more Bordeaux wines under their own label, both centered around Saint-Emilion on the Right Bank. This is one of our favorite areas in Bordeaux so we were quite happy to see this bottle and the Reserve Lussac Saint-Emilion, which we will be reviewing shortly, on the shelf.
Today’s wine falls under the Grand Cru designation which is a step up from the regular Saint-Emilion designation and a look at the back label confirms that the wine was vinted and bottled by Chateau Tour Baladoz, which is a Grand Cru Classé winery and part of the Vignobles DE MOUR family of wineries. Their own Grand Cru Saint-Emilion sells for closer to $60.
This wine is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s. Interestingly, this one is priced $2 more than most of the Platinum Reserve wines at $16.99. It was imported by Latitude Wines, LLC.
From the bottle:
Lot #109
Vinted and Bottled by SCEA Chateau Tour Baladoz
13.5% Alcohol
While all of the above sounds good, the
This Article was originally published on The Reverse Wine Snob
