Listen homies, this description is going to be pretty cringe, but apparently that’s what the algorithm wants, so I shall obey its wishes.
Dustin here, a certified sommelier, wine sommelier, and your Wine Guy. In this video, we’re going headfirst into the world of Trader Joe’s red Bordeaux wine, from wallet-friendly $7 bottles to wallet-crushing $69 options. My mission? To determine if the most expensive bottle is truly the best Bordeaux wine and to see how Trader Joe’s own Platinum Reserve wine from Bordeaux stacks up against the big guns from the renowned Bordeaux wine region and Bordeaux wineries. We’ll break down what is Bordeaux wine and how to choose the best trader joe’s wine without needing a Ph.D. in French wine labels. By the end of this Trader Joe’s wine review, you’ll be a Bordeaux-buying pro, ready to impress your friends at your next dinner party (or just hoard all the best Trader Joe’s red wine bottles for yourself, I won’t judge).
If you enjoyed this wine blind tasting and want to see more practical, mostly non-pretentious wine wisdom from yours truly, consider subscribing and dropping a comment below letting me know what other wine topics you’d like this wine tasting sommelier to cover.
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there’s like a touch of barrel Funk on this that’s kind of pleasurable honestly it just tastes oh man there’s that flat don’t put that in the video I bought every single bottle of red Bordeaux wine I could find at my local Trader Joe’s here in Austin Texas took them home then blind tasted them all in order to find out if the most expensive bottle was the best by the way I’m Dustin McCade I’m a certified SoMo and I’m here to help everyday people discover the profound pleasure of great wine by giving practical mostly non-pretentious wine buying advice all while having some fun in the process at the end of my shopping spree today I ended up with 12 bottles ranging in price from $7 on the low end all the way up to $69 seeing all of these bottles made me realize that I had so many more questions than just is the most expensive one best and perhaps the question burning most intensely for me is how will Trader Joe’s own house brand of wine the 2022 Platinum Reserve hold up against the others at only $15 I’m just so curious if these Platinum Reserve wines are an amazing deal worthy of the Trader Joe’s name or if they are just an insult to it fortunately we won’t have to wait long for answers because I Promise by the end of this video you will know exactly which bottles of red Bordeaux wine at Trader Joe’s are worth your hard- earned money and you will learn enough about Bordeaux to be a little dangerous a little Bordeaux dangerous you’ll be Anthony Bor dangerous before we find out how Trader Joe’s own Platinum Reserve Bordeaux holds up against those more expensive bottles let’s first talk a little bit about Bordeaux in general just to clear up some common points of confusion and to get us all in the same page age for the tasting the first point of confusion is simply what is Bordeaux people typically know it’s a place but is it also a type of grape if not then what grapes are in it what compounds this confusion is that if you look for answers on a bottle of Bordeaux wine the vast majority of the labels won’t have any information that will directly answer your questions in fact of the 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine that I purchased today not a single n of them mentioned a great variety on their label so let’s clear this up since the vitar in France clearly aren’t going to help you first Bordeaux is a place it’s a legendary wine growing region in the southwest of France it is not a great variety but in Bordeaux only six types of grapes are permitted by law to be grown and used for wine so Bordeaux is not a type of grape it is a blend of six different grapes those six grapes are Cabernet San Mero Cabernet Fran malbeck petite verox and carire at the end of the day the key takeaway is that Bordeaux means a red wine that is either primarily Cabernet soan or primarily Mero now we truly are ready to find out how Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve brand Stacks up against the others all right let’s get to work [Music] all right let’s kick things off with a bang by tasting the most expensive wines first right out of the gate we have the $69 2020 Chateau oat bayi it is from the Left Bank so it is primarily Cabernet soan and it is one of only three Wines in the lineup do at gr crew Class A which by the way is a legal certification of quality from the French government Pleasant this wine is it’s pretty good it has some tension in it I think it would benefit from a bit of air the nose is is lightly Pleasant it’s not inviting me to continue to you know write a Sonet about it as I look listful into a sunset or anything it’s got a little something something and I think with some air some of the flawed characteristics in it would subside oh boy it’s hard to it’s hard to call it a b it really is so I feel as though this is a C+ and I would expect to pay about $10 to $15 for a wine of this quality oh yikes that was rough let’s see if the next wine which is our second gron crew Class A can do any better it is also from the Left Bank of Bordeaux so it is primarily Cabernet as well it’s the $59 Chateau geese four there’s like a touch of barrel Funk on this that’s kind of pleasurable honestly it just tastes oh man there’s that black don’t put that in the video I’m a pacifist what have I done he didn’t deserve it why couldn’t we coexist anyway back to Barrel Funk yeah there’s a touch of barrel Funk on this interesting it smells like you’re inside of a wine cave which if you haven’t been in wine it’s really nice it’s got you don’t want to live in it or anything but when you walk in you’re kind of like oh this is interesting I like it let’s see it kind of tastes a little bit like Barrel fun it tastes a little bit like you’re inside the wine seller and you’ve decided to lick the walls ATT test that that’s pleasurable most Wine sellers are worth licking the walls um I mean just the barrel Funk alone and the fact that the flaws that are present are managed okay I think from a cons consumer advice standpoint cuz I care about you this is a c I just don’t think a lot of people are going to find this to be very interesting if you are super super into wine you know like me and you kind of just enjoy licking you know the walls like a like a wine seller just let me know in the comments so that way we can all my wife’s call it at the very end of it this is a sea wine despite the barrel Funk despite how interesting it would be a lick the inside of a wine seller I I just don’t think most people are looking for that sort of thing uh and so I I really think for a wine of this quality you shouldn’t pay more than about 10 bucks holy Christ things are not looking good for the gron crew classes let’s see if the final one can redeem the storied gron crew class name this wine is another Left Bank Cabernet it is the $42 Chateau CR bage see what we’re dealing with here oh wow okay yeah okay this smells magnificent it is incredibly Rich it’s just very pleasant to smell like you just want to it’s inviting you to continue to smell it it’s Supple it’s elegant oh yeah and those that’s what it smells like let’s see what it tastes like that’s pretty great at this moment this wine needs air I’ve mentioned that some of these other wines at a smell it’s unsure whether it’s exhibiting some sort of tension or flaw this wine is exhibiting tension instead of it tasting like acetone it’s tasting like alcohol that simply blossoming it’s it’s it’s kind of like radiating out of it it’s almost like once air gets in it all of those tense flavors are just going to open up this is an example of something that probably needs a couple hours to open in an Ideal World before you drink it this is quacktastic I really enjoy this this is a B+ uh I would expect to pay around 25 to3 $5 for a bottle of wine like this but ultimately I really enjoy it and I think you would too all right that was pretty good uh we have a new leader now which is awesome now let’s check out something very out of the ordinary it is a Mero driven blend from the Left Bank of bordo this is so strange that I had to look it up just to verify I wasn’t misreading something this is the $32 Chateau or may depe literally not like it doesn’t even spell like any anything uh yeah there’s nothing on the nose of the swine that’s not necessarily a bad thing but you know it’s a big part of the taste experience so just really have to wow me on the on the palette it does not wow me this just honestly sucks I can’t go to an F for this like this would be totally fine it was the only red wine you know available for free at the at the wedding that you’re at and it’s one of those beer and wine only weddings that are the bane of everybody’s existence and so if you had to suffer through this you’d be fine but boy it just has the predominant experience is how lacking it is it just kind of tastes like red wine with a bunch of flawed acetone harshness so it just tastes cheap I give it a d don’t ever pay for this with your own money it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you had to drink this at Li a wedding oh yikes that was abysmal that is a profound amount of money to spend for a bad wine let let’s see if any of the cheaper wines can Faire better or if we’ve already peaked the next one is another Left Bank Cabernet it’s the $26 Chateau tayak oh wow okay yeah very pleasant yeah there’s a lot going on here it actually smells like red fruit and there’s already some like graphite kind of pencil shavings type of thing that sounds weird but I promise you it’s very pleasant it’s a it’s like a desirable pencil shavings kind of thing see how taste yeah that’s really good it needs a little bit of time to open up but boy it has fruit it has secondary notes that are this is a very flinty metallic wine but the fruit is just really Supple and you know it’s it’s not one of these wines that’s like very deeply heavy honestly has a little bit of brightness to it it’s very very enjoyable I think with a little bit of time and some more air this is going to be like an absolute stunner I think this is an A minus for sure this is a very very good wine I would expect to pay about $35 to $50 for a wine of this quality ladies and gentlemen it looks like we haven’t peaked after all this for sure just got interesting let’s see if an even cheaper wine can beat these 60 and $70 bottles next up is another Left Bank Cabernet this one is the $19 beron de foni okay subtle but something I don’t know this kind of reminds me of like those memes about lroy where it’s like somebody yelled the name of the fruit that it’s supposed to be flavored of from the other room you know they’re like blueberry this vaguely smells like wine but it’s it’s like someone’s literally yelling it from the other room it’s it’s subtle it’s not unpleasant but it’s just there’s not much to it this is fine honestly it’s this flawed it it flaws are present seems to be the theme of the of of the tasting so far it but it’s not so bad I mean it boy just full stop this is a c there’s just nothing interesting truly about it it’s not so bad that you should absolutely avoid it but it’s just kind of like red wine it’s pretty middle of the road I think there’s a category like this is a market for a lot of people right like they’re really excited about these wines that just kind of taste like red wine somehow that is its own flavor uh but it’s distinctly different than what fine Bordeaux and cabernet subon from Napa Valley there’s just this like red wine taste uh this has that uh C I would expect to pay no more than $10 a bottle for a wine of this quality okay not the best work from Bon De fonon let’s see if the next wine in our lineup can Faire any better it is our final Left Bank Cabernet it’s the $18 L Ro Daron okay honestly this has a ton of like Funk on on it it’s not cork rot funk I wouldn’t say it’s like a pleasing note it’s a little bit of metallic graphite sort of deal I know I’m trying not to be pretentious here it’s just it’s just what it smells like let’s see what it tastes like here let’s give it a whole thing that is isn’t very good it just tastes so cheap I mean it just tastes yikes okay let me recant a little bit here let me get more clear this is ultimately not a very enjoyable wine at the very bottom just feels flawed it has nothing interesting or exciting about it like it’s not horrible like it’s not an F the only circumstance where you should drink this is if you getting it for free at a wedding right like it’s the red wine on offer so I’m going to give this a d That’s a swing in a Miss big time from the RO D are we doomed to nothing but poor wine from here on out are our best days behind us let’s find out with our first right Bank Mero it’s the $16 T treay dumolin okay on the nose this is to me like very classically Left Bank you know we’ll see if that plays out but it is just so minerally it feels like you’re smelling rocks and Flint let’s see how it ends up on the taste on the palette on the taste this is a perfect example of a classic Left Bank Cabernet San driven wine now I don’t know what it is you know but it would shock the hell out of me if this wasn’t a Left Bank wine it’s not a banger you know this is a for sure an acquired taste it’s very minerally there’s not much fruit presence but it’s not very flawed I know that’s not very encouraging there’s a little bit of an acetone finish that isn’t very pleasurable But ultimately those mineral notes are pleasurable if you’re seeking that sort of thing which I do enjoy ultimately this to me tastes like a cheaper wine I’d rate this a C+ I would expect to pay no more than $10 to $15 for a bottle of this quality that was all right I I feel like we need something to really shake things up help us get a w on the board luckily we have the legend leg up next it’s another right Bank Mero it’s the $15 Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve okay there’s a little bit of something interesting on this we’re keeping with a theme around Barrel Funk we’ll see how I actually edit this and in what order these are so that sentence might make no sense but ultimately you know yeah there’s a little bit of funk on it but it’s pleasurable Funk it’s not screaming at me that it’s super interesting it’s not inviting me though to keep smelling it like I’m like oh it’s interesting and then you have a smell and you’re like I’m good so not really a quality you’re looking for in fine wine okay I’m just going to like give you my gut immediate it’s a C+ that’s a C+ it’s a perfect C+ if there could be such a thing oh no camer camera temperature is rising okay so it’s a perfect C+ the reason why is that the flaws are all managed properly but there’s some good presence of fruit it’s just drinkable like it’s the sort of thing that you would probably do well to bring to a family dinner I think people would buy and large probably like this okay I think it probably needs a little bit of air it’s a C+ it’s it’s okay I I would expect for a wine of this quality to pay you know about 10 to 15 bucks you know that saying never meet your Heroes yeah I just kind of hoped for more from tjs but alas you know they’re doing okay up next is a wine not just from the left bank or the right Bank it is from grapes all over Bordeaux these final wines don’t have any specific appellations listed they just say that they’re from Bordeaux that typically means they buy discount grapes from all over Bordeaux to make a wine let’s see how the $12 Chateau de Seguin holds up what what’s that hello yeah what’s hey there what’s this little guy what are you doing there buddy like And subscribe what you just want you just want people to like And subscribe yeah just I just want people to like scbe oh you know that’s really sweet of you to care so much well you know I know it it really helps the channel and everything and you know you can imagine buying all these wines isn’t cheap so just free just clicking that like button clicking subscribe it makes a big difference right yeah do you hear that what’s that that’s everybody clicking like yeah yeah and they’re also what are they doing they’re clicking subscribe too yeah they’re click and subscribe oh yeah buddy oh you’re so happy now yeah they click subscribe yeah I’m pretty jazzed about it too you know so thank you thank you very much for doing that it really means so much more than you know thank you back to boozing there’s like a faint hint of something interesting like uh it just reminds me of like a like almost like a fern it’s got small Fern energy yeah let’s see how it translates on the pallette this is pretty good uh you know it’s not going to win any awards and besides it’s its small Fern energy it’s hard to really articulate what makes it pleasurable I think it’s a little bit on that this just like it tastes like red wine path it has a little bit more character than just red wine and maybe it’s because the flaws that are present are turned down a little bit you can just kind of taste a bit more of the the brightness and the richness of this wine it’s it’s hard to articulate anything particularly interesting about it but it’s pretty good I’d say it’s a C+ and I think for a wine of this quality I I’d expect to pay about 10 to 15 bucks all right not too bad let’s keep this energy up and check out the second least expensive wine in the lineup it is the $8 B by f b honestly really almost nothing on the nose you got to really really dig in there which is sometimes okay it could mean that it’s tense and there’s something really waiting or it could just mean it’s a dud Let’s uh let’s give it a taste H okay interesting uh you know the nose was not entirely accurate there’s a bit of fruit in this wine it’s a bit approachable but it still has unfortunately a number of of flawed notes in it like it has some notes of acetone and you can tell with some wines that are you know of high quality that with air they might open up you can you can taste a tension in them this wine doesn’t have that tension it it feels like all Air would do would simply Bloom those alcohol notes even further so it has some fruit it’s I know I’m saying a lot of negative things honestly it’s it’s pretty drinkable it’s it’s pretty good I’m going to give this a full C I wouldn’t pay more than $10 for this wine I really think that would be the right spot to be but if it’s in your price range and you’re trying to get into Bordeaux you know this could be a good one it’ll be funny though to find out if this one is $60 or something that would really be you know pretty funny here we are the final one the cheapest bordeau wine you can find in a Trader Joe’s it is the $749 Le pte de bordo although it’s it’s not particularly interesting on the nose it does feel like it has some tension in it but let’s see if that follows through ultimately this is another wine that is it has flaws in it so far very rarely is a note of acetone a pleasurable thing it can in the most high alcohol wines potentially provide a little bit of a lift that can be pleasurable but it’s got to be razor thin the margin on that is is thin in general it really notes like a cheaper quality wine which is a shame that this has that quality because this is starting to kind of message like a wine of higher quality it has both presence of fruit but also like some secondary notes like some heavy tannins and even some layers of tobacco so I can’t say that I like this wine but I do think that this would be a banger you know I’m going to give it a C+ I think you know so so around 10 to 15 bucks is what I would expect to pay for this kind of wine so third place overall for a $7 wine that is awesome what a showing it turns out that price is not an indicator of quality at Trader Joe’s all right we’ve got just one final order of business to take care of before we conclude we were really fortunate to find a wine that was really exceptional and so we’re going to honor this wine by crowning it the king of the wines now so there you have it we’ve crowned a bottle it’s the 2021 Chateau tayak let’s see how long this one lasts will it stand the test of time or will it be felled by the very next tasting holy time will tell this would be probably a good time to consider subscribing to see how long this thing lasts thank you so much for watching I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you spent this time with me you’ll be able to amazing day and hope you go kick some ass take care see you soon bye [Music]