I enjoyed 2 bottles of this wine during the week. Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, opens slowly so a decant would help here, always tastes better the second night, only slightly fruit forward, soft tannins on the midpalate and long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. My second bottle this week-great taste, great price, save the 20 year old Cabernets for another day.
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Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, opens slowly so a decant would help here, only slightly fruit forward, soft tannins on the midpalate and long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
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I think I’m done with TJ wines, even the premium limited releases don’t seem to punch much above their price anymore. This was very one dimensional, lacking body complexity and finish, and tasted like it probably had some residual sugars and additives. Dust spice, plum. Cocoa, stewed berries and dark fruit and very fine smooth, limited finish. Approachable for sure but lacking interest.
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I mirror member "sidneysamberg" comments to the letter. I also totally agree that TJ labeled wines are not what they used to be, especially platinum and diamond collections. Drank over 2 days; no change. Dark inky color, non-descript but pleasant nose, multi-fruit flavors w/hint of chocolate, hint of sweetness, smooth & balanced, minimal tannins & light finish, limited complexity. $20 is decent QPR, and it's a pleasant pop n'pour cab, though a little flat in overall appeal. It is surprisingly better than I expected from the challenging 2020 vintage. It's just that TJ diamond wines used to taste like wines 2-3x the price.
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Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, bought 7 bottles. BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, bought 7 bottles. BTW, this shows Lot 03 on the back label.
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This had some enjoyable aspects to it, but for me it's kind of the last time I'll get excited to try one of these higher-tier TJ releases. I've had a few from the store that were solid for the price, but these platinum and now diamond releases are often worse than the $10 ones- very notably jammy, confected, etc. Sometimes tasty, but totally destroyed by tons of other $15 wine out there, and that goes double for this $20 one. A VERY faint suggestion of smoke taint at first that thankfully got absorbed into the fruit, which was nicely ripe but extremely one-dimensional, not to mention very shy overall. I've had plenty of worse $20 wine. It still falls into a pretty low tier for the price, and definitely isn't indicative of Napa Cab in any way.
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Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, bought 7 bottles. BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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Nose of rich, red fruit, dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, medium/big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, young obviously but worth the $20 to me, bought 7 bottles. BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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Took a flyer in this as Trader Joe’s seldom publishes a diamond Reserve. 2020 Cab. Purple Inky color. Sharp and young and tannic upon opening. Heavy legs. After an hour poured getting smoother. Wife liked it right off the bat. I think this is a high quality wine that will be better aged or decanted
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Opened and poured five nights in a row, got better and better, decant for several hours or cellar for two years, nose of rich red cherry and black berry fruit, same on the palate, medium/big body, tasty, soft tannins and a nice, long finish, young, obviously, but worth the $20 to me, bought 7 bottles. BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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I've come to the conclusion that I should always ignore the first review on TJ wines as it's likely an employee hyping the wine. At $20, we expected far more. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.
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I always fall for these TJs wines from specific AVAs. This one, at $20 is pretty much what i expected. I was praying for a miracle. Very overextracted, out of balance and almost undrinkable. Dark, ripe fruit with a chalky, tannic finish. Sorry to be a downer on this one, but they deserve an honest assessment for putting this rubbish on the shelves.
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Very bold wine of deep purple color. Well balanced and complex. I loved it but when I saw my wife's eyes light up as she tasted her first sip I knew we had a winner. Left immediately to go back to Trader Joe's and pick up a case. Stock man brought us the last two cases they had in stock. If you can find this wine get it! Good luck.
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3/27/2024 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
I enjoyed 2 bottles of this wine during the week. Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, opens slowly so a decant would help here, always tastes better the second night, only slightly fruit forward, soft tannins on the midpalate and long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
My second bottle this week-great taste, great price, save the 20 year old Cabernets for another day.
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3/24/2024 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, opens slowly so a decant would help here, only slightly fruit forward, soft tannins on the midpalate and long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
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3/16/2024 - meticulist Does not like this wine: 85 Points
I think I’m done with TJ wines, even the premium limited releases don’t seem to punch much above their price anymore. This was very one dimensional, lacking body complexity and finish, and tasted like it probably had some residual sugars and additives. Dust spice, plum. Cocoa, stewed berries and dark fruit and very fine smooth, limited finish. Approachable for sure but lacking interest.
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1/14/2024 - vacpl wrote: 87 Points
Good qpr
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8/21/2023 - wcf1946 Likes this wine: 88 Points
I mirror member "sidneysamberg" comments to the letter. I also totally agree that TJ labeled wines are not what they used to be, especially platinum and diamond collections. Drank over 2 days; no change. Dark inky color, non-descript but pleasant nose, multi-fruit flavors w/hint of chocolate, hint of sweetness, smooth & balanced, minimal tannins & light finish, limited complexity. $20 is decent QPR, and it's a pleasant pop n'pour cab, though a little flat in overall appeal. It is surprisingly better than I expected from the challenging 2020 vintage. It's just that TJ diamond wines used to taste like wines 2-3x the price.
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4/13/2023 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, bought 7 bottles.
BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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2/20/2023 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, bought 7 bottles.
BTW, this shows Lot 03 on the back label.
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2/2/2023 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine: 89 Points
This had some enjoyable aspects to it, but for me it's kind of the last time I'll get excited to try one of these higher-tier TJ releases. I've had a few from the store that were solid for the price, but these platinum and now diamond releases are often worse than the $10 ones- very notably jammy, confected, etc. Sometimes tasty, but totally destroyed by tons of other $15 wine out there, and that goes double for this $20 one. A VERY faint suggestion of smoke taint at first that thankfully got absorbed into the fruit, which was nicely ripe but extremely one-dimensional, not to mention very shy overall. I've had plenty of worse $20 wine. It still falls into a pretty low tier for the price, and definitely isn't indicative of Napa Cab in any way.
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1/5/2023 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nose of dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, worth the $20 to me for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, bought 7 bottles.
BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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12/23/2022 - Jeff Gray wrote: 92 Points
dark fruit upfront, sl acid in middle, good body, no tannins so not astringent on finish, very drinkable, fl persists at the end
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12/20/2022 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Nose of rich, red fruit, dust, black and red cherry, same on the palate, medium/big body, tasty, needs 3 hour decant to show itself, only slightly fruit forward, lots of soft tannins on the midpalate and finish, long finish, young obviously but worth the $20 to me, bought 7 bottles.
BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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12/11/2022 - sfg23 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Took a flyer in this as Trader Joe’s seldom publishes a diamond Reserve. 2020 Cab. Purple Inky color. Sharp and young and tannic upon opening. Heavy legs. After an hour poured getting smoother. Wife liked it right off the bat. I think this is a high quality wine that will be better aged or decanted
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12/8/2022 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Opened and poured five nights in a row, got better and better, decant for several hours or cellar for two years, nose of rich red cherry and black berry fruit, same on the palate, medium/big body, tasty, soft tannins and a nice,
long finish, young, obviously, but worth the $20 to me, bought 7 bottles.
BTW, this Lot 03 on the back label.
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12/8/2022 - HHDEN wrote: 87 Points
No big deal.
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12/3/2022 - wayne47 Does not like this wine:
I've come to the conclusion that I should always ignore the first review on TJ wines as it's likely an employee hyping the wine. At $20, we expected far more. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.
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12/1/2022 - eweikert@cox.net wrote: 82 Points
I always fall for these TJs wines from specific AVAs. This one, at $20 is pretty much what i expected. I was praying for a miracle. Very overextracted, out of balance and almost undrinkable. Dark, ripe fruit with a chalky, tannic finish. Sorry to be a downer on this one, but they deserve an honest assessment for putting this rubbish on the shelves.
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11/29/2022 - JNK1948 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very bold wine of deep purple color. Well balanced and complex. I loved it but when I saw my wife's eyes light up as she tasted her first sip I knew we had a winner. Left immediately to go back to Trader Joe's and pick up a case. Stock man brought us the last two cases they had in stock. If you can find this wine get it! Good luck.
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