Trader Joe's West Country English Farmhouse Cheddar

Trader Joe's West Country English Farmhouse Cheddar - $5.79 for 7oz. Truckle

Now, there is a good scrabble word! A truckle is a word used in England to describe a small mini wheel of cheese. This intense cheddar comes from Dorset on England's south coast and has been produced buy the same specialized creamery using only traditional recipes, ingredients and slect cows since the mid 1970s. The European Union recognizes this as a “PDO” (Protected Designation of Origin) insuring a very high standard of quality.

Aged for a minimum of six months and full of rich nutty flavor, it is also smooth and creamy making it as good a choice for cooking (think broccoli cheddar soup!) as snacking. This cheese is hand wrapped and tied in decorated cheese cloth and would make a nice, little gift as it but really benefits from a paring with a full-bodied, fruit forward red or port.

Crane Family 2006 Cabernet Sauvingon

Crane Family 2006 Cabernet Sauvingon - $24.99 (winery price $62.00)

Tasted blind against several other Napa wines in the same price range, the new Crane Family Cabernet was the overall winner of the group and a solid crowed pleaser with all of the more experienced tasters. The solid and elegant bottle opened easily, the cork showing signs of mild penetration and good storage. The wine itself was a deep ruby color. The initial aromas are of a mild, fruity tobacco with hints of cherry, roses and a little vanilla at the finish. Deep, ripe black cherry fruit fills your mouth at the start but the wine dose not loose its balance at the finish. The tannins are in good balance all the way through with a restrained alcohol that hints at an opportunity for a little more aging potential.

Chateau Potelle VGS Cabernet, Mt. Veeder, Napa, 2005

Chateau Potelle VGS Cabernet, Mt. Veeder, Napa, 2005

There are only 836 half cases of this wine out there - $24.99 (suggested price is $39.99)

The beautifully proportioned bottle and elegant label barley do justice to the treat that awaits you after you get the cork out!

I decanted this wine through a venturi and let it sit for just a few minutes to take the edge off. The juice is a beautiful deep grapey color with some tints of strawberry at the edges. The aroma is a rich combination of cedar and black currant. The wine is remarkably concentrated, likely due to the small size of the berries generated by the mountain location of the vineyards. The smaller grapes mean a higher skin-to-juice ration with more intense concentration and better balanced tannins. The fruit in the mouth is largely a deep black cherry with a very slight hint of mint on the finish. While the wine is complex, the bold tannins do not distract you from the superb balance and delicate mouth feel. This is a fine choice for tasters and wine lovers who are looking for that perfect balance of aggressiveness that cabernet offers but want to be able to enjoy the wine today.

Tasting notes from Captain Mark

Do you ever find yourself asking “I wonder what a HUSTLE BUY is”?

A Trader Joe’s HUSTLE BUY is your opportunity to take advantage of one of our unique buying habits. Whenever we find a really special wine out there that is only available in a limited quantity we don’t just walk on by. We taste it, if we like it we negotiate the wine maker to get the most outstanding price and we grab it. Never mind that there isn’t enough for every store, we don’t want you to miss out on a potentially once in a lifetime chance to try something really special. These wines are very limited in quantity so if you like it, do what we do and hustle up and grab some!

2007 Rendition Zinfandel

2007 Rendition Zinfandel $8.99

This Zinfandel from Alexander Valley was mentioned in Wine Spectator as a great value and scored 87pts. The wine has a deep dark purple color. There is a lot of berry, oak, and leather on the nose. This wine has a very full and jammy characteristic and drinks more like an old vine zinfandel. I tasted blackberry, plum, and white pepper, with hints of vanilla. The Rendition is very fruit forward with a soft velvety finish with a hint of tobacco. This is a great buy for $8.99.

Chateau Desmirail, 2003 vintage

Chateau Desmirail, 2003 vintage, $24.99 (suggested price $60)

This is the first “classified growth” we have tasted from Bordeaux in quite a while and it is a real winner. The Lurton family, who control dozens of chateaux across the region, owns the estate. The grapes are all harvested and sorted on the chateaux by hand while the vinification process involves a combination of stainless steel and wood barrels.

Many Margaux are described as being like an iron fist in a velvet glove due to their combination of delicate elegance and potential power. This wine displays this quality largely due to the balance between the fully ripe Cabernet Sauvignon (67%) and Merlot (33%) grapes that went in to it. The initial aroma is fresh and elegant with good amounts of earth, cedar, and leather overtones. There are also some suggestions of florals in the nose. We decanted the wine to accelerate oxidization and found terrifically full wild strawberry fruit overtones with excellent balance and well integrated tannins that did not distract the taster from the velvety smoothness of the mouth feel.

With six years already in it’s development we felt the wine will likely keep nicely for another three to five but is drinking extremely well now. It would match beautifully with a steak au poivre or a rich and simply seasoned filet mignon.

Davis Bynum Allen Vineyard Pinot Noir

Davis Bynum Allen Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2005 vintage, $14.99 (suggested price $40)

Way back in 1973 Davis Bynum distinguished itself by being the first winery to produce a single vineyard pinot noir from the Russian River Valley. Trader Joe’s carried that wine and today, more than thirty years later, the Bynum heritage continues through excellent vineyard select wines like this choice from the prized Allen Vineyard.

The nose of this stylish and somewhat old-fashioned pinot noir is rich and welcoming with a nice combination of dried cherry fruit, cola and herbs. In the mouth the wine is full of rich cherry, earth and orange zest, which carry lightly through a well-balanced finish that leaves a pleasantly full aftertaste. The wine is superbly balanced and very elegant.

This wine would be a fantastic choice with robustly flavorful roast poultry and turkey comes quickly to mind as we approach the Thanksgiving season. However, it would be equally good with a roast or grilled meats.