The Trader Joe’s Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s wine made for them by Owl Creek Wine Services, a custom wine company operating in the Russian River AVA for the last 12 years. The Russian River AVA is located near the Pacific Ocean. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west and closer…
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Send us Fan Mail Flora and Stone Merlot – The Return Of Merlot? This is a $6.99 non-vintage wine from ALDI. From 1990 to 2010, Merlot rivaled Cabernet Sauvignon as the top-selling Red wine in America. But that was then, and this is now. They grow more Pinot Gris/Grigio in California than Merlot (as of…
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The Flora and Stone Merlot in 2021 is a $6.99 non-vintage ALDI wine from California. An inexpensive budget supermarket wine normally does not inspire a great deal of confidence. But we recently reviewed the Flora and Stone Gewürztraminer, a $4.99 non-vintage wine, and it was an enjoyable drink. Flora and Stone wines are made by…
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Send us Fan Mail 223 Grenache 2020 – A Tasty & Cheap French Red Ok, here are the details. $6.99 @Trader Joe's but $13 to $16 in Europe. A Vin de Pays d'Oc wine from vineyards around a single village in the Languedoc. Grenache is a Cheapwinefinder secret to quality value-priced Red wine. Check out…
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The 223 Grenache 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine in the USofA, though it is available at wine shops outside the US in the $13 to $16 range. This is 100% Grenache sourced from vineyards near and around the village of Cébazan in the Languedoc region of southeast France. The 223 in the name…
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Send us Fan Mail RSVP Brut Sparkling Wine in 2021-TJ's $7 Champagne-Style Summer Bubbly A California Traditional Method Champagne-Style Bubbly for $6.99? Does it taste good? Yes! A real Champagne bottle and a real cork? Yes! But, at $6.99, none of the fancy Champagne marketing stuff. Stick it in an ice bucket, pour it into…
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The RSVP Brut Sparkling Wine in 2021 is a revisit of a Sparkling wine we reviewed in 2019 (also 2010). It is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s Traditional Method Sparkling wine. It is made for Trader Joe’s by Bronco Wine Company, the same folks behind Charles Shaw wines (2 Buck Chuck), and many other brands. The…
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Send us Fan Mail Crossbow Carneros Pinot Noir 2018 – $45 going for $15? Normally we talk about a $10 wine that tastes like $20. But with the Crossbow Pinot is a $45 wine that tastes like a $45 wine but is on sale for $15. Even if you are not a Pinot Noir fan,…
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The Crossbow Carneros Pinot Noir 2018 is one of the Shannon Family of Wines, Shannon Ridge is the winery, and they are located in the Lake County AVA of Northern California. Shannon Ridge was founded in 1995. Lake County is directly north of Napa Valley, and the Shannon Ridge vineyards are only 35 miles away…
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Send us Fan Mail Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay 2019 – The Best Cheap Chardonnay? Here is one of the weird things about writing about affordable wine. A $100 wine that brings it is like, well, of course, it costs $100. A $3.99 wine that brings it is a revelation! Is that wrong? Rocking it cheap…
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The Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2019 is a perennial CheapWineFinder favorite. This is a wine that has been around since the early 1980s. Lindeman’s was one of Australia’s first wineries founded in the 1840s, but the winery no longer exists, and Lindeman’s is a brand wine. The leading wine seller in Chicago and the surrounding…
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Send us Fan Mail Cocobon Roasted Oak Red Blend – Would Wood Make A Difference? A Red Blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah aged “on” toasted French oak. $6.99 at Trader Joe's, but available elsewhere for around the same price. There are 3 Cocobon Red Blend wines; this is where the winemaker shows off…
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The Cocobon Roasted Oak Red Blend is a non-vintage blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in several California grape-growing AVAs. This wine is available at Trader Joe’s for $6.99, and it is also available at retail wine shops for a similar price. Cocobon is a brand from The Wine Group, which…
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Send us Fan Mail Slim Vine Light Sauvignon Blanc 2020 – TJ's Low Calorie, No Sugar, Low Alcohol Wine A Trader Joe's $6.99 Fitness wine!!! We reviewed the ALDI Don't Mind If I Did Sau Blanc a few weeks ago, and the Trader Joe's wine is very similar and a dollar cheaper. Both wines are…
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The Slim Vine Light Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, and it seems to be related to the ALDI $7.99 Don’t Mind If I Do Sauvignon Blanc 2020. Both wines are from a producer based in Greenfield, California (Monterey AVA). They also have a few details in common, such as 85 calories,…
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Send us Fan Mail Rosé-Vous? 2020 – $6 ALDI Wine…Drink Like The French Do! Would you offer a $5.99 ALDI Rosé to pair for your next meal? The French would in a heartbeat. Rosé-Vous translates to Rosé Y'all. It tastes great, is, well, cheap, and is French. Everyday French wine is supposed to be inexpensive….
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The Rosé-Vous? 2020 is a $5.99 ALDI import exclusive, a blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah sourced from grapes farmed in the Languedoc region of France. This is rated an IGP wine or a Vin d’Pays D’Oc wine. These wines are a step below the AOC-rated wines. IGP is subject to few rules and…
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Send us Fan Mail Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 – A 93 pt Value-Priced Cab This is a wine from House of Smith wines, you may know them by Charles Smith wines, you know, Kung Fu Girl Reisling, Boom Boom Syrah, a whole line of value-priced wines that rocked. He sold those wines and started…
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The Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. This is one of Charles Smith’s wines, now called House of Smith. They have some of the best technical notes for wines at any price point. They tell you which vineyards the grapes came…
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Send us Fan Mail Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 – Affordable, Interesting, Whimsical, Excellent Ok, students…today's lesson is California Chardonnay. No, not the oak barrel Chardonnay, unoaked Chardonnay. The Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 is one of the original unoaked Chardonnay. It sees no oak, no “on lees” (check out www,cheapwinefinder.com to see what that…
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The Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 subtitled Francine’s Selection is sourced from long-term contracts with family-owned vineyards in Mendocino County AVA in Northern California. Toad Hollow winery was founded in 1993 by Todd Williams and Rodney Strong. Rodney Strong had been a Broadway choreographer and owned a winery bearing his name. Todd Williams passed away…
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Send us Fan Mail Tabor Hill Blueberry Demi-Sec – Fruit Wine With A Difference. I am from Chicago, so I knew a few things about Michigan wine. They used to have a Chicago Tasting event every year, and each year the wine got better and better. I was a fan, but I didn't know anything…
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The Tabor Hill Blueberry Demi-Sec is a mix of a White wine blend and blueberry wine from a winery in Southwest Michigan that has produced different types of wine for over 50 years. The White wine is Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec, a blend of Vidal, Vignoles, Riesling, Traminette, Seyval, and Gewürztraminer grapes. Demi-Sec translates to…
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Send us Fan Mail Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2019 – A Value Priced Taste Of Oregon This a $17 wine on Firesteed's website or an $11.99 wine at Trader Joe's. The label also says Oregon rather than Willamette Valley. Are these warning signs? Nope, it tastes great; a classic Pinot Noir produced in the Burgundian…
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The Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2019 is a taste of Oregon Pinot, sourced from several AVAs inside the state. The Oregon version of wine from California simply California on the label as the place of origin. When folks think of Oregon Pinot Noir, they usually think of Willamette Valley, but there is more to Oregon…
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