The Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages 2015 is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah grown in “Villages” designated vineyards in the southern Rhone region of France, south of Switzerland and west of the Italian border. In the Cotes du Rhone AOC in terms of perceived quality, the lowest designation is simply Cotes du Rhone…
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The William Wright Artist Series Red Wine Blend 2015 is I believe a $9.99 ALDI exclusive, produced from 65% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Zinfandel, and 2% Syrah grown in vineyards in the Monterey AVA below San Francisco and inside the Central Coast AVA. William Wright wines are produced by Scheid Winery, Monterey, Ca. who produce…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Rose’ is a $9.99 limited edition Trader’ Joe’s exclusive produced from a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier grown in vineyards in the North Coast AVA which includes Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa, and Lake County, all of which are north of San Francisco in Northern California. The TJ’s Reserve…
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The Scarlet Path Lodi Zinfandel 2014 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive. Lodi is south and east of Napa County with most of the vineyards planted in the Delta region which is a series of river valleys coming from the San Francisco Bay and ending at the Sierra Nevada foothills. This area is 100 miles inland and…
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The Fluteau Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne is 100% Pinot Noir grown in a single Estate vineyard in the Côte des Bar district of Aube in the southernmost section of Champagne which is located in northeast France. This Bubbly is known as a Grower/Producer Champagne which indicates that the family that owned the vineyard and grew the…
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The Apothic Sparkling Winemaker’s Blend is a limited release, non-vintage Sparkling wine sourced from vineyards in California. Apothic is one of E & J Gallo (largest family owned winery in the US) multitude of wine labels. The Apothic Sparkling, $12 in Chicago and for some reason $23 on Amazon wine, this is I believe the first…
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The Espelt Old Vines Garnacha 2015 is sourced from Estate, family owned, 95 year old, certified organic Garnacha vineyards (Grenache and Garnacha are the same grape, one is the French word the other is the Spanish term) located in the steep hillsides of the Emporda DO in the far Northeast corner of Spain, next to the French…
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The Novellum Chardonnay 2016 is one of Eric Solomon’s European Cellars Selection family of wines, produced by Domaine Lafage in the Côtes Catalanes district of the Roussillon growing region along the Mediterranean Ocean near the French border with Spain. Mentioning the importer is especially important with wines from France, Italy, and Spain, because the leading importers, in…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Yountville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Lot 74 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, Yountville is one of the 16 sub-AVA’s inside Napa Valley. The typical Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon is a cellar worthy wine that sells for $50 and up, so is this a $50 wine that somehow is priced at…
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The Ernest Rapeneau Brut Champagne is a $10.99 Trader Joe’s import Bubbly (this is a half bottle, 375 ml, standard bottles are 750 ml), this is a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier, and 20% Chardonnay grown in vineyards thru-out the Champagne AOC. Ernest Rapeneau is a 2nd generation, family owned Champagne House founded in…
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The Clos du Bois Lightly Effervescent Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The “Lightly Effervescent” in the title indicates this Chardonnay has some bubbles, it’s not a full-on Sparkling wine/Bubbly, bit it does bubble up your glass (they recommend a regular White wine glass, no fancy stems are…
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The Barrel Road Bourbon Barrel Red Blend 2015, they keep which grapes in the blend to themselves, the label says California which means no one AVA comprised 75% of the grapes, but the grapes came from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, the Sonoma County AVA, Lake County AVA, and the Yolo County AVA (the end…
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The Bervini 1955 Prosecco Millesimato 2016 Extra Dry is produced from Glera grapes estate grown in the Prosecco DOC region inside the Veneto Friuli Grave district of far northeast Italy. Bervini 1955 is a wine estate run by 3 generations of the Bergamo family who founded the winery in…1955. The Millesimato in the title indicates that this is…
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The Ferrari-Carano Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from 3 estate vineyards in the Anderson Valley AVA of Mendocino County, just north of Sonoma and west of Napa in Northern California. Ferrari-Carano is one of Sonoma Counties leading Estates, but they own three “ranches” in Anderson Valley. Anderson Valley is located just 10 miles from…
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The Bervini 1955 Spumante Rose’ Extra Dry is a blend of Glera (the grape used in making Prosecco) and Roboso (a local Red grape, this is where the Rose’ color comes from) sourced from vineyards of the family owned estate in the Friuli Venezia Giulia in the northern most eastern part of Italy. The Prosecco DOC…
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The Insomnia Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape producing AVA, it was found at ALDI’s for $8.99, but I don’t think that it is exclusive to ALDI. It is a well-priced California Cabernet, but the main reason that it stands out on store shelves is the label. The label…
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The Billy’s Shadow Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot 2014 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, a blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Shiraz (exact same grape as Syrah), and 11% Merlot sourced from vineyards in South Australia. In Australia, this wine is sold under the Jamiesons Run brand (known for delivering good wine for the money), a…
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The Valdo Prosecco Brut DOC is a Sparkling wine produced from the Glera grape in the Prosecco DOC a short distance away from Venice, Italy. With Prosecco it is common to see non-vintage wines, so you will not often see a vintage date but you will see the initials DOC or DOCG. The DOC is basically…
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The Clayhouse Paso Robles Malbec 2014 is 90% Malbec, 5% Tannat, and 5% Petite Sirah sourced from Clayhouse’s sustainably farmed estate Red Cedar Vineyard in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. All of Clayhouse’s wines come from the Red Cedar Vineyard and the name Clayhouse refers to a 150 year old…
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The Mirassou Pinot Noir 2015 is sourced from vineyards in Sonoma County and the Lodi Delta in Northern California. Sonoma County has several well-respected Pinot Noir growing regions and while Lodi isn’t the first place you think about when talking Pinot, the Delta is filled with river valleys that funnel cool air from the San Fransisco…
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The Trader Joe’s 2013 Grand Reserve Meritage Napa Lot 63 2013 is a $12.99 TJ’s blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec (these are 5 of the 6 grapes approved for Bordeaux Red blends, the only grape missing is Carménère) sourced from vineyards somewhere in the Napa Valley of California. When dealing with…
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The Chateau Ste Michelle Dry Riesling 2016 is sourced from contracted growers in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. Chateau Set Michelle is the largest and the oldest (1934) winery in Washington and Riesling is one of their specialties. This Riesling is fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks and intended to be a crisp,…
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The Caves Naveran Brut Cava 2015 is an estate grown, vintage dated Bubbly, farmed organic, but not certified organic in vineyards around the town of Torrelavit in the Alt Penedes DO of Catalonia (near Barcelona) In northeast Spain. Cava is produced in the same way as Champagne, the Traditional Method, where the wine is fermented 2x, the…
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The Mercer Estate Sharp Sisters Horse Heaven Hills Red Blend 2015 is an estate grown blend of 29% Cabernet Sauvignon (Eagle & Plow Vineyard), 27% Syrah (Spice Cabinet Vineyard), 18% Merlot (Dead Canyon Vineyard), 14% Petit Verdot (Milt’s Vineyard), 10% Grenache, and 2% Carignane (both from the Spice Cabinet Vineyard) in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside…
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The California Roots Chardonnay 2016 is Targets 5 dollar answer to Trader Joe’s 2 Buck Chuck. It’s a little bit more expensive than Charles Shaw wines ( $2.99 in Illinois) and that $2.01 may be well spent. There may well be a too low price for wine, especially Red wine. Many White grape wines, Pinot Grigio,…
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