The Jellybean Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine sourced from vineyards in Spain. You may not think of Spain when you think Cabernet Sauvignon, but the planting of Cab Sauv vines is trending upwards as Spain expands in the global wine market. Also, as a result, some of the indigenous, traditional, local grape varietals…
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The Parducci Small Lot Mendocino County Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA which is located in the North Coast AVA of California. Mendocino County is north of Sonoma and west and north of Napa. Parducci was founded 85 years ago and is the oldest family owned and operated winery in Mendocino…
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The TJ’s Petit Reserve Horse Heaven Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced from grapes grown in 3 vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside the Columbia Valley AVA in eastern Washington State. Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve label occurs when they get offered a limited supply of a wine from a…
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The Jellybean Moscato Rose’ is a non-vintage blend of Moscato, with a smaller portion of Syrah grapes sourced from vineyards in Spain. Ok, maybe you are thinking, “Hey, isn’t Moscato a White Wine grape and isn’t Rose’ made from Red grapes?’. Well, that is where the Syrah grapes come in, it isn’t mentioned on the label, so…
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The Parducci Small Lot Mendocino County Pinot Noir 2014 is 100% Pinot Noir produced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA of Northern California. Parducci is a family owned winery celebrating their 85th year of winemaking. Mendocino is located north of the Sonoma AVA, west of the Lake County AVA, and north and west of Napa. The…
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The Jellybean Vineyards Pinot Grigio is a non-vintage wine sourced from vineyards in the Puglia region of southern Italy if you can remember your 7th-grade geography glass, Puglia is the heel of the boot. This Pinot Grigio is classified an IGT wine. Italian wine is governed differently from the US wine industry. Most US rules have…
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The Dove Creek Monterey Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 seems to be a $11.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from estate grown grapes from 2 vineyards, one located in the San Lucas sub-AVA and the other in the Hames Valley sub-AVA of the Monterey AVA which is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. I say this seems to be an…
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The Atlantis Albariño 2016 is 100% Albariño sourced from vineyards in the Condado de Tea district of the Rias Baixas DO in northwest Spain. Rias Baixas is just north of Portugal and along the Atlantic Coast, the Condado de Tea sub-region is the southernmost district in Rias Baixas and the furthest from the coast. The climate is heavily influenced…
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The Hacienda López de Haro Blanco 2016 is 100% Viura sourced from vineyards near the town of San Vincente de la Sonsierra in the Rioja Alta region (Rioja has 3 regions, this is the region with the highest altitude vineyards) in the Rioja DO of northwest Spain. The Viura grape is also known as Macabeo which…
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The Ferrari-Carano Pinot Grigio 2016 is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Russian River Valley AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA of northern California. The Russian River Valley AVA follows the Russian River as it turns to the west towards the Pacific Ocean but stops before the coastal region. Ferrari-Carano has produced wine since 1985, their…
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The Veiga Naum Albariño 2016 is 100% Albariño grown in the Salnés Valley of the Rias Baixas DO located in the Galicia region of northwest Spain. The Rias Baixas DO is just over Spain’s northern border with Portugal and along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Veiga Naum is produced by Bodegas Riojanas, founded in 1890, though the…
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The Petiole Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2015 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon. In case you have forgotten your 4th-grade science lessons the “petiole” is the part of the plant that attached the leaf to the stem. This is a Trader Joe’s Negociant wine, they purchased grapes…
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The Lazy Creek Vineyards Rose Of Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from sustainably grown grapes farmed in the Anderson Valley AVA inside the Sonoma AVA in Northern California. Lazy Creek Vineyards have been around for about 100 years and are currently own by Don and Rhonda Carano, they are the Carano in the Ferrari-Carano Winery. This…
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The Folie à Deux Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is sourced from grapes grown in the Anderson Valley AVA inside the Sonoma AVA of Northern California. Folie à Deux translates from French to “the madness of two” or to translate a little further to “a shared psychosis“. Folie à Deux is one of the Trinchero Family Estates…
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The Locations “I” (Italy) Red Blend is a blend of Negroamaro and Nero d’Avoloa from Puglia Southern Italy and Barbera from Piedmont in Northwest Italy. Italy is a land of 2,000 indigenous grapes that have existed very happily until Dave Phinney hit. This is an Italian wine made with California rules. This ain’t DOCG, this ain’t DOC,…
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The La Galope Rose’ 2016 is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Domaine De L’Herré vineyard in the Comte Tolosan IGP region of the Côtes de Gascogne area of Gascony in southwest France (just south of Bordeaux). The proprietor of La Galope says they are not your typical French winery, yes, they are passionate about wine, but…
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The Austerity Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Austerity is one of O’Neil Vintners many labels (others include Line 39, Harkin, and Red Tree) and they control 15,000 acres of vineyards thru-out California (including Paso Robles). Paso…
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The Locations “E” (Spain) Red Blend is a blend of Garnacha, Tempranillo, Monastrell, and Carinena, grown from vineyards in Priorat, Jumilla, Toro, Rioja, and Ribero del Duero. If you noticed, grapes from Priorat go into Priorat wines, grapes from Jumilla go into Jumilla wines, etc., etc., etc. That is – until Dave Phinney decided to do Spanish…
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The Tarantas Sparkling Rose’ is 100% Bobal grape grown in certified organic vineyards near the town of Valencia in the Utiel-Requena DO near the Mediterranean Ocean in western Spain. Bobal is the 2nd most planted Red grape in Spain (behind Tempranillo) and until recently was used for producing inexpensive, everyday jug wine. Tarantas is the oldest all…
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The Locations “F” (France) Red Blend is an outlaw wine. If you’re used to California wines, it’s nothing new, but if you’re used to wines from France, it will set your hair on fire! This is a blend of Bordeaux grapes, Rhone grapes, and Roussillon grapes – and if you don’t think that’s strange, go…
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The Big Churn Chardonnay 2015 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California AVA. TJ’s wines rarely have a great deal of technical information attached to them and the Big Churn is no different. But the main thing to know about the Big Churn is the producers “goal was the oakiest,…
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The Tarantas Organic Rose’ 2016 is made from the Bobal grape grown in Estate vineyards in the Utiel-Requena DO inside the Valencia Provence of eastern Spain. The Tarantas brand is produced by Bodegas Iranzo who have made exclusively organic wines since 1994 and there have been vineyards on this site since at least 1335. Bobal is the 3rd most…
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The Psâgot Rosé 2016 is a blend of Red wine grapes, Psâgot does not indicate which grapes are used, but they grow Bordeaux and Rhone varietals in their estate vineyards located 3,000 feet up in the northern Jerusalem Mountains. Israel has produced wine for thousands of years, but Psâgot is a very modern (and beautiful) winery founded…
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The Ménage à Trois Midnight Red 2014 is a blend of 49% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petite Sirah, and 7% Petit Verdot sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. The Ménage à Trois brand was founded about 20 years ago as a left-over wine after the original winery bottled their main line…
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The Rosa Regale 2016 is a Sparkling Red wine made from the Brachetto grape grown in the Banfi Estate La Rossa vineyard near the town of Acqui Terme (the Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG) in Piedmont located in northwest Italy. I think that a wine that has a story behind it tastes better and the Rosa Regale has a story. There…
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