The 18th Man Red Blend 2013, well, actually, this is a first for me, I am not exactly sure of the name of this wine. “State of Origin” is written in large letters on the side and 18 or 18th Man is shown in various places on the label, so take your pick as to the…
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The Moon X Black Pinot Noir 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. Moon X and all the other TJ’s Moon wines are produced by Delicato Family Vineyards of Lodi, California, their brands include Gnarly Head, Bota Box (check out the Nighthawk Black, the best box…
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The Les Hauts de Lagarde Rouge 2014 is a certified Organic blend of 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc grown and produced at the Vignobles Raymond (Vineyards of Raymond)Estate near the town of Saint Laurent du Bois, in the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, France. The Estate is family owned and was founded in 1850….
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The Cab Sauv Columbia Valley 2013 is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot sourced from 8 vineyards in 5 Columbia Valley AVAs and sub-AVAs. This wine is produced by the Magnificent Wine Company (known for the House Wine series) that was originally started by Charles Smith of K Vintners and K Syrah fame. Smith sold the company in…
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The Taranatas Sparkling White is certified organic and vegan-friendly, produced from 50% Macabeo and 50% Airén grapes in the Utiel-Requena region of Valencia in eastern Spain, just west of the Mediterranean Ocean. The Macabeo grape is one of the 3 grapes (Xarel-lo and Parellada are the other 2) traditionally used in the making of Cava Sparkling wine…
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The La Burgondie Brut Reserve is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 import exclusive, a non-vintage blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 20% Gamay (this is the grape used in Beaujolais), and 5% Aligote (the #2 White grape grown in Burgundy, Chardonnay is #1 and used primarily in the production of Cremant, which is French for Sparkling…
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The Tarantas Tempranillo 2012 is 100% Tempranillo sourced from certified organic vineyards in the Utiel-Requena DO of Valencia in eastern Spain (not far from the Mediterranean). Tarantas is made by Bodegas Iranzo one of the oldest wine estates in Spain, records show an estate on this site since the 1300s and the current estate dates to…
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The Les Hauts De Lagarde Bordeaux Blanc 2016 is a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon sourced from Certified Organic AOC vineyards in the Saint-Laurent-du-Bois district of the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux in France (where the grapes are grown is very important in French wine, maybe even more important than which grape varietals are used)….
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The Pizzolato Fields Organic Brut Prosecco is sourced from Glera grapes grown in certified organic Estate vineyards in the Prosecco DOC region of Veneto in northeast Italy. This Bubbly is organic, Vegan-friendly, non-GMO, and reasonably priced (a quick check of the web saw prices mainly in the $10 range). Prosecco is produced with the Charmat Method, this is…
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The Spartico Organic Cabernet Sauvignon Tempranillo 2015 is a 50/50 blend from certified organic vineyards in the Utiel-Requena region (inside of Valencia Province) of western Spain. Utiel-Requena has a wine history dating back to Roman times. The Spartico has no detectable sulfites. Sulfites are added to wine to help it age and keep it fresh, but the Spartico Organic…
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The Biokult Grüner Veltliner 2015 is certified organic, certified biodynamically grown, and Non-GMO, sourced from vineyards in Burgenland area (inside Niederösterreich state) of eastern Austria. Grüner Veltliner is a grape that is grown almost exclusively in Austria. This Gruner is aged for 7 months in stainless steel tanks. It is an expensive and time-consuming process to have your vineyards…
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The Pontificis GSM 2014 is a blend of 40% Grenache, 33% Syrah and 27% Mourvedre, sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of France and is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The GSM blend is one of the classic Red wine blends from the southern Rhone Valley in France and the Chateauneuf-du-pape region in…
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The Bota Box Nighthawk Black is a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA and is available in a 3 liter box (four 750 ml Bottles) or 500 ml Tetra pack. Bota Box is part of Delicato Family Wines (Lodi, Ca.), they produce Gnarly…
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The VINTJS Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown by a large Willamette Valley, Oregon grower and produced for TJ’s by ABJ Wines (probably a shell company) from Geyserville, California. This is a negociant wine (meaning they buy surplus wine from existing wineries and sell under their own…
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The Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage wine sourced from vineyards in Argentina, there is also a little Aspiran Noir blended in. Aspiran Noir is a grape founded mainly in the Languedoc region of France and it adds some color, a perfumed nose and a little flavor. Barefoot is E and J Gallo’s line of…
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The Benedetto Chianti DOCG 2015 is an ALDI $4.99 import exclusive. Benedetto translates to “blessed” in Italian and this Chianti is Sangiovese with maybe a little Canaiolo blended in from grapes grown in the Chianti region of Tuscany in Italy. If you are not familiar with Italian wine a DOC is approximately the same as…
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The Barefoot Pinot Grigio (with maybe some Muscat of Alexandria and Viognier blended in) is sourced from vineyards from more than one state, the label says American wine. Barefoot wines have been around in form or another since 1965 but really took off after E and J Gallo purchased the company in 2005. These are…
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The Barefoot Merlot is a non-vintage wine sourced from vineyards in various parts of California. Barefoot is one of the value priced brands from E & J Gallo (the largest family owned winery in the US). This is not one of those wines that has a great back story. This is mass-produced, well-priced wine, in…
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The Harken Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from grapes taken from vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA – inside the Monterey AVA, which is in turn inside the Central Coast AVA. Got that? It is located in a valley off of Monterey Bay in a climate dominated by cool Pacific Ocean breezes. One thing…
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The Windy City Wine Festival is coming to Grant Park on September 9 and 10… here is a link for more information and tickets: WINDY CITY WINE FESTIVAL It’s an outdoor end-of-the-summer celebration and what I love about it isn’t necessarily the wine (but the wine is important). First, the site is ideal. The event wraps…
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The Broken Clouds Chardonnay 2014 is an $8.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA north of San Francisco. Normally when checking the internet for information about an ALDI wine there is virtually nothing to be found, maybe a bottle shot and a vague sentence. But with the Broken Cloud wine, ALDI has vineyard photos…
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The Diseño Old Vine Malbec 2014 is a collaboration by 2 Wineries (both unnamed) in the Uco Valley and the Lujan de Cuyo Valley (both high-altitude growing areas) in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Diseño is one of Constellation Brands family of wines, they include Kim Crawford, Mark West, Mouton Cadet, Rex Goliath, Robert Mondavi, Ravenswood and many others….
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The Brancott Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2013 is sourced mainly from 2 Estate vineyards, the Fairhall and Kaituna vineyards (here is a wine where Estate on the label actually means something), along with grapes from the Awatere Estates, all located in the Marlborough growing region on the northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand. This…
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The DeLoach California Chardonnay 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the delta region of California. Which include Clarksburg and Lodi, they a warm weather growing region, but they are in line with the San Francisco Bay and receive cooling winds in the morning and evening. DeLoach is one of the labels for the Boisset Collection, a family owned business that has properties…
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The Angeline Vineyards Pinot Noir 2015 is sourced from multiple AVA’s in California, but mainly from the Central Coast and the Northern Coast. The Angeline line of wines is the everyday value brand for family owned (since 1990) Martin Ray Wines and Courtney Benham Wines (he is the owner). The 2015 vintage showed the effects of…
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