The Aldi Specially Selected Uco Valley Malbec 2025 is a $6.99 Aldi wine, sourced from a single estate vineyard in the high foothills of the Uco Valley in Argentina. The Story The Aldi Specially Selected Uco Valley Malbec 2025 is a single-vineyard wine produced by the Belhara Estate, selling for $6.99. Trader Joe’s also offers…
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The Calos Cahors Malbec 2022 is selling for $8.99 at Costco, and it looks like it is available for around $15 elsewhere. The Story This Malbec is from the south of France, not Argentina. In the 1800s, pests and diseases hit French vineyards and decimated entire vintages. The Malbec grapes from Bordeaux were hit particularly…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2023 is a $12.99 TJ’s exclusive. This wine was produced for Trader Joe’s by Bozzano & Company. The Story Bozzano & Co has produced multiple wines for Trader Joe’s and is a large maker of custom wines. Trader Joe’s also released the Trader Joe’s Reserve (no grand)…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Meritage Paso Robles 2023 is a $9.99 wine from Trader Joe’s. The back label indicates that it was produced and bottled by Barrel 29 Wine Company, which had previously been a label of McPrice Myers Winery, also located in Paso Robles. The Story The Barrel 27 brand was founded in 2002…
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The Trader Joe’s Diamond Reserve Rutherford Meritage 2022 is an exclusive, $19.99 offering available only at Trader Joe’s. This wine was produced and bottled by (that means they made it) 1542 ACE, which is a label from Miura Vineyards, a project from a Master Sommelier, Emmanuel Kemiji. The Story Miura and 1542 ACE typically deal…
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The Doña Paula Single Vineyard Malbec 2023 is a wine available at Costco for $11.99 and around that price elsewhere. The single vineyard mentioned on the label is the estate Alto vineyard in the Lujan de Cuyo region inside the Mendoza Valley of Argentina. The Story Santa Rita Estates of Chile owns Doña Paula winery….
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.The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Napa Meritage 2022 is a $17.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The back label says this wine was “vinted and Bottles by” JBA Cellars in Rutherford, California. Vinted and bottled legally means they bottled the wine and possibly did some aging, so JBA Cellars is a company set up to keep us…
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The Super Happy Happy Canyon AVA Red 2023 is a ten-buck Trader Joe’s exclusive. This Red is made by Field Recordings, an excellent winery in San Luis Obispo, inside Paso Robles. I searched the internet for information on this bottling and found nothing, leading me to believe it is only available at Trader Joe’s. Field…
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The Outlander Paso Robles Meritage 2022 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive, Aldi has trademarked the Outlander name. It is produced by a winery located in Greenfield, California, (Monterey AVA) which happens to be the home of a family-owned winery in business since 1972. A Meritage (rhymes with heritage) wine is a California wine that exclusively…
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The Belhara Estate Single Vineyard Malbec 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine. Belhara Estate is a family-owned winery in the Uco Valley inside Mendoza in Argentina. They own three vineyards and this wine is sourced from one of them. This wine seems to be the same or very close to Trader Joe’s Grand…
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The Cuy Natural Malbec 2022 is a$9.99 wine at Trader Joe’s. Santa Julia Winery, part of the Zuccardi Wines family of brands, makes it. Zuccardi and Santa Julia are top-notch wine producers who make excellent quality wine. One of their wines may not be made in your style, but the vineyards and the production will…
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The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 is a $7.99 Costco import wine and it seems to sell for about $12 in places that Costco does not serve. Cahors is a village in southwest France, the surrounding vineyards are known for growing the Malbec grape. In recent years Malbec from Argentina has become a trendy…
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The Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Red Blend 2021 is a $10.99 Costco exclusive. Costco often names the producer of their Signature wines, but not here. This is a Bordeaux Blend with 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Carmenere is the other Bordeaux-approved Red grape, but it is…
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The Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 is $10.99 at Costco and $14 to $29 elsewhere. This wine is a blend of 60% Malbec, 30% Pinot Noir, and 10% Bonarda sourced from the Doña Paula Estate El Alto Vineyard (3,445 feet up in the Andes foothills of the Ugarteche sub-region of the Luján…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2021 is a $9.99 TJ’s exclusive. The back label says this Red was “vinted and bottled by Healdsburg Wine Cellars.” That is a division of Delicato Family Wines, they make Gnarlyhead wines, along with many other brands. They recently purchased Coppola WInes and also have holdings in Napa….
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The Outlander Meritage Paso Robles 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive. The Meritage in the name indicates that this is a Bordeaux blend, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec grapes. To be a Meritage wine a license is purchased from the Meritage Alliance. They are an industry group promoting education and working on…
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The Rabble Paso Robles Red Blend 2020 Costco is $10.89 at Costco and between $15 and $20 elsewhere. The blend seems to be Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Tannat, Tempranillo, and Malbec sourced from “carefully selected vineyards in Paso Robles.” The reason I say that seems to be the blend is that…
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The Highland 41 Black Granite Paso Robles Red 2020 was picked as the #1 wine in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Value Wines ($15 and under) of 2022. It is widely available but Costco has it for $11.99. It is a blend of 45% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, 15% Malbec, 10% Syrah, and 10% Merlot all…
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The Quarter Cut Bourbon Barrel Malbec 2020 Aldi is a $5 Aldi wine imported from Argentina. The $5 price tag may be unique to my local Aldi, the wine seems to normally sell for $7 or $8. Wine from Argentina typically will show a vineyard location even if it is as general as the Mendoza…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Estate Single Vineyard Uco Valley Malbec 2019 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Belhara Estates, a small independent winery located in the Uco Valley region of the Mendoza Valley in Argentina. They own three vineyards and specialize in single-vineyard wines. Belhara Estates does not seem to…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Meritage 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive Red blend. According to the Fearless Flyer, the blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, the only Bordeaux-approved grape missing is Malbec. A Meritage Red blend, which rhymes with heritage, is a wine that is based on the…
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The Outlander Meritage Red 2019 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles, California. This wine was produced by Coppola Winery from Sonoma California and was purchased the last year by Delicato Family Vineyards, headquartered in Lodi. A Meritage Red blend is a California wine that uses the approved grapes of the…
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The Tilia Malbec 2020 is the first Argentinian-certified sustainably farmed wine. This is a wine that is sourced from various family farm vineyards in the eastern Mendoza Valley and the Uco Valley of Argentina. Since this is not a single estate wine and several privately owned vineyards the coordination to achieve the sustainable certification was…
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The Evanta Malbec 2019 is a $4.49 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in Argentina’s Mendoza region. Considering that Aldi had to pay an importer and ship the wine from Argentina, this Malbec falls well within Charles Shaw/Two Buck Chuck range. The Evanta Malbec 2019 is a store brand (Aldi), and store brands have price advantages…
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The Aviary Birds of Prey Red Blend 2018 is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Malbec sourced from vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties. The Aviary line of wines is one of the Folktale Wine Group brands of wine; here is a link to their website for more…
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