(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Story The Cafaggio Single Estate Chianti Classico DOCG 2015 is a $9.89 Costco wine. That is a Chianti Classico with five years of age from one of the original Chianti villages in Tuscany. In Chianti there are three main subdivisions, Chianti Classico is the original and is centered around 5 villages, the Cafaggio is…
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The Story The Pinot Project 2018 is a $10.99 Pinot Noir from Costco, it is also available at Trader Joe’s and most other wine retailers. This is a wine label from Skurnik Wines and a Pinot Grigio, a Chardonnay, and Rose’ are other wines in the project. Skurnik Wines is a major wine importer (they…
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The Story The Antoine Delaune Beaujolais Villages 2018 is a $6.99 ALDI import exclusive. ALDI (both ALDI North Trader Joe’s in America and ALDI South) is a German company with stores thru out Europe the US and Australia and has over 10,000 stores which give them tremendous buying power. In Europe, Great Britain, and Ireland…
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The Story The Loudenotte Pinot Noir Pays d’Oc 2018 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusively sourced from grapes from the south of France. The Oc in Pays d’Oc refers to Occitania which runs from the border with Spain to the Rhone Valley to the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. The wines from this region are…
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The Story The Kingsley Sparkling Brut Rose‘ is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s Sparkling wine made in the Traditional Method by Rack and Riddle. That is all I know about this Bubbly, but that might be enough. The first thing to note is that $6.99 for a Traditional Method Sparkling wine is crazy cheap. The Traditional…
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The Story The Rosa dell Olmo Barbera d’Asti 2018 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, I am not sure if this is an exclusive TJ’s wine since I found a wine shop on the internet selling this wine for around $12. This is a DOCG designated wine. Italy has strict rules and regulations pertaining…
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The Story The Bogle Phantom Red Blend 2016 is a blend of 51.5% Petit Sirah and 48.5% Zinfandel sourced from vineyards in several California vineyard regions. Bogle Vineyards was named 2019 Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast magazine. Bogle is located in the Clarksburg AVA which is south and a little east of Napa…
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In this episode, we chat with the folks over at Everledger about the emerging wine tech that not only prevents fraud, but can create a direct relationship between producers & us winos! Did you know one third of the booze out there is fake or mislabeled? There’s such stringent rules in place to be sure…
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The Story The Trader Joe’s Reserve Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Anderson Valley is located in coastal Mendocino and is situated between two mountain ranges. Two more things to note are this the 2018 vintage and is Lot #201. Anderson Valley has a growing reputation for the production of fine…
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The Story PPE, six-foot social distancing, lockdown, masks, wash your hands every time you touch something, cross the street when you see someone walking towards you, so much for your favorite pub or restaurant, and stand in line to enter the grocery store, the so-called new reality. Well, we have our XLR microphones and our…
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The Story The Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Petite Sirah, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Merlot. All but the Petite Sirah are grapes approved to be included in the Red wine blends of Bordeaux. Petite Sirah is also a French grape, not Bordeaux, and never was widely…
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The Story The Proyecto la Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo translates to the Wild Garnacha Project of Moncayo. The concept behind this wine is simple. Find old, neglected Garnacha vineyards and bring them back to life. The Moncayo is one the largest mountain peaks (Pyrenees) along the Elbro Valley in the district of Aragon in northeast…
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The Story The Parasphere Sonoma Zinfandel 2014 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s mystery wine. There are several things here that do not add up to an aged Sonoma County Zinfandel for under eight bucks. The first point is obvious, Sonoma Zinfandel at 6 years of age selling for $7.99 does not exist in the wild….
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The Story The Santa Julia Reserva Malbec 2018 is 100% Malbec sourced from Estate vineyards in the Uco Valley in the southwest corner of the Mendoza Valley in Argentina. Santa Julia is one of the labels produced by Familia Zuccardi Estates which has been in the wine business since the 1950s. Santa Julia was started…
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The Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel 2018 is sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA of Northern California. Gnarly Head is one of Delicato Family Vineyard’s portfolio of wines. Click on the link above to see their family of wine. Delicato has been around since 1924, they are the sixth-largest winery in the United State….
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The Story The Yalumba Y Series Shiraz Viognier 2017 is 95% Shiraz and 5% Viognier sourced from vineyards in South Australia. In case you are not aware, Shiraz (Syrah) is a red grape and Viognier is a white grape and it is not all that common that red and white grape are used in a…
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The Story The Bluebird Monterey Pinot Noir 2016 seems to be an orphan wine. All the social media for Bluebird Wines and they had everything, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, all stopped posting in 2015. There is a single webpage, for the 2013 vintage of this wine. They seemed to have produced other wines from past…
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The Story The Anne Amie Rose of Pinot Noir 2019 is an estate farmed, produced, and bottled Rose‘ sourced from vineyards in the Yamhill-Carlton and Chehalem Mountain districts of the Willamette Valley in western Oregon. Anne Amie Vineyards is a privately owned winery founded in 1999. This Rose‘ is a brand new wine for Anne…
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The Story The Bear Bros Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is an ALDI $8.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. That is about all the information on the production of this Cab that is available. And that is ok because this is a lockdown wine, if you take a chance and head out to ALDI is grab…
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The Story The Cotillion Pinot Noir 2017 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive brand sourced from vineyards in 56% Monterey County, 33% Sonoma County, and 11% Santa Barbara County in California. Under usual circumstances, this is a wine that would show ‘California‘ on the front label as a place of origin since 67% of the…
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The Story The Red Cloak Petite Sirah 2017 (ALDI)is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Monterey County AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. ALDI virtually never issues any technical information concerning their wines, they tend to skip anything that will add to the price. But they are upping their label…
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The Story The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, actually the complete name includes Lot 96 and it is a Trader Joe’s $12.99 exclusive wine. This wine is featured in Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, but there is no mention of any technical details, is it 100% Cabernet Sauvignon? What are the rough details…
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The Story The Corte Rossa Barolo 2015 is an $11.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, 100% Nebbiolo grape from vineyards in the Barolo DOCG region of northwest Italy. The Barolo region in Italy bills itself as the King of Italian wine. Barolo wines typical sell for around forty dollars and the best offerings from the best estates…
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The Story The Domaine Angelliaume Chinon 2018 is a $12.99 Costco wine. The winery is Domaine Angelliaume and the name of the wine is Domaine des Falaises which translates to English as Field or Place of the Cliffs which is the name of the estate vineyard that the Cabernet Franc grapes were farmed. The vineyards near…
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The Story The Henri Gaillard Provence Rose’ 2018 ($9.99 at Costco) is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre from vineyards in the Cotes de Provence AOC of the Provence region in the south of France. The Cotes de Provence is the largest growing region in Provence. The different regions in Provence tend to feature…
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