(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Story The Dearly Beloved I Thee Red 2016 is a kitchen sink blend, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. Trader Joe’s sells this blend for $7.99 and the Dearly Beloved website shows they produce 2 Red blends and a Chardonnay…
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The Story The Moon X Black Pinot Noir 2017 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, but I don’t think it is a TJ’s exclusive a website from New York sells it online for $9.99. The 2016 vintage of the Moon X Black Pinot was the #1 page on CheapWineFinder for about a year and a…
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The Story The Time Waits For No One Monastrell 2017 is 100% Monastrell (Mourvedre in France) produced by Finca Bacara (Finca translates to farm or vineyard) in the Jumilla DO of southeastern Spain. This wine is designated a DOP wine which is Spain’s highest wine category and Monastrell is the #1 Red grape in Jumilla accounting…
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The Story The Violet House Central Coast Red Blend 2017 is an $8.99 ALDI exclusive wine. And that is about all I know about this wine, there is no mention on the web and ALDI doesn’t say a thing. The back label says this is a non-traditional blend and a 2017 vintage is decent age…
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The Story The Federalist Dry Creek Zinfandel 2016 is 98% Zinfandel and 2% Carignane primarily sourced from Orsi vineyards in the southern end of Dry Creek Valley about a mile from the Russian River. The Zinfandel grapes came from 6 separate blocks of the vineyard and were fermented separately. The 6 lots were then blended and…
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The Story The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Lot 89 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes, like the title says, farmed in the Atlas Peak AVA of Napa Valley in Northern California. Atlas Peak is a unique region inside Napa since it is the highest elevation growing region….
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The Story The Kirkland Napa Valley Red Blend 2016 is a $10.99 Costco exclusive, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. That mix of grapes is a Bordeaux Blend and in California is referred to as a Meritage Blend. There is a Meritage organization that promotes and helps develop these grapes…
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The Story The Crusher Petite Sirah is 82% Petite Sirah and then smaller percentages of Syrah, Tempranillo, Malbec, Merlot, and Zinfandel sourced mainly from 2 vineyards, one in the Clarksburg AVA and another in the Lodi AVA, both areas have good growing conditions for Petite Sirah. The Crusher line of wines is one of Don Sebastiani and…
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The Story The Domaine de La Noblaie Chinon Goutte de Rose’ 2018 is a Rose’ of Cabernet Franc sourced from 2 Estate hillside vineyards in the Chinon district of the Loire Valley in west-central France. The vineyards have been certified organic since 2005 and Domaine de La Noblaie has been worked by the family for four…
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The Story The Caretaker Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir 2017 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for TJ’s by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse. They are a full-service wine company that makes contract wine and brand wine, is a certified sustainable facility and own some of the finest vineyards in the Central Coast AVA….
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The Story The Garnacha de Fuego 2018 is an old vine (between 39 and 79 years old) Garnacha sourced from mountainside vineyards in the Calatayud district of the Aragon DO in northeast Spain. This is one of Jorge Ordóñez Selections line of imported wines, he is a major importer of Spanish wines and his wines…
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The Story The Cline Estate Sonoma Coast Syrah 2017 is 100% Syrah sourced from two Cline Estate vineyards in the Petaluma Gap AVA inside the Sonoma Coast Ava that is also located inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. Cline Cellars is a family-owned vineyard and winery founded in 1982 and was one of the…
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The Story The Delas Ventoux Red 2017 is a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah (this is a blend that is produced every year and there can be minor variations in the blend from vintage to vintage) sourced from vineyards in and around the villages of Mazon and Goult in the Ventoux region of…
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The Story The Freakshow Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon, along with a small amount of Petit Sirah, is sourced from a Michael & David Winery estate vineyard in Lodi AVA of California’s Central Valley. Michael and David are the Phillips brothers and their family has farmed in Lodi since the 1850s. Most of the West Coast grape-growing…
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The Story The La Ferme Julien Rose’ 2018 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s not very exclusive Rose‘ blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah sourced from vineyards in France. Not very exclusive since the La Ferme (The Farm) is the same wine as Famille Perin’s La Vielle Ferme Rose’. Each wine, La Ferme and La Vielle…
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The Story The Federalist Bourbon Barrel-Aged Red Blend 2016 is 76% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Carignane sourced from vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA of Northern California. This blend is aged in American oak casks for 6 months (35% new oak) and then transferred to Bourbon barrels (they do not specify the whiskey brand) for another…
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The Story The Hopes End Red Wine Blend 2016 is a blend of 42% Shiraz/Syrah, 38% Grenache, 13% Malbec, and 7% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards in South Australia (near Adelaide). Hopes End is one of Trinchero Family Estates line of wines, other brands include, Joel Gott, Menage a Trois, Folie s Deux, Charles &…
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The Story The Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors 2016 is a blend of Syrah and old-vine Grenache farmed in estate vineyards in the Roussillon growing area of southeast France, just above the border with Spain. The Roussillon is the Catalonian district of France, to the south in Spain, the Catalonian area includes Barcelona and is the…
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The Story The Trader Joe’s Reserve Amador County Zinfandel Lot 185 2016 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Amador County is 100 miles east of San Francisco, as far north as Napa County, but on the other side of Sacramento in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is the California Gold Rush country….
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The Podcast This is a Quake And Dave Podcast about the Federalist Honest Red Blend 2016 a wine that they first got to sample while at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. The game didn’t work as a welcoming place to do wine reviews, so we retreated to the rooftop Cheapwinefinder Podcast Studios high above…
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The Story The Petiole Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2017 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, we reviewed 2015 Petiole and that vintage sold for $9.99. The 2015 version had a Fearless Flyer write-up which indicated the Pinot was made by a large Oregon producer and the Pinot was aged in oak barrels for 14 months. I don’t know if…
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The Story The Belleruche Rose’ 2016 is a blend of 50% Grenache, 40% Syrah, and 10% Cinsault sourced from vineyards in the Cotes du Rhone region of France. This Rose’ is made by M. Chapoutier Winery, they have been producing wine in the Rhone for over 200 years. One very interesting thing concerning the label,…
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The Story The Capela Santa Margarida Red 2016 is a blend of 40% Aragonez (Tempranillo), 40% Trincadeira (a local varietal) and 20% Alicante Bouschet (a hybrid grape mostly used in blends) farmed in vineyards in the Alentejano region of southern Portugal. Capa Santa Margarida is an ancient 15th-century chapel and the vineyards located on what was…
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The Story The Federalist Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Zinfandel, and 2% Petite Sirah, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc farmed in vineyards in the Lodi AVA in California. Lodi is located in California’s Central Valley, in the delta region of the San Pablo Bay, which is the northernmost inland region of the San…
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The Story Quake & Dave talk about the Band of Roses Rose’ 2018, a Rose’ that is made from a White grape, Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris can have red grape skins, so, therefore, it can be turned into a Rose’ wine. I love Charles Smith Wines online tasting notes, these are value-priced wines, the Band…
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