(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Castellore DOCG Chianti 2023 is a $5.99 Aldi wine from Italy’s Chianti region of Tuscany. This is DOCG designated wine which is Italy’s top category. A DOCG wine has the strictest standards in the vineyards and wine production. The G stands for Guaranteed origin. meaning that this is a verified Chianti that has met…
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The Motif Red Hills Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s USA exclusive, it seems to be available for export for between $10 and $15. CWF reviewed the 2020 vintage and was impressed. The Red Hills AVA is located in the southern section of Lake County which is just north of Napa…
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The Liberte San Luis Obispo Pinot Noir 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine has been available at Trader Joe’s since at least 2017, here is a link to the 2017 vintage. The name of the producing winery was obscured in the past, but today this wine has its own website, and Ancient…
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The Piper Sonoma Brut Revisited is a wine I found for $18, it lists for $23. We did a full reviewing December of 2023, it was my favorite Sparkling wine we reviewed for the Holiday season. Here is a link to that post with all the wine details. This Bubbly showed well in the Christmas…
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The Peaks & Tides Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is a brand that Aldi has every year. Here is a link to a review for the 2021 vintage. In the 2021 review, we identified the producer, but Aldi hid its tracks this time. Aldi owns the Brand name, that…
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The Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2019 is a $7.89 wine from Costco, it is available elsewhere for $10 to $14. The current vintage looks to be 2021 and it seems Costco got a deal on the close-out of the 2019 vintage. Penfolds may well be Australia’s leading winery, they produce the Grange which is…
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The La Galope Gascogne Rosé 2023 is a wine I found selling for $9.99 at a local supermarket, a web check showed this wine selling for an average of $13. Cascogne is located between the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean in southwest France. This is designated a Comté Tolsan IGP wine which is one of…
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The Acacia Carneros Pinot Noir 2020 sells for $12.99 at Costco and I have seen it at $35 but is more likely found for around $20. Acacia Vineyards was founded in the Carneros AVA in 1979 and was one of the first Pinot Noir wineries in the region. Acacia has changed ownership several times over…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Barbara GSM 2022 is a Trader Joe’s $12.99 exclusive. A GSM wine is the main blend from the Southern Rhone Valley in France. This blend is 42% Grenache, 395 Syrah, and 19% Mourvedre. The back label says this wine was produced and bottled, which means they made it, by…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Moulis-En-Modec Bordeaux 2022 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The Moulis-En-Modec is an AOC on the Left Bank in Bordeaux. The Left Bank is primarily, though not exclusively, a Cabernet Sauvignon growing region. Since Trader Joe’s does not provide details does not provide details on the making of this…
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The Scarlet Path Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel 2021 is a $7.99 exclusive wine at Aldi. It is produced by some segment of a large sustainably farmed family-owned vineyards and winery from Monterey California. They have a branch that makes contracted brands and several Aldi wines. Lodi is located in the Central Valley of California, and…
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The Field Recordings Freddo Paso Robles Sangiovese 2022 is a wine that lists $25, but I found it on sale for $16 (Binny’s). It is a blend of 79% Sangiovese, 16% Dolcetto, and 5% Valdiguié. Dolcetto is a grape from the Piedmont in Italy used to make sweet wines. Valdiguié is a grape from the…
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The Mark West Pinot Noir 2021 is the largest selling under $15 Pinot Noir for 15 years straight. It is a wine I found with a rebate for $4.99 but typically is priced for about ten bucks. Mark West Winery was founded in 1978 as a Pinot Noir-based company. They are now owned by E…
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The Kirkland Signature Single Vineyard Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a $17,99 Costco exclusive. The single vineyard in question is the Suscol Vineyard in south Napa. Suscol is a native word meaning wet and green and is a popular location word in the area. The silk-screened label shows a map of the vineyard. the gold…
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The Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot sourced from several Northern and Central California AVAs. decoy is a second label from Duckhorn Vineyards, founded by Dan and Margret Duckhorn in Napa in 1976, and has been an elite winery ever since. This is very intentionally sourced wine the AVAs include…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021 is $14.99 at Trader Joe’s. This Red Blend is not exclusive to Trader Joe’s since the same wine sells under a different label for about $35. There were a few clues to the origin of this bottle, the bottle is a very heavy Napa-style. The…
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The Maison Barboulot Cinsault Rosé 2023 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, they also sell the Maison Barboulot Cabernet/Syrah. This Vin de Pays/IGP wine is a step below the French AOC-designated wines. These wines are representative of the region but are grown and produced to less stringent standards, which is not a problem with…
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The Florifity French Rosé 2023 is a $7.99 Aldi USA exclusive. This wine is produced by Ethical Wine Company a French wine company that specializes in sustainable and certified vineyard and winery practices. They use recycled material for their packaging, recycle what they use, and are carbon neutral. The Florifity French Rosé 2023 is something…
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The Whispering Angel Rosé 2023 is a wine from Provence in the south of France, I found it on a Mother’s Day/Spring sale for $13, but a check on the web says it sells for $12 to $20. This is one of the many Rosé brands from Chateau D’ESCLANS in the Cotes de Provence AOC,…
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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 Lucia Victoria Reserva Rioja 2018 is a wine available at Costco for $8.89 (the .89 indicates a Costco special buy) and can be found elsewhere for about $15. This wine was produced by Bodegas Valdelacierva from 2 vineyards (50-year-old vines) near San Vincente in the Rioja Alta region. The importer is Vinamericas and here…
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The Embroidery Monterey Pinot Noir 2021 is a $6.89 wine at Costco. The .89 indicates that this is a special price and may not last. This is a wine produced by Precision Wine Company located in Napa, California. They have about 25 brands and made wine for Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Costco. The Monterey County…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Saint-Emilion 2022 is a 414.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Saint-Emilion is on the Right Bank of the Garonne River in Bordeaux and along with nearby Pomerol is arguably the best place in the world to grow Merlot. The Merlot grape comprises 79% of the vines, 15% of Cabernet Franc, and…
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The OVZ Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel 2021 is a wine selling for around $15, though Costco will sometimes have it for under $10. This is a brand from Oak Ridge Winery a family-owned winery in business since 1906, they built their first winery in 1934. It is common for Lodi wineries to be in the…
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The La Burgondie Cremant de Bourgogne Brut is a $10.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. It is a Sparkling wine made in the Traditional or Champagne style. The grapes in the blend are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté, and Gamay, sourced from multiple vineyards in Burgundy, France. La Burgondie is an actual wine company and not a…
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