(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Ménage à Trois Luscious Pinot Noir 2017 is 76% Pinot Noir, 13% Petite Sirah, 6% Syrah, and 5% Zinfandel sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, the North Coast AVA, and the Lodi AVA in California. This is a Pinot Noir produced in a very modern California style that has become popular in the…
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The Hedges CMS Red 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington, it is Hedges Family Estates iconic Red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, with the blend changing from year to rear. The blend also seems to change during the year, the Hedges website gives the 2014 blend as 40%…
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The Happy : Hour Red Blend 2016 was a pleasant surprise! Ah remember the summer of 2016 when all the kids (and way too many adults) were out everywhere, running into walls because they were staring at their phones playing Pokémon Go? That record-setting app, credited for popularizing AR (augmented reality) technology, made it look…
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The LaRue Cotes de Provence Rosé 2017 is a $7.19 ALDI import exclusive, a blend of unspecified Red grapes grown in the Cotes de Provence AOP, the largest growing region in Provence, in the south of France. This bottle looks very much like ALDI’s Exquisite Collection Provence Rosé ($7.99) from about a year ago that got…
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The William Wright Monterey County Pinot Noir 2016 is a $8.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Salinas Valley of Monterey, California. William Wright is one of Scheid Vineyards (founded in the early 1970s) 40+ wine labels, Scheid owns 11 estate vineyards with 4,000 acres of vines. The back label says William Wright “produced and…
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The Ritual Pinot Noir 2015 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from a Veramonte estate vineyard (Ritual is a Veramonte brand) about 18 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Casablanca Valley growing region inside the Central Valley of Chile. A quick check of the web showed this Pinot Noir selling for $15 to $20, with it…
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The MoonX Black Pinot Noir 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for TJ’s by a well-respected family owned vineyards and winery located in Lodi, California that has been in business since 1924. As a Trader Joe’s exclusive wine there isn’t a great deal of information available concerning the making of the wine and that…
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The Santa Julia Malbec Bonarda Tintillo 2017 is 50% Malbec and 50% Bonarda, the Malbec came from vineyards in the Uco Valley and the Bonarda came from estate vineyards near the town of Santa Rosa in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The Bonarda grape originated in France, it never became particularly popular there, but does quite…
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The El Terrano Rosado 2017 is a Garnacha Rose’ sold exclusively by Whole Foods ($9.99) sourced from 4 vineyards located near the town of Longares in the Carinena DO in the Aragon province of northeast Spain. This area has been producing wine since Roman times and Aragon is thought to be where the Garnacha grape originated….
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The Maison Les Alexandrins Syrah 2016 is 92% Syrah and 8% Viognier sourced mainly from vineyards in the Northern Rhone region of France, but also from vineyards in the Loire and in the Southern Rhone Valley. Viognier is a White grape and is the only White grape that is regularly added to Red wine, I asked…
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The Trestoria Rose’ 2017 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in California, that’s it, the grape or grapes used and any info that narrows down where the grapes came from are sadly omitted. The back label says this Rose’ was produced by a company from Modesto, Ca. that seems to be related to E…
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The Dark Waves Red Blend 2016 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse from grapes farmed in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Central Coast Wine Warehouse has been making custom wine for Trader Joe’s for years, they are part of a family owned group of wine…
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The Confidencial Reserva Tinto 2014 is a blend of more than 10 grape varietals farmed in Casa Santos Lima estate vineyards in the Lisboa growing region north and west of Lisbon in Portugal. What is confidencial about this wine is the grapes used. Many of the grapes grown in Portugal are indigenous to the region and…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Monterey Meritage Lot 168 2014 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Monterey County AVA which is located north of Paso Robles and up to the Monterey Bay inside the Central Coast AVA of California. A Meritage wine is a Red blend that uses the grapes approved…
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The Beau Rocher Brut Rose’ is a non-vintage French Sparkling wine, the label says Mousseux which along with Cremant is French for any Bubbly not produced in Champagne. I choose this bottle because it was the cheapest French Bubbly, $5.99, in the store, it may well have the cheapest French wine of any sort on the…
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The Wente Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Petite Sirah, 5% Malbec and 2% Tempranillo grown in Wente’s estate, sustainably farmed vineyards in the southern section of the Livermore Valley AVA, east of the San Fransisco Bay (south and west of Lodi) in the Central Coast AVA of California….
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The Ferrari-Carano Siena 2014 is blend of mainly Sangiovese along with smaller portions of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Sirah sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Alexander Valley AVA, the Dry Creek AVA, and the Russian River AVA all inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. The Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery have been family…
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The La Vieille Ferme Rosé – 2017 is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah made by Famille Perrin and sourced from vineyards in the Ventoux district in the southeastern area of the Southern Rhone Valley of France. This is a sub-$10 Rose’ (I found it for $6.99) and it does not seem to be a…
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The VINTJS Organic Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by DnA Vineyards, located in Mendocino County, California. DnA Vineyards is Dennis Patton and Andrea Silverstein, with Dennis having been a fixture in the Mendocino wine industry for over 40 years. DnA makes some of my favorite Trader Joe’s exclusive…
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The La Coqueluche Rose’ 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive designated an IGP or a Vin de Pays D’Oc wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southeastern France. French wine regions have governing bodies that issue strict rules and regulations concerning the farming of the grapes and the production of the wine, IGP…
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The Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage Vines Dry Creek Zinfandel 2014 is 94% Zinfandel and 6% Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA of Northern California. Many of you may remember Rancho Zabaco for their Dancing Bull line of wines (mainly Zinfandel), E & J Gallo split Rancho…
Read MoreThe Columbia River Landing Red 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, produced for them by Bronco Wines (of 2 Buck Chuck fame) from grapes grown in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. The grapes used in this Red blend are not specified, but Columbia Valley is well-known for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, but they also…
Read MoreThe Shaw Organic Rose’ 2017 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, the Shaw in the name is Charles Shaw better known as 2 Buck Chuck. The Shaw Rose’ is sourced from certified organic vineyards, they mention Cottonwood Creek vineyards, so this isn’t 2 Buck Chuck, it’s 4 Buck Chuck. If an organic $3.99 wine isn’t…
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The St. Somewhere Pinot Noir 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine that is 99.85% California Pinot Noir and 0.15% Oregon Pinot Noir, the Oregon juice is in the blend by accident. There is a story to tell here, Trader Joe’s says a big-time wine producer was creating a Pinot Noir sourced from the best coastal…
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The Indigenous Nebbiolo d’Alba 2015 is 100% Nebbiolo grape sourced from a family owned Estate in the Roero district of Piedmont in northern Italy. Indigenous Selection is an importer representing a carefully curated portfolio of wineries mainly in the Piedmont and Tuscany areas of Italy. The Indigenous label was created to be an old school second…
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