(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Korbel Russian River Valley Natural 2013 is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with 75% of the grapes grown in Korbel estate vineyards in the Russian River AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. This is a vintage dated wine, most Bubbly in this price range (around $16) are non-vintage wines, using wine…
Read More
The Michael David Sixth Sense Syrah 2015 is Syrah with a little bit of Petite Sirah added, grown in vineyards in the Lodi AVA, which is south and east of Napa Valley. The Michael David in the title are the Phillips brothers, they are the 5th generation of Phillips to work these lands (the 6th generation…
Read More
The Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages 2015 is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah grown in “Villages” designated vineyards in the southern Rhone region of France, south of Switzerland and west of the Italian border. In the Cotes du Rhone AOC in terms of perceived quality, the lowest designation is simply Cotes du Rhone…
Read More
The William Wright Artist Series Red Wine Blend 2015 is I believe a $9.99 ALDI exclusive, produced from 65% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Zinfandel, and 2% Syrah grown in vineyards in the Monterey AVA below San Francisco and inside the Central Coast AVA. William Wright wines are produced by Scheid Winery, Monterey, Ca. who produce…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Rose’ is a $9.99 limited edition Trader’ Joe’s exclusive produced from a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier grown in vineyards in the North Coast AVA which includes Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa, and Lake County, all of which are north of San Francisco in Northern California. The TJ’s Reserve…
Read More
The Scarlet Path Lodi Zinfandel 2014 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive. Lodi is south and east of Napa County with most of the vineyards planted in the Delta region which is a series of river valleys coming from the San Francisco Bay and ending at the Sierra Nevada foothills. This area is 100 miles inland and…
Read More
The Fluteau Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne is 100% Pinot Noir grown in a single Estate vineyard in the Côte des Bar district of Aube in the southernmost section of Champagne which is located in northeast France. This Bubbly is known as a Grower/Producer Champagne which indicates that the family that owned the vineyard and grew the…
Read More
The Espelt Old Vines Garnacha 2015 is sourced from Estate, family owned, 95 year old, certified organic Garnacha vineyards (Grenache and Garnacha are the same grape, one is the French word the other is the Spanish term) located in the steep hillsides of the Emporda DO in the far Northeast corner of Spain, next to the French…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Yountville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Lot 74 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, Yountville is one of the 16 sub-AVA’s inside Napa Valley. The typical Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon is a cellar worthy wine that sells for $50 and up, so is this a $50 wine that somehow is priced at…
Read More
The Barrel Road Bourbon Barrel Red Blend 2015, they keep which grapes in the blend to themselves, the label says California which means no one AVA comprised 75% of the grapes, but the grapes came from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, the Sonoma County AVA, Lake County AVA, and the Yolo County AVA (the end…
Read More
The Ferrari-Carano Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from 3 estate vineyards in the Anderson Valley AVA of Mendocino County, just north of Sonoma and west of Napa in Northern California. Ferrari-Carano is one of Sonoma Counties leading Estates, but they own three “ranches” in Anderson Valley. Anderson Valley is located just 10 miles from…
Read More
The Insomnia Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape producing AVA, it was found at ALDI’s for $8.99, but I don’t think that it is exclusive to ALDI. It is a well-priced California Cabernet, but the main reason that it stands out on store shelves is the label. The label…
Read More
The Billy’s Shadow Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot 2014 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, a blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Shiraz (exact same grape as Syrah), and 11% Merlot sourced from vineyards in South Australia. In Australia, this wine is sold under the Jamiesons Run brand (known for delivering good wine for the money), a…
Read More
The Clayhouse Paso Robles Malbec 2014 is 90% Malbec, 5% Tannat, and 5% Petite Sirah sourced from Clayhouse’s sustainably farmed estate Red Cedar Vineyard in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. All of Clayhouse’s wines come from the Red Cedar Vineyard and the name Clayhouse refers to a 150 year old…
Read More
The Mirassou Pinot Noir 2015 is sourced from vineyards in Sonoma County and the Lodi Delta in Northern California. Sonoma County has several well-respected Pinot Noir growing regions and while Lodi isn’t the first place you think about when talking Pinot, the Delta is filled with river valleys that funnel cool air from the San Fransisco…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s 2013 Grand Reserve Meritage Napa Lot 63 2013 is a $12.99 TJ’s blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec (these are 5 of the 6 grapes approved for Bordeaux Red blends, the only grape missing is Carménère) sourced from vineyards somewhere in the Napa Valley of California. When dealing with…
Read More
The Mercer Estate Sharp Sisters Horse Heaven Hills Red Blend 2015 is an estate grown blend of 29% Cabernet Sauvignon (Eagle & Plow Vineyard), 27% Syrah (Spice Cabinet Vineyard), 18% Merlot (Dead Canyon Vineyard), 14% Petit Verdot (Milt’s Vineyard), 10% Grenache, and 2% Carignane (both from the Spice Cabinet Vineyard) in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside…
Read More
The Mercer Estates Horse Heaven Hills Malbec 2015 is 78% Malbec and 22% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the estate Spice Cabinet Vineyard located on a hillside at a bend in the Columbia River in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. Horse Heaven Hills is located in southern central Washington not…
Read More
The Ménage à Trois Decadence Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Sirah, and 6% Merlot (those 3 grapes are the Trois in Manage a Trois) sourced from vineyards in Lodi, Monetary and the North Coast AVAs of California. There are 17 different Menage a Trois wines, a brand created in 1996 by…
Read More
The ALDI Exquisite Collection Cotes de Provence Rose’ 2016 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive that is best known as the Rose’ that won a silver medal and the Best Wine Under $10 award at the International Wine Challenge blind tasting in England. ALDI’s wine has a very good reputation in Europe, so winning awards there is,…
Read More
The Pass NZ Pinot Noir 2014 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Martinborough region on the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island. Most of the New Zealand wines you find your local wine shop shelves come from Marlborough (most of the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir) located on the…
Read More
The Adventure Series DOCG Chianti 2015 is an ALDI $4.99 import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy. The main grape of Chianti is Sangiovese with a handful of local grapes allowed in the blend. Italy has rather strict control agencies for grape growing and wine production, the DOC and the DOCG…
Read More
The Flama D’Or Cava Rose’ Brut is produced with the Trepat grape grown in vineyards near the town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in the Province of Catalonia (major city is Barcelona) in northeast Spain, this is where Cava comes from. Flama D’Or is part of Castell D’Or a group of 9 wine communes covering different sections of…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2014 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive and is a blend of Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles (about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco) inside the Central Coast AVA. The back label says this blend was “vinted and bottled by…
Read More
The LaGranja 360 Garnacha Rosado 2016 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s imported wine sourced from grapes grown in the Cariñena DO inside the Zaragoza Province in north-east Spain. The LaGranja 360 (translates to the Farm 360) line of wines, which for the most part sell for under 5 bucks (I think their Cava Sparkling wine is a…
Read More