(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Aldi California Heritage Merlot is a $4.99 exclusive, produced by a branch of E & J Gallo for ALdi. This is a non-vintage wine, meaning grapes picked in different years are included in this bottling. Producers do this to keep costs down and use a more upscale wine from a previous year to “improve”…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Rasteau Cru 2022 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The actual name is Rasteau Appellation Rasteau Controlée 2022 Lot 254, Cru de la Vallée Rhone. Here is an entry-level view of how the wine classifications in the Southern Rhone Valley work The first level is Cotes du Rhone AOC, which…
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The Porto 6 Vinho Tinto 2021 (Vinho Tinto translates to Red Wine) is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 import exclusive sourced from vineyards in Lisboa Portugal. Lisboa is a region along the northern Atlantic coast near Lisbon. It is a large wine region with several sub-regions inside. Porto 6 Vinho Tinto 2021 is produced by Vidigal…
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The Babs Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2020 is a $15.99 wine at Costco, $25 to $35 elsewhere. Babs is a project by John Wagner, he owns Peake Ranch Winery with three vineyards two in the Santa Rita Hills AVA and one in the Santa Maria AVA, all within Santa Barbara County and all very high-end…
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The Gruet Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine is a Pinot Noir-based Champagne-style non-vintage Sparkling wine from Sante Fe, New Mexico. This is a Sparkling wine that should be found selling for around $15, I found it on sale for $13.99 and Brut means dry or not sweet. Gilbert Gruet had a Champagne House in Champagne France…
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The Kirkland Signature Sonoma Old Vine Zinfandel 2021 is a 9.99 Costco exclusive made for them by Zach Long Of Kunde Estates. Zach Long has 20 years of experience as a winemaker with the last 10 of those as the winemaker at Kunde Family Winery and Vintage Wine Estates. The Kunde Family has farmed this…
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The Loudenotte Pays D’Oc Pinot Noir 2022 is a $.6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, it is $12 in places that TJ’s does not cover. D’Oc indicates that this wine is from the Languedoc in France. This wine has been available at Trader Joe’s for several vintages. Here is a link to the 2018 version. The Languedoc…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve San Luis Obispo Coast Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The San Luis Obispo Coast AVA is new, founded in 2022, and includes the Edna Valley AVA and the Arroyo Secco AVA. These are all cool climate AVAs. Paso Robles is more inland and specializes in warm-weather…
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The Epicuro Puglia Primitivo 2021 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The grapes were sourced from the Apulia region of Puglia in southeast Italy. Epicuro is one of the 10 brands from FeMar a third-generation family-owned winery. They produce a wide variety of Italian and Sicilian wines, several of which are available at Trader…
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The Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a wine I found selling for $13.99 it is sourced from the Goose Ridge, Painted Hills, Badger Mountain, and the Sportfisher vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington State. This is a wine brand from The House of Smith wines (Charles Smith) whose stated goal for this wine…
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The Aldi’s California Heritage Pinot Noir is a $4.95 non-vintage wine sourced, at least for now, from California’s Central Coast AVA. This brand is produced by International Wine Merchants who make Burlwood and Moiselle wines for Aldi. They are a division of E & J Gallo make Winking Owl and Hwy 5 Aldi wines. All…
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The Rolling Mist Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage $8.99 ALdi exclusive made by some division of E & J Gallo of Modesto, California. Neither Aldi nor Gallo offer any information concerning this wine. The back label mentions blackberry, which is a flavor characteristic of Cabernet Sauvignon, and oak spice and vanilla which are oak influences…
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The Kirkland Signature Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2021 is a $12.99 Costco Exclusive. This is a wine produced for Costco by Precept Wine and Spirits, a large northwest wine company that controls 4,000 acres of vineyards and has an excellent brand and retail wine portfolio. The winemaker is Sarah Cabot who is the head winemaker…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Wahluke Slope Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from certified organic grapes grown in the Wahluke Slope AVA of the Columbia Valley in Washington State. This Cab Sauv was produced for Trader Joe’s by DNA Vineyards an independent winery that has produced many wines for TJ’s both Reserve wines…
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The Belhara Estate Single Vineyard Malbec 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine. Belhara Estate is a family-owned winery in the Uco Valley inside Mendoza in Argentina. They own three vineyards and this wine is sourced from one of them. This wine seems to be the same or very close to Trader Joe’s Grand…
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The Trader Joe’s Coastal Merlot 2022 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The winery of record on the back label is Castoro Cellars from Paso Robles, California. The label says “vinted and bottled by” which does not mean that much anymore. A winery and its equipment may be organized into one entity or LLC, the…
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The Cuy Natural Malbec 2022 is a $9.99 wine at Trader Joe’s. Santa Julia Winery, part of the Zuccardi Wines family of brands, makes it. Zuccardi and Santa Julia are top-notch wine producers who make excellent quality wine. One of their wines may not be made in your style, but the vineyards and the production…
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The Aldi Specially Selected Cremant de Bordeaux Brut Rosé is a $11.99 Aldi import exclusive. The Aldi Specially Selected brand includes at least 55 wines in Europe, my local Ald’s never had more than 5 or 6. They had Cremant wines from France’s (8) Cremant AOP areas. Cremant translates to “creamy” but it stands for…
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The Chronic Cellars Suite Petite Petite Sirah 2021 is sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles in California’s Central Coast AVA. It is 90% Petite Sirah and 10% Syrah. This brand was founded (in 2004) by the Beckett Brothers, the sons of Doug Beckett who was the owner of Peachy Canyon Wines, one of the folks…
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The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 is a $7.99 Costco import wine and it seems to sell for about $12 in places that Costco does not serve. Cahors is a village in southwest France, the surrounding vineyards are known for growing the Malbec grape. In recent years Malbec from Argentina has become a trendy…
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The Kirkland Signature Bordeaux Supérieur 2021 is a $6.89 Costco import exclusive. The .89 in the price typically denotes a special low price but the 2020 version was $6.99 so 10 cents is not much of a discount. This Red is made by Chateau Petit-Freylon a small estate near the town of Saint-Genis-du-Bois, this winery…
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The Peaks & Tides Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is a reoccurring wine, this brand also includes a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I did a little digging and found that Plata Wine Partners produces this wine for Aldi. Plata Partners says they are the “largest independent California coastal…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This Bubbly is a blend of 84% Pinot Noir and 16% Chardonnay sourced from grapes grown in the Carneros AVA, located inside both the Sonoma AVA and the Napa AVA. Carneros sits on the northern shore of San…
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The Matias Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a bit of a mystery wine, their website is gone, and their trail leads to more than one place. They seem to have two vintages of this Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2019 vintage and this 2021. The 2019 was one of the best in recent years and the…
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The Anna de Codorniu Cava Brut Rosé is a Sparkling wine I found on sale selling for $8.99. Anna de Codorniu is the oldest winery in Spain, founded in 1551. Today they are part of the Raventos family of wines. Raventos started growing grapes in 1497 and 1872 producing the first Traditional Method Cava. The…
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