(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Outlander Meritage Paso Robles 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive. The Meritage in the name indicates that this is a Bordeaux blend, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec grapes. To be a Meritage wine a license is purchased from the Meritage Alliance. They are an industry group promoting education and working on…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a $12.99 TJ’s exclusive. The back label says it was vinted and bottled by Ashford Court, which is a faux winery. These Trader Joe’s Reserve wines are negociant wines; negociants never tell where they got their wines. The Alexander Valley is the upper half…
Read More
The Kirkland Signature Cotes de Provence Rosé 2022 is a $7.99 Costco exclusive. It is produced for Costco by Oliver Sumeire (winemaker) for Famille Sumeire a winemaking family with roots in Provence that go back to the 1200s, though the history of the modern wine business dates to the 1880s. The Cotes de Provence is…
Read More
The Caretaker Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive bottled for them by Miller Family Wines. Bottled for them means just that, they officially bottled the wine, and who knows who did the rest. Miller Family Wines are the parent company of the Central Coast Wine Warehouse which 10 to 15…
Read More
The Kirkland Signature K Vine Syrah 2021 is a $9.99 Costco exclusive produced especially for them by House of Smith/Charles Smith Wines from Washington State. This wine is sourced from a single vineyard, Frenchman Hills Vineyard, located in the newly formed Royal Slope AVA (2020). K Vintners has a history of making 100-point Syrah wines,…
Read More
The Rabble Paso Robles Red Blend 2020 Costco is $10.89 at Costco and between $15 and $20 elsewhere. The blend seems to be Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Tannat, Tempranillo, and Malbec sourced from “carefully selected vineyards in Paso Robles.” The reason I say that seems to be the blend is that…
Read More
The Esteban Martin Garnacha Syrah 2021 is a $4.99 wine at Costco, it sells for as high as $13.99 elsewhere with the average on the web being closer to $8 or $9. Esteban Martin was founded in 2003 with a partnership of Miguel Esteban and Asuncion Martin in a winery located near the town of…
Read More
The Kirkland Carneros Signature Pinot Noir 2021 is a $9.99 Costco exclusive by winemaker Alison Crowe. Alison is the Director of Winemaking at Plata Wine Partners, which owns 60 vineyards and farms 18,000 acres of grapes. They supply grapes for 34 of the top 30 wine companies and make wine brands. This seems to be…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Grower’s Reserve Red Wine 2021 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine is produced for Trader Joe’s by ASV Wines who have been in business since 1982 and own several sustainably farmed vineyards in the Central Coast AVA and an organic vineyard in southern Monterey County where they grow Cabernet Sauvignon…
Read More
The1 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s wine though it is available in other countries. This is an IGP-designated wine, the top rating is DOCG followed by DOC. IGP wines have less stringent growing and producing regulations and are often sourced from vineyards in more generic growing regions. Aglianico is said to be one of the…
Read More
The Land of the Saints Central Coast Pinot Noir 2021 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from three vineyards one in the Edna Valley AVA, the next in Arroyo Grande AVA, and the Santa Maria Valley all located inside San Luis Obispo County. For reference, Paso Robles is also inside San Luis Obispo County. It is…
Read More
The Hahn Appellation Series Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir 2020 is sourced from a single Estate vineyard the Ste—Philippe in the Arroyo Seco AVA inside the Monterey AVA again inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Arroyo Seco translates to “dry creek” and is south of the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. Hahn Estate Wines was founded…
Read More
The 3 Rein Never Tame Red Blend 2020 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive. It was produced for Aldi by Precept Wines the largest privately owned wine company in the Northwest and it uses grapes farmed in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. That is the extent of what we know about this wine. The back…
Read More
The Kirkland Chianti Classico Reserva 2020 is an $8.99 Costco exclusive. It is produced for Costco by Villa Cafaggio who also produced a different Chianti for Costco in 2020. Villa Cafaggio has a history that goes back to 1408, and the Chianti region in Tuscany dates to 1716. Sangiovese is the main grape of Chianti….
Read More
The Highland 41 Black Granite Paso Robles Red 2020 was picked as the #1 wine in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Value Wines ($15 and under) of 2022. It is widely available but Costco has it for $11.99. It is a blend of 45% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, 15% Malbec, 10% Syrah, and 10% Merlot all…
Read More
The Don’t Mind If I Do Red Blend 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi sort of exclusive. It is a wine that has zero sugar, 85 calories, is gluten-free, and has only 9% alcohol content. It is made for Aldi by Scheid Vineyards and family-owned operation located on the Monterey AVA. The reason I say that…
Read More
The Domaine Condorcet Chateauneuf du Pape 2021 was found at Aldi for $9.99, it originally sold for $24.99 which was Aldi’s most expensive wine. A Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine is a Red blend from the southern Rhone Valley in France. It translates to the Pope’s new Chateau or in the 1300s, Castle. The Pope did not always…
Read More
The Kim Crawford Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2021 is 70% Merlot and 30% Sauvignon Blanc sourced from vineyards in the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand’s North Island. Kim Crawford has been a wine brand since 1996 and was started in Marlborough on New Zealand’s South Island. The majority of the wines Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot…
Read More
The Motif Red Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a Trader Joe’s $4.99 exclusive. The Red Hills AVA is located inside the Lake County AVA which is north of Napa Valley and east of Mendocino. Clear Lake is the largest lake in California and it is situated in Lake County. The Red Hills AVA is on…
Read More
The Gearbox Pinot Noir 2020 is $5.99 at Trader Joe’s. This is a wine that had retailed for an average of $15 at wine retailers, though it seems that there has been a recent price reduction occurring. So this may be a wine close-out. The Gearbox Pinot Noir 2020 is produced by Precision Wine Company,…
Read More
The Kirkland K Vine Rosé 2022 is a $9.99 Costco exclusive produced for them by Charles Smith of K Vintners of Walla Walla, Washington. K Vine is a label created for their Costco wines, there is currently a Chardonnay, a Rose, with a Cabernet Sauvignon soon to come. The Kirkland K Vine Rosé 2022 is…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer says this wine would sell for around $25 at a retail wine shop. A quick web check showed a 2017 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon selling in 2023 for a range of $20 to $70. Most wines,…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Syrah Wahluke Slope Organic 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine is 96% organic Syrah and 4% Merlot. For some reason, they do not label the Merlot grapes as organic. The wine was certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers. The USDA requires 100% of the grapes to be…
Read More
The Mumm Napa Brut Rosé is a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay sourced from up to 50 growers in Napa County. GH Mumm is a Champagne House founded in France in 1827. Mumm Napa was established in the late 1970s. The Mumm Napa Brut Rosé comes from almost 200 years of Champagne-making…
Read More
The Vin De Bordeaux B by Fonbadet Bordeaux 2019 sells for $7.99 at Trader Joe’s though it is widely available elsewhere, we will get to that later. It is a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 30% Merlot. It is sourced from a Chateau Fonbadet vineyard that was surrounded by First Growth…
Read More