(the cheap REDS we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Petite Sirah vs Petit Verdot Red Blend 2021 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s wine sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA. This is the first wine that I can remember where I was not sure what the name was. It could be Rough & Ready or Two Heavy Hitters or it could be all…
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The Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is sourced from various vineyards in California. Bogle Vineyards, from the Clarksburg AVA, have 1,600 acres of vineyards in California. The Bogle family has been farming in California since the mid-1800s. They started their wine operation in the late 1970s. The Clarksburg AVA is in the river delta from the…
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The Dreaming Tree Pinot Noir 2020 is a collaboration between Dave Matthews (yeah, that Dave Matthews) and New Zealand winemaker Sean McKenzie. This is Pinot Noir sourced from multiple locations in France. French wines are typically sourced from one appellation or a sub-appellation, such as Bordeaux or the Médoc. The vineyards used for a particular…
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The Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel 2020 Grateful Dead Limited Edition is sourced from 35 to 80 years old vines from vineyards located throughout the Lodi AVA but mainly in the Mokelumne River area. The Mokelumne River Valley flows from the Delta river valleys connected to San Pablo Bay to the west. The San Pablo Bay…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Meritage 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive Red blend. According to the Fearless Flyer, the blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, the only Bordeaux-approved grape missing is Malbec. A Meritage Red blend, which rhymes with heritage, is a wine that is based on the…
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The Jacob’s Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2020 is 65% Shiraz and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in Australia. Usually, the vineyard location for Australian wine is Southeastern Australia or South Australia, both very large regions, but this wine has grapes that could have come from anywhere. That is not surprising since their website said over…
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The Laurent Dublanc Cotes du Rhone 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, except in New York. Grocery Stores are not permitted to sell wine and spirits in New York, so Trader Joe’s exclusive wines sometimes end up in retail wine shops. This Red Blend sells for $11.99 in New York wine shops. In…
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The Hampton Water Rosé 2021 is a project put together by Jon Bon Jovi, his son Jesse Bon Jovi, and Gérard Bertrand. Gerard Bertrand is a major player in the French wine industry, he controls multiple estates in the south of France and is a leader in biodynamic wines in the Languedoc region. This Rosé…
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The Maison No. 9 Rosé 2020 is a wine from Post Malone sourced from a vineyard in the south of France (Mediterranee IGP). There are Rosé vineyards and wineries all along the Mediterranean Coast in France, not just in Provence. IGP is a wine that does not conform to all the rules and regulations of…
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The Outlander Meritage Red 2019 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles, California. This wine was produced by Coppola Winery from Sonoma California and was purchased the last year by Delicato Family Vineyards, headquartered in Lodi. A Meritage Red blend is a California wine that uses the approved grapes of the…
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The Daou Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is part of the Discovery series of wine from Daou Vineyards of Paso Robles California. Daou is one of the finest wineries in Paso Robles known for their Bordeaux-inspired wines and they are Cabernet Sauvignon specialists. The Daou Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is made by the same…
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The Velvet Moon Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in California. The wine is made for Trader Joe’s by a large family-owned winery based in Lodi and Napa. They have extensive vineyards in Lodi, Monterey, Sonoma, and other locations. These are wines available each year, here is a…
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The Barefoot Bubbly Brut Rosé 2020 is a Sparkling wine made with the Charmat Method (just like Prosecco) and produced by E & J Gallo. This particular version of this Bubbly is the Pride Edition and seems to be vintage-dated, this is usually a non-vintage Bubbly. Barefoot does not list the grapes used or what…
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The Scarlet Path Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2020 is an $8.99 Aldi exclusive, it used to be $7.99, but things cost more now. This wine is made for Aldi by a wine company in Greenfield, California, inside the Monterey AVA in the Central Coast AVA. A family-owned winery in Greenfield produces many of the California…
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The Angeline California Pinot Noir 2020 is the second brand of wine from the Martin Ray Winery of the Russian River AVA in Sonoma. While the Martin Ray brand wines are expressions of the AVA or a single vineyard or two, the Angeline wines are more about the varietal. Martin Ray Winery was originally in…
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The La Burgondie Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé is an $11.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, maybe. I say maybe because this Bubbly is made by Bailly Lapierre and they have a Bubbly that is very similar under their label that can be found in the $16 to $20 range. Bailly is the village in Burgundy,…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 Lot 225 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This is a wine produced for Trader Joe’s by Precision Wine Company which makes custom wines and several of its own brands from Napa Valley grapes. The Alexander Valley is about twenty-five miles from the Pacific Coast along…
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The Pale Rosé 2021 is a Rosé blend of mainly Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah from Chateau d´Estaing which produces the very popular Whispering Angel Rosé. Provence in the south of France is divided into 9 growing regions or AOCs, but this is an IGP-designated wine. In France, an IGP wine is a wine that does…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2020 Lot 229 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Sta. Rita Hills AVA (pronounced Santa Rita Hills) is located inside the Santa Ynez Valley AVA which is inside the Santa Barbara County AVA which is part of the Central Coast AVA. It is called the…
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The Bear Bros Rosé 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in California, but probably most, if not all, from the Monterey AVA. Bear Bros’ line of wines is made for Aldi by Scheid Family Vineyards which have multiple vineyards spread out over 70 miles of the Salinas Valley. Scheid is known for…
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The Josephine Pays D’Oc Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southwest France located between the Mediterranean Ocean and the Pyrenees and the Black Mountains. It is a region known for single-varietal wines, though blends are also allowed. The Josephine Pays D’Oc Cabernet Sauvignon…
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The Wonderwall Edna Valley Pinot Noir 2019 is sourced from three vineyards, Morro View, Greengate, and Jesperson, in the Edna Valley AVA just north of the town of Arroyo Grande, a few miles away from the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast AVA. Wonderwall is a brand from Andrew Jones of the Field Recordings WInery….
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The La Ferme Julien 2020 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s Rosé wine made for them by Famille Perrin a large wine company based in the Southern Rhone Valley of France. Perrin has a similar Rosé named La Vielle Ferme Ventoux Rosé. The TJs and the Perrin wine are sourced from the Ventoux appellation. The Trader…
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The Plungerhead Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel 2018 is 84% Zinfandel, 11% Petite Sirah, 2% Mourvèdre, 2% Tempranillo, and 1% Merlot. Most of the Zinfandel was sourced from 3 vineyards in the Mokelumne River Basin of Lodi, the Grand Vin Lands Vineyard, the Mettler Family Vineyard, and the Manna Vineyard. The Petite Sirah came from the Mettler…
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The Tilia Malbec 2020 is the first Argentinian-certified sustainably farmed wine. This is a wine that is sourced from various family farm vineyards in the eastern Mendoza Valley and the Uco Valley of Argentina. Since this is not a single estate wine and several privately owned vineyards the coordination to achieve the sustainable certification was…
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