Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The Lomasi Bee Well Rosé 2020 is a $6.99 ALDI wine sourced from vineyards in the Monterey County AVA inside California’s Central Coast AVA. ALDI does not offer any information on the making of this Rosé, so which grapes are used, and the production methods are a mystery. Lomasi WInes is a trademark owned by…
Read More
The Fior di Vino Chianti Classico Reserva 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from the DOCG Chianti Classico district in Tuscany. The name Fior di Vino translates to Fine Wine. While this wine sells for $6.99 at TJ’s, I found it selling at a wine shop in New York State for $13.99….
Read More
The Ashokawna Russian River Chardonnay 2018 is an $8.99 Aldi exclusive. The Russian River Valley AVA is in western Coastal Sonoma County. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west of the Russian River Valley AVA. The Russian River Valley runs north/south parallel to the coast. The river originally flowed east/ west until a cataclysmic event thousands…
Read More
The Tenebres GSM 2019 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in France’s Languedoc region. The name Tenebres translates to “Darkness.” A GSM Red blend is a wine that originated in the Southern Rhone Valley in France and is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. The Languedoc is the largest wine region…
Read More
The VINTJS Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Sonoma Coast AVA runs along the California coast from San Pablo Bay to Mendocino County to the north. The Sonoma Coast AVA is located in mountainous terrain, with most of the vineyards located high up in the foothills, well above the…
Read More
The Exquisite Collection Chardonnay 2019 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in California and that is the extent of what I know about this wine. The Exquisite Collection line of wine is basically the ALDI equivalent to Trader Joe’s Reserve wines. Special wine deals happened upon that year, and they pass the savings…
Read More
The Painted Wolf The Den Chenin Blanc 2019 is part of The Den line of wines from the family-owned Painted Wolf Winery of Swartland, South Africa. The Den is their line of every day easy to drink wines. The name Painted Wolf is a reference to the endangered indigenous wild dogs that once roamed freely….
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Oak Knoll Zinfandel 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Oak Knoll AVA inside Napa Valley. This is a one-off wine; when it sells out, it is gone for good, so if you like it, buy all you need. Oak Knoll is located in the…
Read More
Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, a Sparkling wine made from the Pinot Noir grape sourced from vineyards in Napa Valley. There are a couple of odd details concerning the Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse. First, if you look at the title, the “o” in Rose has the punctuation,…
Read More
The Tribunal North Coast Red 2018 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. A blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Barbera, and Grenache. The North Coast AVA includes Napa, Sonoma, Lake County, Mendocino, and Marin Counties, and Solano County. The Tribunal North Coast Red 2018 has been a Trader Joe’s wine for at least a…
Read More
The Vintjs Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in Napa County in Northern California. The Vintjs brand and the Vintjs Napa Sauvignon Blanc have been around for over a decade, which is good staying power for a store brand. It seems the same Napa winery has been…
Read More
The Evanta Malbec 2019 is a $4.49 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in Argentina’s Mendoza region. Considering that Aldi had to pay an importer and ship the wine from Argentina, this Malbec falls well within Charles Shaw/Two Buck Chuck range. The Evanta Malbec 2019 is a store brand (Aldi), and store brands have price advantages…
Read More
The Love Noir Pinot Noir 2018 is one of the new, bolder styles of Pinot Noir sourced from grapes farmed in several regions of California. This Pinot Noir is one of The Wine Group’s families of wines. Love Noir Pinot Noir 2018, as a brand wine, is not tied to a single winery. Brand wines…
Read More
The Peachy Canyon Lodi Zinfandel 2017 can be found at Trader Joe’s for $7.99. This is a mystery wine since it does not show up on Peachy Canyon’s website or have much of a web presence. Peachy Canyon Winery, founded in 1988, is located in the Paso Robles AVA inside California’s Central Coast AVA. It…
Read More
The Beurré Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine; a Pays D’Oc designated wine from the Languedoc in southeastern France. The Languedoc is the largest wine-producing area in France, and this is where French everyday drink-it-now wines are produced. Beurré is French for butter, and most of the writing on the front label…
Read More
The Castor and Pollux Pinot Noir 2019 is a $6.99 Aldi import wine from the Languedoc growing region of Southeastern France. The Languedoc is the largest wine region in France and this is the area that supplies a great deal of the every-day wines that the French drink every-day. I know that many Americans think…
Read More
The Aiolas Red Blend 2019 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, a DOC designated wine from the Dão region of Portugal. TJ’s does not offer any information concerning this Red blend. This is somewhat unfortunate since the wines of Portugal tend to be unique. they often use indigenous grapes such as Touriga Franca or Tinta…
Read More
The La Granja 360 Cava Brut NV 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import Bubbly using two of the three traditional Cava grapes, Xarel-lo and Parellada farmed in the Cava DO of northwest Spain, near Barcelona. La Granja 360 translates to the Farm 360 and is a brand owned by Axial Vino, a Dutch company…
Read More
The Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 is a non-vintage Champagne-style Sparkling wine from Chateau Ste Michelle in the Columbia Valley of Washington. This is a value-priced Bubbly, it lists for $13 and I found it for $8.99 on sale. Even though it is a reasonably priced Sparkling wine it is produced in the same…
Read More
The Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine sourced from vineyards inside the Russian River Valley AVA which is in turn inside the Sonoma County AVA of Northern California. The trademark for Mantenere is own by Francis Coppola Wines and Mantenere Cellars is located in Geyserville, California. Which also happens to…
Read More
The Farmhouse California Red 2019 is a blend of Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, Carignane, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Grenache sourced from vineyards in California. Farmhouse California is one of Cline Family Cellars’ line of wine. Cline is a family-owned winery founded in 1981 that specializes in sustainably farmed vineyards and wine. One of the things I admire…
Read More
The Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose is a $4.99 ALDI exclusive, a Sparkling wine made with the Charmat Method. The Charmat Method is the same process used in the making of Prosecco and is often referred to as the Italian Method though it is used all over the wine world. The back label says this Bubbly…
Read More
The Liberte Pinot Noir 2017 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in San Luis Obispo County inside the Paso Robles AVA which is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Liberte has been a Trader Joe’s brand for some time, I think we first reviewed these wines with the 2009 vintage. The…
Read More
The El Castilla Syrah 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine sourced from grapes from Spain. The front label has almost no pertinent information on the origin of this Syrah. The label says Vino de Espana or Wine of Spain for the origin and the back label only mentions the bottler and not the producer….
Read More
The Pontificis VRM White 2018 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Languedoc region of southeastern France. The VRM stands for the grape blend, 45% Viognier, 40% Roussanne, and 15% Marsanne. The name of this wine and the blend are basically a shout-out to the White wines of the Southern…
Read More
