Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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….
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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…
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Death Metal Red Vol. 6 2015 seems to be a $9.99 Whole Foods exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain. This Red is designated a Vino de la Tierra wine which is Spain’s version of Vin de Pays from France or IGT from Italy. Cheapwinefinder reviewed the 2016 Death Metal Red…
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The Crestwood Barrel Riesling 2019 is a $5.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. And that is about as much as I know about the production details for this wine. For these store brands, I usually can go to the national trademark registry website to find out which…
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For Halloween Wines 2020 Part 1 we are starting out with a budget-friendly Red blend, $7.99 at Trader Joe’s. The Dearly Beloved I Thee Red 2018 sourced from vineyards in California’s Central Coast AVA. Its claim to Halloween wine fame is an elaborate Day of the Dead skull on the front label. The bottle is…
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The Columbia Crest H3 Les Chevaux Red 2016 is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Malbec, (along with other Red varietals) sourced from vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (also known as H3) inside the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. The Horse Heaven Hills AVA is located east of Vancouver and west of…
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The Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from vineyards in Monterey County south of San Fransico Bay inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Cupcake Vineyards is one of The Wine Groups’ sixty-plus labels of wine. Check out the link above, their wines are available everywhere and I figure your local supermarket sells at least…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is actually Carneros Napa Valley Lot #204. There is Lot #205 which I imagine is from a different producer. Some Trader Joe’s get the 204 and others get the 205, both are $9.99. Carneros is an interesting AVA, it is located half in Sonoma and half in Napa….
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The Taymar Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by DNA Vineyards who have made some of the best TJ’s wines over the years. DNA Vineyards is Dennis Patton and Andrea Silverstein. Dennis has been a leader in the Mendocino wine industry for forty years and Andrea has been…
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The Riff Pinot Grigio 2019 is an organic inexpensive (around ten bucks) Pinot Grigio sourced from vineyards in the Delle Venezie DOC of northern Italy. The vineyards are situated in the Dolomites which are part of the Southern Alps Mountain Range. The Delle Venezie is a White wine grape growing region and they grow as…
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The Deep Valley Red Blend 2018 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in Mendocino County. Deep Valley is not an AVA inside Mendocino, it is a local name for the region around the town of Ukiah. This Red blend, Petite Sirah, Merlot, and Syrah, was produced by the custom wine department of…
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The Fleur de Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. If Napa Valley is not your first thought when you think of American Sauvignon Blanc, that is ok because Napa has concentrated on the other Sauvignon, Cabernet Sauvignon. But back in the 1960s, Robert Mondavi kick-started the whole Sauvignon Blanc craze with…
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The Santa Carolina Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in the Miraflores and Los Lingues estates in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. The Colchagua Valley is located between the Coastal Mountains and the Andes. This is a wine I found at Costco selling for $7.49 a quick check of the…
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The Presto Sparkling Rose’ is a $9.99 Whole Foods North American exclusive made from the Lagrein and Raboso grapes grown in the Veneto and Trentino regions of northern Italy. Trentino and Veneto are well known for Alto Adige (Pinot Grigio) and Prosecco regions. Lagrein and Raboso are local grapes that are popular in Italy, you…
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The Story The Two Angels Petite Sirah 2017 is a wine I found at Costco for $9.99 sourced from vineyards in the Red Hills sub-AVA of the Lake County AVA north of Napa in Northern California. This is a fairly new wine brand, the 2017 vintage is their third vintage for this label. Red Hills…
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The Story The Paso Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a Trader Joe’s $7.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA of the Central Coast AVA in California. Paso Robles is about halfway between Los Angeles and San Fransisco. Trader Joe’s does not offer up much information on this Cabernet. Most of the Fearless…
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The Story The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Russian River Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Russian River AVA of western Sonoma County. This Sauvignon Blanc is produced for TJs by Owl Ridge Wine Services. Owl Ridge is a custom crush and private label facility located in…
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The Story The Matsu El Picaro 2019 is a Tempranillo wine sourced from 90-year-old vineyards in the Toro D.O. of Spain. Toro is located near the Northeast corner of Portugal, the northwest of Spain wraps around the Portugal border. Matsu is a Japanese word that means to wait and El Picaro translates to the Rouge….
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