Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The La Coqueluche Rose’ 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive designated an IGP or a Vin de Pays D’Oc wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southeastern France. French wine regions have governing bodies that issue strict rules and regulations concerning the farming of the grapes and the production of the wine, IGP…
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The 90+ Cellars Mendocino Chardonnay Lot 122 2016 is a negociant wine sourced from vineyards in the Mendocino AVA, located north of Sonoma and west of Napa in Northern California. A negociant (a French term) buys surplus wine from mainstream wineries and sells these wines at a discount. Because the wines are exactly the same as…
Read MoreThe Columbia River Landing Red 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, produced for them by Bronco Wines (of 2 Buck Chuck fame) from grapes grown in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. The grapes used in this Red blend are not specified, but Columbia Valley is well-known for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, but they also…
Read MoreThe Shaw Organic Rose’ 2017 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, the Shaw in the name is Charles Shaw better known as 2 Buck Chuck. The Shaw Rose’ is sourced from certified organic vineyards, they mention Cottonwood Creek vineyards, so this isn’t 2 Buck Chuck, it’s 4 Buck Chuck. If an organic $3.99 wine isn’t…
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The St. Somewhere Pinot Noir 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine that is 99.85% California Pinot Noir and 0.15% Oregon Pinot Noir, the Oregon juice is in the blend by accident. There is a story to tell here, Trader Joe’s says a big-time wine producer was creating a Pinot Noir sourced from the best coastal…
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The Evodia Garnacha 2016 is 100% Garnacha sourced from 40 to 100 year old vines located in the Calatayud DO inside the Aragon district of northeast Spain. Evodia is one of big-time importer Eric Solomon of European Cellars wines and this one of CWF’s personal favorites, we have write-ups on the 2008, 2010, and the 2013 vintage…
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The Castano Monastrell Rose’ 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the higher elevations of the Yecla D.O., Yecla is a town located in the Murcia district of southeastern Spain, they have produced wine here since Roman times. Monastrell is a grape that is native to the region, but is best known as Mourvedre (the M in…
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The Maison Barboulot Marsanne-Viognier 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards near the Black Mountains in the Languedoc region of Southeast France (along the Mediterranean Ocean). Maison Barboulot is a brand name, there is no Maison Barboulot estate and the label is faux French. It is actual French writing, but none of…
Read MoreThe Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is, of course, a Trader Joe’s $2.99 (in Chicago) exclusive, June of 2018 will mark the 16th year of Chuck and Joe’s relationship. I must admit to not being a 2 Buck Chuck fan, there are other very inexpensive wines at TJ’s that I prefer (the LaGranja 360 wines in…
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The Jacob’s Creek Classic Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from vineyards in South Eastern Australia, which is a huge grape growing area that encompasses most of Australia’s main growing districts. Jacob’s Creek is one of Australia’s oldest wineries, the first vineyard was planted (in Barossa) in 1847 and the first vintage was released in 1850. This is…
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The La Croix de Maunay Vouvray 2016 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Vouvray (inside the Loire Valley growing area) is located south and west of Paris and the vineyards are situated along the Loire River and boundaries are defined by 8 villages, Vouvray being the most important. The grape they grow in Vouvray is…
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The Santa Julia Winemaker’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from sustainably farmed Estate high altitude vineyards (3,130 to 4,600 feet) located in the Uco Valley in the south-west corner of the Mendoza region of Argentina. The vineyards are on the east side of the Andes Mountains, the vineyards in Chile are on the…
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The Bogle Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2016 was sourced from sustainably framed vineyards in the Monterey AVA, the Russian River AVA and the Clarksburg AVA (Bogle is located in Clarksburg). Clarksburg is east of Napa and south of Sacramento, at the end of the Sacramento River Delta that funnels cool breezes from the San Francisco Bay to…
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The 100 Mile Red Blend Lodi 2016 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Normally, when TJ’s has a wine made for them they try to hide which winery produced it, in their Fearless Flyer they left clues hiding in plain sight. It’s a Lodi winery, the oldest winery still operating, founded in 1934, which makes…
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The Velvet Devil Merlot 2015 is 84% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% “other” sourced from 7 sustainable farmed vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. To be technical, this could be called a Bordeaux blend or in the US a Meritage blend since it uses 4 of…
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The Ste Michelle Vineyards Columbia Valley Chardonnay 2016 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in different sections of the Columbia Valley in Washington. Ste Michelle Vineyards is the original name for Chateau Ste Michelle when they released their first vintage 50 years ago. The label is an accurate updating of those very first labels, I actually…
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The La Joie du Boeuf Ventoux 2014 is 100% Grenache sourced from organic vineyards in the Ventoux AOP on the foothills of Mount Ventoux in the Rhone Valley of southeast France. La Joie du Boeuf translates to “joy of beef” and has a happy cow frolicking on a sunny day in a field of flowers on the…
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The Hacienda Methode Champenois Brut California Sparkling Wine is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. This is one of Bronco Wines (yes, the 2 Buck Chuck folks) over 100 wine brand labels, they have 18 different Sparkling wine labels. Bronco wines is a huge operation and virtually all…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Monterey County Pinot Noir 2014 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by ASV Wines sourced from a single vineyard (according to TJ’s Fearless Flyer) in the Monterey County AVA inside of California’s Central Coast AVA. Normally, who made these Trader Joe’s exclusive wines are a well-kept secret, but here,…
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The Cline Old Vines Lodi Zinfandel 2015 is sourced from 70 to 50 year old vines in vineyards along the Mokelumne River in the delta section of the Lodi AVA in California’s Central Coast AVA. Lodi is south and east of Napa Valley. Cline is a family owned operation, founded in the early 1980s, with properties…
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The Expo Russian River Chardonnay 2015 is a $9.99 custom private label wine found at Whole Foods. The custom winery that produced the Expo Chard specializes in more upscale private label wine, here the grapes are sourced from the Russian River Valley AVA (Sonoma County, California) one of the elite Chardonnay growing areas in California and the label…
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The Aime La Vie! Syrah Grenache Rose’ 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of south-eastern France, along the Mediterranean Ocean and just north of Spain. Aime La Vie! translates to “love the life”, you usually see J’Aime La Vie which means “the life I love”. This Rose’…
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The Death Metal Red Vol.1 2016 is a private label wine blend found at Whole Foods for $8.99 and sourced from vineyards in the Castilla-LaMancha growing area of central Spain. This wine does not exist on the internet, that’s not uncommon for private label wines since part of the reason for their existence is to remove…
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The Holy Snail Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is ($9.99 Whole Foods) sourced from contracted vineyards in the Touraine region in the central section of the Loire Valley in France. The Holy Snail is produced by Domaine Joel Delaunay and is a Val de Loire IGP wine, meaning this is a Sauv Blanc indicative of the Loire Valley,…
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The Sienna Glen Chardonnay 2016 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA and produced for ALDI by a winery located in Hopland, Ca. If you Google “Hopland Ca wineries” you can figure out who made the Sienna Glen. The back label says some of the wine saw…
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