Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The Outlander Meritage 2013 is a $8.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. A Meritage wine is made from the grapes varietals that are permitted for use in the Red blends of Bordeaux in France. Here the blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot…
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The Cotillion Pinot Noir 2013 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in 60% Monterey County, 24% Sonoma County and 16% Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County is about an hour north of Los Angles, Monterey County is north of Paso Robles and both are part of the Central Coast AVA. Sonoma County…
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The VINTJS Paso Robles Syrah 2013 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Trader Joe’s uses the VINTJS label when they are offered a one time only deal on a limited amount of wine. Here, they indicate this Syrah came from a family owned winery in Paso Robles and if they told you which vineyard the…
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The Segura Viudas Brut Cava is a blend of 50% Macabeo, 35% Parellada, and 15% Xarello (these are the grapes traditionally used in making Cava) sourced from vineyards in the Penedes district of the Catalonia region of Spain (near Barcelona). There has been an estate on the Segura Viudas property since the 1000s and grapes…
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The Chateau La Paws Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage wine (grapes come from more than on vintage) sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Chateau La Paws is made by, or more accurately vinted and bottled by Rosenberg Cellars, who are owned by Diego Chateau & Estate Wines. Who in turn…
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The Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is sourced from vineyards located in the Central Valley of Chile. Smoking Loon is one of Don Sebastiani and Sons ( a family owned wine company since 1909) wine labels. Smoking Loon is a negociant wine company, meaning that they have no vineyards or winery, they purchase grapes (mostly…
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The Onx Moon Dark Red Blend (the label reads MOONX) is a non-vintage $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. It is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Syrah sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA and made for Trader Joe’s by one of the larger wineries in Lodi, California. The Onx Moon is one of…
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The Rabbit Ridge Allure de Robles 2013 is a Rhone inspired wine blend, available for $6.99 at Trader Joe’s, but it does not seem to be an exclusive wine, sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Northern Rhone wines are Syrah based wines and Southern Rhone Reds are Syrah…
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The Skeleton Malbec 2014 is sourced from grapes grown in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Mendoza is located in the middle section of Argentina on the eastern side of the Andes and Mendoza produces the majority of Argentinean wine. Skeleton Malbec is part of Skeleton Wine Co. who also import a Austrian Red and White…
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The Pampa Estate Malbec 2014 is a $4.99 ALDI import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Mendoza is the largest grape producing region in Argentina and is located on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains (the wine regions of Chile are on the western side). ALDI doesn’t give much information…
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The Cycles Gladiator Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA (inside the Monterey AVA) and the Livermore Valley AVA (near the San Francisco Bay), both inside the Central Coast AVA of California. The Cycles Gladiator brand was started in 2005 by Hahn Family Wines, Hahn recently decided to overhaul their wine…
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The Sargent Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is a $6.99 ALDI’s wine sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Sargent Canyon Cabernet is Estate grown and sustainably farmed. So who or what is Sargent Canyon? A quick check with Google shows that Sargent Canyon is a trademark owned by Scheid Vineyards, vineyards and winery…
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The La Granja 360 Cava Brut is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, 70% Xarel-lo and 30% Parellada (these, along with Macabeo, are the grapes traditionally used in Cava) sourced from vineyards in the Penedes district of Catalonia (near Barcelona) in northeast Spain. The La Granja 360 Cava is made by Parxet, who have produced…
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The Emma Pearl Pinot Noir 2013 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The Emma Pearl Pinot is 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Petite Sirah. Now, California Pinot Noir does not usually sell for under 4 bucks, there is a story to tell here. Treasury…
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The Green Fin Grenache Rose’ 2013 is 76% Grenache, 20% mixed Red grapes and 4% mixed White grapes sourced from certified organic (the Green Fin is Vegan friendly, too) vineyards located in more than one California grape growing AVA. Green Fin is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, produced by Bronco Wines (the makers of Two…
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The 2012 Maryhill Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from 2 vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. Maryhill Winery is family owned and was founded in 1999, by 2009 they were named Washington Winery of the Year and in 2015 were named Pacific Northwest Winery of the year. This Sauv Blanc was fermented and aged…
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The 2011 Viña Fuerte Tempranillo Crianza is a $4.99 ALDI’s import exclusive, bottled by Bodegas Isidro Milagro using grapes grown in the La Mancha DO (a DO is similar to an AVA in California, it delineates the boundaries of a wine region and provides rules and regulations) of central Spain. La Mancha is a huge…
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The 2014 La Granja 360 Verdejo Viura is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, 70% Verdejo and 30% Viura grown in the vineyards of Bodegas Avelino Vegas around the town of Santiuste in the Castilla y Leon region in northeast Spain. Verdejo is a grape that has been farmed in Spain for over a thousand…
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The La Finca Oak Aged Malbec 2014 is a $4.49 Trader Joe’s wine exclusive, produced by Finca La Celia (Finca translates to farm or estate), founded in 1890, from grapes grown in the Uco Valley region, in the southwest corner of Mendoza, in the foothills of the Andes in Argentina. This Malbec was aged for…
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The 2013 Earthstone Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc is $4.99 Trader Joe’s wine, produced by a family owned, sustainably farmed, carbon neutral winery located in Healdsburg, California. Trader Joe’s does not say who produces this Sauv Blanc, but if you Google carbon neutral, solar powered, family owned wineries in Healdsburg, it’s easy to figure out. Single…
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The 2013 Black Ink Red is a blend of Syrah, Merlot, Malbec and Zinfandel sourced from more than one California grape growing Ava. When 85% of the grapes in the bottle come from one AVA (such as Napa, Lodi, Paso Robles, etc..), then you will see that AVA shown on the front label. If none…
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The Underwood Pinot Gris 2014 Can is sourced from grapes grown in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are the same grape, Gris is the French word for gray and Grigio is the Italian word (the grapes can have a blue/grey color, but they do vary). Underwood is one of the…
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The Tin Roof Merlot 2012 is a taste of California Merlot with grapes sourced from the Central Coast, the North Coast and Lodi AVA’s. Tin Roof’s website has not been updated in a while (the last Merlot vintage shown is 2009), but they have made wine for over 30 years and have a pretty good…
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The Bogle Vineyards Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from grapes farmed in the Clarksburg, Monterey and Lodi AVA’s of northern California. Bogle Vineyards is a 6th generation, family owned vineyard (they have 1500 acres of grape vines) and winery located in the Clarksburg AVA, which is in the Sacramento River Delta. This Chardonnay is fermented “on…
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The Lehman’s Orchard Honeycrisp Apple Hard Cider is a small batch cider sourced from Lehman’s orchard in Niles, Michigan. Family owned and founded in 1929, Lehman’s has grown and sold fruit and harvested honey for decades and began making wines and cider in 2008. The color is almost clear, just slightly golden-yellow. The nose is…
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