Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The Lindeman’s Bin 80 Cabernet Merlot 2013 is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42% Merlot sourced from multiple vineyards in Southeastern Australia. Southeastern Australia is a huge area encompassing 3 Australian States that have diverse climates and growing conditions, it is the equivalent to seeing California on the label of an American wine, and not Sonoma…
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The Pere et Fils Cinsault Syrah Rose 2013 (Pere et Fils translates to father and son) is a blend of 70% Cinsault and 30% Syrah grown in the estate vineyards in the hills of the Languedoc of Laurent Miquel, an 8th generation winemaker. Cinsault is a grape that is commonly used in the Languedoc and…
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The Sola Lodi Syrah 2012 is produced by Sola Winery, a small Napa winery that purchases premium grapes from various California AVA’s. Their stated mission is to be “the best value wine on the West coast.” They keep their overhead low and their costs down and these small production, boutique wines are priced lower than…
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The Stellenryck Sauvignon Blanc 2013 is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Stellenbosch region of the Western Cape of South Africa. Stellenryck is one of Die Bergkelder (The Mountain cellar), a winery/co-op founded in 1968, other labels include Two Oceans and Fleur du Cap. At one time, the Stellenryck wines were only produced…
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The Torres Verdeo 2013 is 100% Verdejo sourced from vineyards in the Rueda DO of Castilla-La Mancha on the west side of central Spain. The brand is Verdeo and the grape is Verdejo which is slightly confusing. Verdejo is the indigenous grape of the Rueda region, they have had Verdejo vineyards in Rueda for 1,000 years….
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The Restivo Silver Series Torrontes 2013 is sourced from grapes grown in vineyards near the town of Barrancas in the Maipu district of Mendoza in Argentina. Torrontes is THE White grape of Argentina and it is grown only in Argentina. Mendoza is located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains and its vineyards are…
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The Sphere Lodi Zinfandel 2012 is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive. TJ’s says the grapes came “from a premium winemaker’s vineyards in Lodi“, which makes the Sphere an estate grown, single AVA, 6 buck California wine, that is something you do not see very often. There is a top-notch Lodi winery that produces a…
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The Trader Joe’s Coastal Sauvignon Blanc 2012 is a $4.99 TJ’s exclusive, sourced from grapes grown in California’s Central Coast AVA. Vinted and bottled by Castoro Cellars, who have grown grapes and produced wine in Paso Robles since the early 80s. Vinted and bottled by indicates that Castoro aged the wine and bottled the…
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The 2012 Natura Cabernet Sauvignon is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot sourced from certified organic and sustainably farmed vineyards in the Rapel Valley in the northern half of Chile’s Central Valley. The Natura label is one of Emiliana Organic Vineyards line of 100% organic, sustainable frown and sometimes bio-dynamic wines. The Rapel Valley…
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The 2012 DeLoach Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage Reserve is sourced from sustainably farmed grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. DeLoach was founded in 1975 in the Russian River Valley of the Sonoma AVA and the Heritage Reserve line is their value wine. DeLoach is part of the Boisset Family Vineyards group of…
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The 2012 Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Milestone Winery is one of Constellation Brands 121 different wine labels, Constellation is the largest wine producer in the world, their labels include Ravenswood, Robert Mondavi, Toasted Head and Kim Crawford. Milestone Wines were created by Brian…
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The flipflop Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes that are, according to the front label, from the Left Coast of Chile. The last time we tried a flipflop Pinot Noir is was a vintage designated (2010) California wine, this time around it is a non-vintage wine from Chile. As a California wine it was $7…
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The 2011 Raimat Tempranillo is sourced from Estate vineyards in the Costers del Segre DO in the Province of Lleida of Catalonia near Barcelona in Northeast Spain. The climate in Coster del Segre is hot during the day and cold at night and that wide daily variation in temperature allowed the grapes ample time to…
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The 2013 Legaris Verdejo is 100% Verdejo sourced from vineyards in the Province of Valladolid inside the Rueda DO in northwest central Spain near Portugal. Verdejo is THE grape of Rueda and has been grown in the region for over 1,000 years. This Verdejo was fermented in stainless steel vats, then racked (racking is transferring…
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The 2013 Septima Chardonnay is sourced from (50%) two areas in the Uco Vally (one of the elite growing regions in Argentina) and (50%) vineyards near the region of Agrelo in the Lujan de Cuyo district inside the larger Mendoza grape growing area of Argentina. One thing I commonly hear when people talk about Chardonnay is that they do not…
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The 2013 Raimat Albariño is sourced from two sustainably farmed Raimat estate vineyards in the Costers del Segre DO, just west of Barcelona in Spain. This is a young wine, with only a small amount of aging, “on lees,” in stainless steel tanks and is intended to be consumed within 2 years of release. “On lees”…
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The 2011 Jacob’s Creek Cabernet Merlot is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot sourced from vineyards in South Eastern Australia. Jacob’s Creek has been making wine since 1847 and South Eastern Australia is a huge grape growing area with a wide variety of climates and produces half of all Australian wines. This is a…
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The 2013 MAS RODÓ Montonega is sourced from estate vineyards near the village of Mediona (not far from Barcelona) in the Penedes DO of Spain. Montonega is the local version of the Parellada grape, which along with Macabeo and Xarel.o are the traditional grapes used in Cava, the Spanish Champagne style Sparkling wine. MAS RODÓ was founded in 2005 and…
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The 2012 Belle Ambiance Chardonnay is sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance is a new label from Delicato Family Vineyards, they also produce Gnarly Head, Bota Box and HandCraft along with several others. Chardonnay is the wine makers wine, it can be light and crisp or full-bodied and buttery…
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The 2012 Belle Ambiance Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance is a new label, suggested list price $9.99, from Delicato Family Vineyards, who have been in business for over 80 years. DFV also produce Gnarly Head, Brazin, HandCraft and Bota Box, along with…
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The 2013 Belle Ambiance Pinot Grigio is sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance translates to “beautiful place” and is one of Delicato Family Vineyards wines, their other labels include Gnarly Head, Brazin and HandCraft, they specialize in well priced California wines aimed at the American palate. DFV is family…
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The [yellow tail] Sauvignon Blanc is a non-vintage wine sourced from vineyards in both Australia (93%) and New Zealand (7%). Even though this is a non-vintage wine, meaning the grapes come from more than one years harvest, the percentage of Australia to New Zealand grapes seem to change, there are some older bottlings with 86% Australia…
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The 2012 FishEye Merlot is sourced from vineyards in South Eastern Australia. FishEye is one of The Wine Group’s (the 3rd largest wine producer in the world) family of labels, other brands include Franzia, Mogen David, Big House, Concannon, flipflop and Cupcake, along with several others. The FishEye winery is located in New South Wales,…
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The 2012 Lindeman’s Bin 99 Pinot Noir is sourced from multiple vineyards in South Eastern Australia. Lindeman’s winery was founded in 1843 and is currently owned by Treasury Wine Estates, who also produce Penfold’s, Stag’s Leap and Beringer Vineyards, along with 49 others. The 2012 grape vintage in Australia was the best in decades. The Bin…
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