Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The Loudenotte Pays D’Oc Pinot Noir 2022 is a $.6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, it is $12 in places that TJ’s does not cover. D’Oc indicates that this wine is from the Languedoc in France. This wine has been available at Trader Joe’s for several vintages. Here is a link to the 2018 version. The Languedoc…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Miller Family Wine Company. The SLO in the title is San Luis Obispo which is in the middle of California’s Central Coast AVA, inside the SLO AVA in Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Arroyo Secco, and the San…
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The Epicuro Puglia Primitivo 2021 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The grapes were sourced from the Apulia region of Puglia in southeast Italy. Epicuro is one of the 10 brands from FeMar a third-generation family-owned winery. They produce a wide variety of Italian and Sicilian wines, several of which are available at Trader…
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The Aldi’s California Heritage Brut Sparkling Wine is a $4.95 Aldi exclusive sourced from grapes grown in California. The back label shows that a part of E & J Gallo produced this Bubbly. Neither Aldo nor E & J Gallo offer any production details on this wine. The wine was produced with the Charmat Method,…
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The Aldi’s California Heritage Pinot Noir is a $4.95 non-vintage wine sourced, at least for now, from California’s Central Coast AVA. This brand is produced by International Wine Merchants who make Burlwood and Moiselle wines for Aldi. They are a division of E & J Gallo make Winking Owl and Hwy 5 Aldi wines. All…
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The Rolling Mist Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage $8.99 ALdi exclusive made by some division of E & J Gallo of Modesto, California. Neither Aldi nor Gallo offer any information concerning this wine. The back label mentions blackberry, which is a flavor characteristic of Cabernet Sauvignon, and oak spice and vanilla which are oak influences…
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The Aldi Specially Selected Gavi DOCG 2022 is an exclusive $9.99 Aldi import. Gavi White wines are from the Provence of Alexandria in the southeast corner of Piedmont in Italy. Gavi is produced from the Cortese grape and is typically 100% Cortese. Gavi is considered THE White wine of Piedmont with Barolo made from the…
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The Aldi Hwy 5 Chardonnay 2021 is a $4.99 Aldi exclusive made by a company from Modesto, California which means some entity of E & J Gallo produced this brand. This is Aldi’s answer to Charles Shaw wine (2 Buck Chuck) from Trader Joe’s. Last summer we did a cheap Chardonnay shoot-out, Charles Shaw, Hwy…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Wahluke Slope Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from certified organic grapes grown in the Wahluke Slope AVA of the Columbia Valley in Washington State. This Cab Sauv was produced for Trader Joe’s by DNA Vineyards an independent winery that has produced many wines for TJ’s both Reserve wines…
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The Belhara Estate Single Vineyard Malbec 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine. Belhara Estate is a family-owned winery in the Uco Valley inside Mendoza in Argentina. They own three vineyards and this wine is sourced from one of them. This wine seems to be the same or very close to Trader Joe’s Grand…
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The Trader Joe’s DOC Prosecco is an $8.99 import exclusive for a Sparkling wine from the Prosecco region of Veneto in Northern Italy. The back label says a branch of Zonin, a large and excellent Italian wine producer produced it. If you are new to Prosecco, this Bubbly is made from the Glera grape which…
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The Trader Joe’s Coastal Merlot 2022 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The winery of record on the back label is Castoro Cellars from Paso Robles, California. The label says “vinted and bottled by” which does not mean that much anymore. A winery and its equipment may be organized into one entity or LLC, the…
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The Kidia Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2023 is a $5.99 wine, at Trader Joe’s it sells for $5.99, it seems to be a $10 wine elsewhere. It is an Estate wine produced by Vina del Pedregal (VDP), a family-owned winery located in Loncomilla Valley in the Maule Valley of Chile. They were founded in 1825 with…
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The Cuy Natural Malbec 2022 is a $9.99 wine at Trader Joe’s. Santa Julia Winery, part of the Zuccardi Wines family of brands, makes it. Zuccardi and Santa Julia are top-notch wine producers who make excellent quality wine. One of their wines may not be made in your style, but the vineyards and the production…
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The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 is a $7.99 Costco import wine and it seems to sell for about $12 in places that Costco does not serve. Cahors is a village in southwest France, the surrounding vineyards are known for growing the Malbec grape. In recent years Malbec from Argentina has become a trendy…
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The Kirkland Signature Bordeaux Supérieur 2021 is a $6.89 Costco import exclusive. The .89 in the price typically denotes a special low price but the 2020 version was $6.99 so 10 cents is not much of a discount. This Red is made by Chateau Petit-Freylon a small estate near the town of Saint-Genis-du-Bois, this winery…
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The Anna de Codorniu Cava Brut Rosé is a Sparkling wine I found on sale selling for $8.99. Anna de Codorniu is the oldest winery in Spain, founded in 1551. Today they are part of the Raventos family of wines. Raventos started growing grapes in 1497 and 1872 producing the first Traditional Method Cava. The…
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The Louise d’ Estrée Brut (in 2023) is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive, in places not served by Trader Joe’s this Bubbly sells at wine shops for $17 to $20. This is a Cremant wine, meaning it is a Bubbly produced in the Traditional Method (Champagne) but not in Champagne. The label is devoid of…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Maule Valley Carmenere 2021 is a $7.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Maule Valley in the south-central portion of the Central Valley in Chile. The back label says this wine was vinted and bottled by TerrAral Wines and here is a link to their website, they seem to own…
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The Rose & Finch California Red Wine 2021 is a $3.49 Trader Joe’s exclusive made for them by Fior di Sole a family-owned Napa wine company that makes its own brands, produces custom brands, bottles wine, you name it they can probably do it. A quick check of their brand’s page shows several wines I…
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The Photograph North Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is sourced from vineyards in the Sonoma and Napa AVAs, the list price is around $13, but I found it on sale at Target for $8.99. It was a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy in 2023 and received 92 points. This brand from Vintage Wine Estates offers 34 different…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Ynez Valley GSM 2022 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive. The blend is 47% Mourvedre, 34% Syrah, and 19% Grenache, so it is an MSG blend. The Santa Ynez Valley is located in southern Santa Barbara County, between 2 mountain ranges. The western part of the valley gets cool Pacific…
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The Burlwood Brut Sparkling Wine is a $4.95 Aldi exclusive made by some part of E & J Gallo Winery, any time you see Modesto, California on the back label you can bet that Gallo made the wine. Gallo also produces Andre Champagne and Barefoot Bubbly lines, all in the same general price range. The…
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The Aldi Specially Selected Alto Aldige Pinot Grigio 2022 is a $9.99 Aldi exclusive and is part of the ten wine Specially Selected series of wines released in the fall of 2023. These are wines from top-rated growing regions worldwide being sold at bargain prices. Alto Adige, in far northern Italy, is the home to…
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The VINTJS Sonoma County Chardonnay 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive if you wish to know which winery produced this wine head to the TTBGov California Cola Registry and type VINTJS into the search box. I usually hesitate to name the producer since they are producing wine to Trader Joe’s specifications and not always…
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