Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma Valley Merlot 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Sonoma Valley AVA and produced for TJ’s by William Knuttel Winery. They make their own high-end wine along with custom wine for folks like Trader Joe’s. Tj’s Fearless Flyer mentions William Knittel Winery as one…
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The Don Rodolfo Mendoza Pinot Noir 2019 is a wine sourced mainly from the Lujan de Cuyo Valley inside the greater Mendoza region of Argentina. The Don Rodolfo Winery was founded in 1870. The Lujan de Cuyo Valley is located in western-central Mendoza and the vineyards are situated 3,300 to 5,000 feet. Lujan de Cuyo…
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The Chocolate Cellar Red sells for $7.99 at Aldi but is available on the web at other wine outlets. This is a non-vintage Red wine (they do not mention the grape or grapes used) with added chocolate flavors. Aldi seems to be the go-to location for flavored wines. They have a wine-based chocolate drink from…
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The Curious Beasts Chardonnay 2019 is a supermarket wine, it is made for Safeway, Albertsons, Jewel/Osco, and a host of other stores in the chain. It is produced exclusively for them the same way Trader Joe’s, Aldi’s, and Costco have their wines made for them. The Curious Beasts brand has been around for several years…
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The Stormchaser Wild Ride Red 2019 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive farmed from grapes grown in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. It seems to be produced for Aldi by the largest privately owned wine company in Washington. I checked the California Wine COLA website for the lister producer. They do not show this wine…
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The Paso Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Paso Robles AVA inside the larger Central Coast AVA. The Paso Dragon name comes from Lake Nacimiento, which shoreline does resemble a dragon. Check out the label for an artistic representation. I found a website that exports…
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The Vinas Chilenas Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is a $4.49 (it has been the same price for 10 years) Trader Joe’s import exclusive. It is a Sauvignon Blanc sourced from vineyards in the Central Valley of Chile. Rosario Estate is named on the label and they are a part of the VSPT wine group which…
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The 14 Hands Hot To Trot Red Blend 2018 is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 19% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards through the Columbia Valley AVA in Washington. The name 14 Hands refers to the wild horses that at one time roamed free in the area….
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The Grifone Sangiovese 2018 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Puglia region of Italy. Puglia is the heel to Italy’s boot shape and this is the area where much of Itay’s affordable everyday wines come from. This Sangiovese has rated an IGT wine which means that its characteristics conform…
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The Sauvignon de Seguin Bordeaux Blanc 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Bordeaux Blanc is Sauvignon Blanc often blended with Semillon, but the wine is 100% Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is made by Chateau Seguin, the current Chateau was built in 1780, though the Estate has a history back to the times of…
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The Sobon Estates Old Vine Amador County Zinfandel 2019 is sourced from estate vineyards in the Amador County AVA, east of Napa, north, and east of Lodi, and east of Sacramento, California. Amador County is one of the oldest wine regions in California. The Sobon family started Shenandoah Vineyards in 1977 and 1989 purchased the…
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The Vigilance Red Hills AVA Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is one of the brands from Shannon Ridge winery located in the Lake County AVA north of Napa. This Sauv Blanc is sourced from estate vineyards in the Red Hills sub-AVA, situated on the southern end of Clear Lake. The vineyards are situated in the foothills of…
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The Dancing Flame Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is an Aldi $6.99 import exclusive. Vina Luis Felipe Edwards produced this wine, a winery founded in Chile in 1976, and sourced from grapes grown in the Colchagua Valley. We first reviewed the 2012 vintage back in 2014, that wine sold for $4.99. The Dancing Flame name refers…
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The Hwy 5 Pinot Noir 2020 is a $5 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. Aldi owns the trademark for the brand name, but E & J Gallo made the wine. Neither Aldi nor Gallo offers any production information concerning this wine. I suspect if they told us the production details, we would not…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, Cabernet Sauvignon blended with smaller amounts of Petit Verdot and Syrah sourced from vineyards (or vineyard?) in Sonoma County in Northern California. I was going to do my usual “what is this wine” thing and deduce what this wine is…
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The Ronan By Clinet Bordeaux Merlot 2016 is 100% Merlot sourced from estates near Chateau Clinet, located in the premier section of Pomerol in the Bordeaux region of France. Chateau Clinet Bordeaux wines sell in the $150 to $350 range, and I found this wine for $8.99. While the grapes used did not come from…
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The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive non-vintage produced for them by Winepress Vintners. This Chardonnay is one of the trendy fitness wines, low calorie, reduced sugar, and alcohol, with no carbs or fat. This summer, Trader Joe’s also had the Slim Vine Light wines, also “diet” wines. A family-owned…
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The Ile de Conas Le Rosé 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s wine. It looks like this Rosé is sold as Paul Mas Le Rosé outside of the US and as Ile de Conas at TJ’s. Ile de Conas is the name of the Paul Mas Estate near the village of Conas, which is located…
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The Ugly Sweater Red Blend 2021 Edition is $8.49 at Trader Joe’s. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in Lodi, California. It is a non-vintage wine; Christmas 2022 may have a different grape blend. The information on the bottle is confusing; the back label says…
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The Buttery Barrel Chardonnay 2020 is a $6.99 Aldi sourced from vineyards in California. The back label says, Cattlemen Ridge Wines produced this Chardonnay, and they are owned by Scheid Family Vineyards of Monterey, California. Scheid makes many wines for both Aldi and Trader Joe’s; they produce their own high-end wines and have many value-priced…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine is a $9.99 Bubbly exclusive produced by Rack and Riddle of Healdsburg, California. Rack and Riddle is a custom wine brand winery that specializes in Sparkling wine. If you have had a value-priced Bubbly from California, it is possible that it was made at Rack…
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The Heartleaf California Rosé 2020 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced by a private brand winery located in Napa. The last few Trader Joe’s wines we reviewed were also sold at retail wine shops in New York, and Trader Joe’s prices are 40% to 50% than the same wines at the retail shop. While…
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The Maison Barboulot Cabernet Syrah 2020 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive wine in places where Trader Joe’s can sell wine. In New York, grocery stores can only sell beer, so this Red blend is $9.99 in New York. In Germany, the Maison Barboulot Cabernet Syrah 2020 is 9 Euros which equals about $10 or…
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The Quarter Cut Bourbon Barrel Chardonnay 2019 is a $9.99 Aldi exclusive wine, and it is part of a line of wines aged in bourbon barrels and wine barrels. Aldi owns the Quarter Cut name trademark, but according to the California COLA website, the wine is produced by Fetzer of Hopland, California. Fetzer has a…
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The Hwy 5 Chardonnay 2020 is a $4.99 Aldi wine sourced from vineyards in California. The back label says this wine was produced by a company located in Modesto, California. That typically indicates that some entity of E & J Gallo had a hand in the production. There is no technical production information available for…
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