Cheap wines that are SCARY cheap but super surprising
The 90+ Cellars Pinot Grigio 2021 Lot #42 is a wine I found selling for $9.99 at a local wine shop. The grapes come from vineyards in Trentino, Italy which is in the far northern part of Italy. Alto Aldige is in the northern half and Trentino is in the south. 90+ Cellars are negociants…
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Back in 2011, we found that Ancient Peaks Winery owns the Familia Nueva name, so some part of their enterprise produced the wine. There are 5 AVAs inside of San Luis Obispo County, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande Valley, San Luis Obispo Coast, Edna Valley, and Youk Mountain. The Liberte San Luis Obispo Pinot Noir 2020…
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The Kirkland Signature Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a $8.99 Costco exclusive. They do not offer much information on this wine, but the winemaker is Brandon Rice, the winemaker for Wakluke Slope Wine Company. Jerry Milbrandt owns them. Jerry is also part of Milbrandt Family Vineyards, one of the Columbia Valley’s leading independent growers….
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The Vinha Da Fonte Reserva 2021 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine though it is available in other countries. This Red Blend is produced by Casa Ermelinda Freitas, a winery in business since 1920 in the south of Portugal inside the Setúbal Peninsula Region. This wine is a blend of Castelão (25% a local…
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The Kirkland Signature Sonoma County Chardonnay 2022 is a $7.99 Costco exclusive. Kirkland Signature wines typically name the winery or the winemaker involved in the production, but not here. The back label mentions Grape and Grain Imports as having vinted and bottled this Chardonnay. Grape and Grain Imports is the custom wine brand branch of…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Aix Provence Rosé 2022 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The Coteaux d’ Aix-en-Provence is the second-largest AOC in Provence, the largest is Côtes de Provence, producing 75% of the wine in the region. Aix is located to the far west in Provence and if you have ever seen…
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How Low Can You Go… Two Buck Chuck ($3.99) Vs Aldi Hwy 5 Chardonnay with a name like Cheap Wine Finder people expect us to write about cheap wine, but we don’t. We write about good affordable wine…. bargains. Value-priced wines have never been available with the quality and drinkability of modern wines. We have…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2021 is a $9.99 TJ’s exclusive. This wine was “produced and bottled by” Bozzano and Company. That indicates that they actually made the wine and used grapes from their vineyards or contracted grapes they control. They produce several brands seen on Trader Joe’s shelves. It is rare…
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The Columbia Crest Grand Estates Chardonnay 2021 is a wine I found for $7.99 at a local wine shop. Columbia Crest is the second label from Chateau Ste. Michelle is by far the largest wine produced in the Columbia Valley of Washington State. Though Columbia Crest is a 2nd label it has an excellent history….
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The Revelation Pays D’Oc Chardonnay 2021 is $7.99 at Trader Joe’s in the US and is widely available in other countries. Badet Clement is the producing winery. That is a project by two winemakers who make affordable wines with grapes from the Rhone Valley, Burgundy, and the Languedoc, and about 2/3rds of their wines are…
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The Noble Vines 181 Merlot 2020 is $7.99 at Costco, anywhere from $8 to $14 online. Nobles Vines is a Delicato Family Vineyards brand that started in Lodi and expanded to Napa Valley and recently purchased Coppola wines in Sonoma. The 181 in the title refers to the number of the Merlot Clone they planted…
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The Paso Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a $7.99 exclusive produced by a family-owned winery in Paso Robles that has been in business since 1983 and has 1,400 acres of vines. Paso Robles is situated about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The region specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon. The Paso Dragon’s name comes from…
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The Intermingle California Chardonnay 2020-Aldi is a $6.99 wine made by Sutter Home Winery. Sutter Home is a brand owned by Trinchero Family Estates and produces over 40 wine brands including Menage a Trois, Joel Gott, and Charles and Charles. The front label indicates that this is a California Buttery Chardonnay. There are three main…
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The Trader Joe’s Roseta Rosé 2022 is a $5.99 Rosé wine from Portugal. The back label lists a bottler, Goavni Bottling, a Portuguese custom wine producer. The flask-style bottle is very reminiscent of the bottle used for Matuse Rosé, a brand of Rosé wine that has been around for 70 years. Matuse Rosé was probably…
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The Picton Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is $7.99 at Trader Joe’s and sells for about $12.99 in places that Trader Joe’s does not serve. There is an actual Picton Bay winery. Usually, these wines are a brand made especially for TJ’s by a custom wine producer. The Picton Bay is a brand by Mount…
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The Kirkland Signature Rioja Reserva 2018 is a $7.89 Costco exclusive. This Tempranillo is produced for Costco by Vina Egula a Rioja winery with over forty years of experience. The Vina Egula Reserva sells under its own label for $13 to $19. The Kirkland Signature Rioja Reserva 2018 is 100% Tempranillo and was aged for…
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The JaM Cellars Butter Chardonnay 2021 is 100% Chardonnay and is a wine I found at Costco selling for $9.99 and is found on the web for 13 to $17. The JaM in the name stands for John and Michele Truchard. John is a second-generation California winemaker his father owns Truchard Vineyards in Napa. In…
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The Les Allies Blanc de Blanc Brut is a French Sparkling wine I found at a local Chicago wine shop selling for $9.99. This is a Cote d’Or wine from Burgundy, France, and is a Vin Mousseux wine meaning it was produced in a method different than the Traditional or Champagne Method. That usually means…
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The Sand Point Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is a wine I found selling for $9.99. The Sand Point brand of wine is part of the Lange Twins Family Winery and Vineyards located in Acampo, California inside the Lodi AVA. The Lange Twins are 5th generation farmers whose families started working the land in the 1870s. The…
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The Exquisite Collection Cotes de Provence Rosé 2021-Aldi is a $9.99 Aldi exclusive. This is a wine that in Aldi Europe and for a couple of years in the US sold out in a matter of hours. The 2016 vintage of this wine won an award for one of the best Provence Rosé wines in…
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The Rough And Ready Cabernet Franc Vs Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s wine, but in places that don’t have a Trader Joe’s this wine sells for $15 to $18. It is a wine made for Trader Joe’s by Bozzano & Co., they have produced other quality wine for TJ’s in the past….
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2021 is a $9.99 TJ’s exclusive. The back label says this Red was “vinted and bottled by Healdsburg Wine Cellars.” That is a division of Delicato Family Wines, they make Gnarlyhead wines, along with many other brands. They recently purchased Coppola WInes and also have holdings in Napa….
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The Angeline California Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2021 is a wine I found on sale for $7.99 (Binny’s Chicago area), this vintage received 92 points from James Suckling, the leading wine reviewer. Angeline is an affordable line of wines from Martin Ray Winery (family owned since 1990) a high-end winery located in the Russian River AVA…
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The Kirkland Signature Extra Dry Prosecco Rosé 2021 is a 7.99 Costco exclusive. The traditional Prosecco grape, Glera, and Pinot Noir are used for additional flavor and color. This is an Extra Dry or slightly sweet wine, which is the way the Italians prefer it. The natural acidity balances the extra sugar, so this is…
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The Kirkland Signature Cotes de Provence Rosé 2022 is a $7.99 Costco exclusive. It is produced for Costco by Oliver Sumeire (winemaker) for Famille Sumeire a winemaking family with roots in Provence that go back to the 1200s, though the history of the modern wine business dates to the 1880s. The Cotes de Provence is…
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