Cheap wines that hover right around twenty bucks
The Aldi Specially Selected Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is another wine in Aldi’s ever-expanding Specially Selected series, in Europe there are dozens of different wines, here we have 10 or 15. The Specially Selected wines are sourced from upscale growing regions but are value-priced. This wine, according to…
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The Pas de Probleme Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is a wine that should be found for between $15 and $20. Pas de Probleme translates to No Problem. This wine is sourced from grapes grown around the village of Béziers in the Languedoc region of southeastern France. Beziers is located in the region’s center, not far from…
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The Kenwood Sonoma Monterey Chardonnay 2019 is a wine that should be found selling for between $10 and $15. This brand from Pernod Ricard recently sold off their value-priced portfolio but kept Kenwood Vineyards. Kenwood Vineyards is a 160-year-old winery located in Sonoma that seems to be well worth visiting when tasting Sonoma. It has…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Sonoma County Syrah 2022 is a $12.99 Trader exclusive made for them by Bozzano and Co. a custom wine producer headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California. This Syrah was produced and bottled by Bozzano and Co., indicating that they made the wine. The name on the back label often shows…
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The Evolution Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2022 is a brand of Sokol Blosser Winery (family-owned and operated) that began growing grapes and producing wine in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1971. This Pinot Noir is comprised of grapes from various locations in the valley. Willamette Valley Pinot Noir can get pricey, especially with estate…
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The Canoe Ridge Expedition Chardonnay 2022 is 10.49 at Costco (.49 indicates a Costco special deal), it sells for between $15 and $19 elsewhere. This Chardonnay is sourced from the Canoe Ridge Vineyard (75%) and the Wallula Vineyard (25%) inside the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside the Columbia Valley AVA in Washington. Both Canoe Ridge…
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The Piper Sonoma Brut Revisited is a wine I found for $18, it lists for $23. We did a full reviewing December of 2023, it was my favorite Sparkling wine we reviewed for the Holiday season. Here is a link to that post with all the wine details. This Bubbly showed well in the Christmas…
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The Peaks & Tides Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is a brand that Aldi has every year. Here is a link to a review for the 2021 vintage. In the 2021 review, we identified the producer, but Aldi hid its tracks this time. Aldi owns the Brand name, that…
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The Acacia Carneros Pinot Noir 2020 sells for $12.99 at Costco and I have seen it at $35 but is more likely found for around $20. Acacia Vineyards was founded in the Carneros AVA in 1979 and was one of the first Pinot Noir wineries in the region. Acacia has changed ownership several times over…
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The Claude Manciat Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022 is $12.69 at Costco and $17 to $23 elsewhere. Bourgogne is what we call Burgundy, the home of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Claude Manciat is a family-owned winery founded in the 1890s, and today has 55 acres of vineyards around the region. This small winery does not have a…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Barbara GSM 2022 is a Trader Joe’s $12.99 exclusive. A GSM wine is the main blend from the Southern Rhone Valley in France. This blend is 42% Grenache, 395 Syrah, and 19% Mourvedre. The back label says this wine was produced and bottled, which means they made it, by…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Moulis-En-Modec Bordeaux 2022 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The Moulis-En-Modec is an AOC on the Left Bank in Bordeaux. The Left Bank is primarily, though not exclusively, a Cabernet Sauvignon growing region. Since Trader Joe’s does not provide details does not provide details on the making of this…
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The Field Recordings Freddo Paso Robles Sangiovese 2022 is a wine that lists $25, but I found it on sale for $16 (Binny’s). It is a blend of 79% Sangiovese, 16% Dolcetto, and 5% Valdiguié. Dolcetto is a grape from the Piedmont in Italy used to make sweet wines. Valdiguié is a grape from the…
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The Kirkland Signature Single Vineyard Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a $17,99 Costco exclusive. The single vineyard in question is the Suscol Vineyard in south Napa. Suscol is a native word meaning wet and green and is a popular location word in the area. The silk-screened label shows a map of the vineyard. the gold…
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The Kate Arnold Columbia Valley Riesling 2022 is a wine I found in Chicago selling for $11.99, a quick check of the web saw prices from $10 to $15. Kate Arnold Wines is a family-owned winery located in Kelseyville, Ca. in Lake County. Kate and Jean Arnold are co-owners, they feature a Sauvignon from the…
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The Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot sourced from several Northern and Central California AVAs. decoy is a second label from Duckhorn Vineyards, founded by Dan and Margret Duckhorn in Napa in 1976, and has been an elite winery ever since. This is very intentionally sourced wine the AVAs include…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Cachapoal Valley Red Blend 2021 is $14.99 at Trader Joe’s. This Red Blend is not exclusive to Trader Joe’s since the same wine sells under a different label for about $35. There were a few clues to the origin of this bottle, the bottle is a very heavy Napa-style. The…
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The Whispering Angel Rosé 2023 is a wine from Provence in the south of France, I found it on a Mother’s Day/Spring sale for $13, but a check on the web says it sells for $12 to $20. This is one of the many Rosé brands from Chateau D’ESCLANS in the Cotes de Provence AOC,…
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The Daou Paso Robles Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is a wine listed for $17 and often found for several dollars less. I found it for $15.99 at Trader Joe’s. The Daou winery is one of the premier facilities in Paso Robles (halfway between Las Angeles and San Francisco). Daou was founded in 2006 by two brothers…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Saint-Emilion 2022 is a 414.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Saint-Emilion is on the Right Bank of the Garonne River in Bordeaux and along with nearby Pomerol is arguably the best place in the world to grow Merlot. The Merlot grape comprises 79% of the vines, 15% of Cabernet Franc, and…
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The OVZ Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel 2021 is a wine selling for around $15, though Costco will sometimes have it for under $10. This is a brand from Oak Ridge Winery a family-owned winery in business since 1906, they built their first winery in 1934. It is common for Lodi wineries to be in the…
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The La Burgondie Cremant de Bourgogne Brut is a $10.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. It is a Sparkling wine made in the Traditional or Champagne style. The grapes in the blend are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté, and Gamay, sourced from multiple vineyards in Burgundy, France. La Burgondie is an actual wine company and not a…
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The Aldi’s Specially Selected Napa Valley Chardonnay 2021 is a $10.99 ALd exclusive new to the Specially Selected brand as of April 2024. The Aldi Specially Selected line includes wines from premium growing regions like Napa, Rioja, Marlborough, Bordeaux, etc. Napa Valley is a large AVA, so simply showing Napa Valley as the place of…
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The Juggernaut Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a wine brand from Bogle Family Vineyards of Clarksburg, California. It is a wine I found for $14.99 at a local wine shop. The Sonoma Coast AVA is the most westward AVA in California and runs to Mendocino. It features rugged Coastal Mountain valleys and is a cool climate…
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The Babs Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2020 is a $15.99 wine at Costco, $25 to $35 elsewhere. Babs is a project by John Wagner, he owns Peake Ranch Winery with three vineyards two in the Santa Rita Hills AVA and one in the Santa Maria AVA, all within Santa Barbara County and all very high-end…
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