Cheap wines that hover right around twenty bucks
The Castle Rock Los Carneros Sonoma Pinot Noir 2012 is, of course, sourced from long termed contracted vineyards in the Sonoma side of the Carneros AVA in Northern California. Carneros is located inside both Napa and Sonoma, which is why the distinction is made. If you are trying to find Carneros sail east under the Golden…
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The Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2016 is 98% Chardonnay and 2% Gewürztraminer grown in Wente Estates vineyards in the Livermore Valley AVA just inland from the San Francisco Bay inside the larger Central Coast AVA of California. Wente Vineyards has a very interesting story, they are the oldest continuously (since 1883) operated family owned vineyards and winery…
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The Casteller Cava Brut is 40% Macabeo, 40% Xarel-lo, and 20% Parellada (the 3 traditional indigenous Catalonian grapes used in producing Cava) sourced from the Celler Vilafranca vineyards and winery, the largest vineyard owner in the Penedes area of the Catalunya region of Spain (near Barcelona). Brut indicates that this is a dry or not sweet Sparkling…
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The Ménage à Trois Lavish Merlot 2016 is 81% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petite Sirah, and 5% Petit Verdot (other than the Petite Sirah, it’s very Bordeaux, at least in grape selection) sourced from vineyards in Monterey, the Lodi Delta region, and the North Coast AVA, all in Northern California. Ménage à Trois is one of…
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The Ménage à Trois Luscious Pinot Noir 2017 is 76% Pinot Noir, 13% Petite Sirah, 6% Syrah, and 5% Zinfandel sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, the North Coast AVA, and the Lodi AVA in California. This is a Pinot Noir produced in a very modern California style that has become popular in the…
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The Hedges CMS Red 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington, it is Hedges Family Estates iconic Red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, with the blend changing from year to rear. The blend also seems to change during the year, the Hedges website gives the 2014 blend as 40%…
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The Ritual Pinot Noir 2015 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from a Veramonte estate vineyard (Ritual is a Veramonte brand) about 18 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Casablanca Valley growing region inside the Central Valley of Chile. A quick check of the web showed this Pinot Noir selling for $15 to $20, with it…
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The Santa Julia Malbec Bonarda Tintillo 2017 is 50% Malbec and 50% Bonarda, the Malbec came from vineyards in the Uco Valley and the Bonarda came from estate vineyards near the town of Santa Rosa in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The Bonarda grape originated in France, it never became particularly popular there, but does quite…
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The Maison Les Alexandrins Syrah 2016 is 92% Syrah and 8% Viognier sourced mainly from vineyards in the Northern Rhone region of France, but also from vineyards in the Loire and in the Southern Rhone Valley. Viognier is a White grape and is the only White grape that is regularly added to Red wine, I asked…
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The Wente Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Petite Sirah, 5% Malbec and 2% Tempranillo grown in Wente’s estate, sustainably farmed vineyards in the southern section of the Livermore Valley AVA, east of the San Fransisco Bay (south and west of Lodi) in the Central Coast AVA of California….
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The Ferrari-Carano Siena 2014 is blend of mainly Sangiovese along with smaller portions of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Sirah sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Alexander Valley AVA, the Dry Creek AVA, and the Russian River AVA all inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. The Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery have been family…
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The Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage Vines Dry Creek Zinfandel 2014 is 94% Zinfandel and 6% Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA of Northern California. Many of you may remember Rancho Zabaco for their Dancing Bull line of wines (mainly Zinfandel), E & J Gallo split Rancho…
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The Indigenous Nebbiolo d’Alba 2015 is 100% Nebbiolo grape sourced from a family owned Estate in the Roero district of Piedmont in northern Italy. Indigenous Selection is an importer representing a carefully curated portfolio of wineries mainly in the Piedmont and Tuscany areas of Italy. The Indigenous label was created to be an old school second…
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The Ravines Dry Riesling 2015 is sourced from 2 estate vineyards and one contracted vineyard in the Finger Lakes AVA in north central/western New York, south of Lake Ontario and near the city of Rochester. Ravines Cellars is a family owned wine estate (since 2000) located on Seneca Lake and the Finger Lakes AVA consists of…
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The Forty Ounce Rose’ 2017 is a blend of 53% Gamay, 33% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Pineau d’Aunis sourced from vineyards in the Muscadet and Touraine regions of the Loire Valley in France. Gamay is the grape used in the making of Beaujolais and Pineau d’Aunis is a very old French grape that was…
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The Fiction Paso Robles Red Blend 2015 is a blend of 48% Zinfandel, 15% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre, 8% Graciano (a grape usually grown in Rioja, Spain), 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Touriga Nacional (maybe the best known grape from Portugal), and 3% Carignan (a grape best known from southern France and northern Spain) sourced from 8 carefully…
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The La Jaglerie Rose’ D’Anjou 2016 is 80% Grolleau and 20% Cabernet Franc sourced from the Anjou AOP of the middle Loire Valley located south and west of Paris in France. The Loire Valley runs for 300 miles along the Loire River with vineyards along the hillsides on both sides of the river. The Anjou region,…
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The Artezin Mendocino County Zinfandel 2016 is 84% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, and 2% Carignan sourced from well-respected old vine family owned vineyards in the warmer Ukiah Valley section of Mendocino County. Mendocino is north of Sonoma and much of the growing area is under the cooling influence of the Pacific Ocean which is great for a grape…
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The Broken Clouds Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2016 is a $12.99 ALDI exclusive. $12.99 is near the top of the price range for ALDI wine and the reason is that these grapes come from one of the best Pinot Noir growing areas in California. The Sonoma Coast is mostly smaller family owned vineyards and attached wineries…
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The Brooks Runaway Red Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2016 is sourced from 10 practicing biodynamic vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Biodynamic farming goes beyond organic farming practices, they make vineyard decisions based on the phases of the moon, they plant complimentary shrubs and flowers in the vineyard that attract the insects that feed on…
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The Gruet Brut Rose’ is 100% Pinot Noir Sparkling wine sourced from estate and contracted vineyards near Truth or Consequences and a little north of Albuquerque in New Mexico. Gruet is a family owned and operated winery and originally made Champagne (G. Gilbert et Fils, still in business) in the town of Bethon, France (Moet Chandon…
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The Hahn GSM Central Coast 2016 is a blend of 71% Grenache (mainly from vineyards in the Arroyo Secco AVA), 22% Syrah (mainly from vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA), and 7% Mourvedre sourced from vineyards in the San Benito AVA, the Contra Costa AVA, and the Paso Robles AVA, all inside the Central Coast…
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The Korbel Russian River Valley Natural 2013 is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with 75% of the grapes grown in Korbel estate vineyards in the Russian River AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. This is a vintage dated wine, most Bubbly in this price range (around $16) are non-vintage wines, using wine…
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The Michael David Sixth Sense Syrah 2015 is Syrah with a little bit of Petite Sirah added, grown in vineyards in the Lodi AVA, which is south and east of Napa Valley. The Michael David in the title are the Phillips brothers, they are the 5th generation of Phillips to work these lands (the 6th generation…
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The Apothic Sparkling Winemaker’s Blend is a limited release, non-vintage Sparkling wine sourced from vineyards in California. Apothic is one of E & J Gallo (largest family owned winery in the US) multitude of wine labels. The Apothic Sparkling, $12 in Chicago and for some reason $23 on Amazon wine, this is I believe the first…
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