Cheap wines that hover right around twenty bucks
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 Gruet is a family owned and operated winery and originally made Champagne (G. Gilbert et Fils, still in business) in the town of Bethon, France (Moet Chandon…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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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Yountville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Lot 74 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, Yountville is one of the 16 sub-AVA’s inside Napa Valley. The typical Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon is a cellar worthy wine that sells for $50 and up, so is this a $50 wine that somehow is priced at…
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The Ernest Rapeneau Brut Champagne is a $10.99 Trader Joe’s import Bubbly (this is a half bottle, 375 ml, standard bottles are 750 ml), this is a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier, and 20% Chardonnay grown in vineyards thru-out the Champagne AOC. Ernest Rapeneau is a 2nd generation, family owned Champagne House founded in…
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The Clos du Bois Lightly Effervescent Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The “Lightly Effervescent” in the title indicates this Chardonnay has some bubbles, it’s not a full-on Sparkling wine/Bubbly, bit it does bubble up your glass (they recommend a regular White wine glass, no fancy stems are…
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The Barrel Road Bourbon Barrel Red Blend 2015, they keep which grapes in the blend to themselves, the label says California which means no one AVA comprised 75% of the grapes, but the grapes came from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, the Sonoma County AVA, Lake County AVA, and the Yolo County AVA (the end…
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The Bervini 1955 Prosecco Millesimato 2016 Extra Dry is produced from Glera grapes estate grown in the Prosecco DOC region inside the Veneto Friuli Grave district of far northeast Italy. Bervini 1955 is a wine estate run by 3 generations of the Bergamo family who founded the winery in…1955. The Millesimato in the title indicates that this is…
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The Ferrari-Carano Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from 3 estate vineyards in the Anderson Valley AVA of Mendocino County, just north of Sonoma and west of Napa in Northern California. Ferrari-Carano is one of Sonoma Counties leading Estates, but they own three “ranches” in Anderson Valley. Anderson Valley is located just 10 miles from…
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The Bervini 1955 Spumante Rose’ Extra Dry is a blend of Glera (the grape used in making Prosecco) and Roboso (a local Red grape, this is where the Rose’ color comes from) sourced from vineyards of the family owned estate in the Friuli Venezia Giulia in the northern most eastern part of Italy. The Prosecco DOC…
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The Valdo Prosecco Brut DOC is a Sparkling wine produced from the Glera grape in the Prosecco DOC a short distance away from Venice, Italy. With Prosecco it is common to see non-vintage wines, so you will not often see a vintage date but you will see the initials DOC or DOCG. The DOC is basically…
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The Clayhouse Paso Robles Malbec 2014 is 90% Malbec, 5% Tannat, and 5% Petite Sirah sourced from Clayhouse’s sustainably farmed estate Red Cedar Vineyard in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. All of Clayhouse’s wines come from the Red Cedar Vineyard and the name Clayhouse refers to a 150 year old…
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The Trader Joe’s 2013 Grand Reserve Meritage Napa Lot 63 2013 is a $12.99 TJ’s blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec (these are 5 of the 6 grapes approved for Bordeaux Red blends, the only grape missing is Carménère) sourced from vineyards somewhere in the Napa Valley of California. When dealing with…
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The Caves Naveran Brut Cava 2015 is an estate grown, vintage dated Bubbly, farmed organic, but not certified organic in vineyards around the town of Torrelavit in the Alt Penedes DO of Catalonia (near Barcelona) In northeast Spain. Cava is produced in the same way as Champagne, the Traditional Method, where the wine is fermented 2x, the…
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The Mercer Estate Sharp Sisters Horse Heaven Hills Red Blend 2015 is an estate grown blend of 29% Cabernet Sauvignon (Eagle & Plow Vineyard), 27% Syrah (Spice Cabinet Vineyard), 18% Merlot (Dead Canyon Vineyard), 14% Petit Verdot (Milt’s Vineyard), 10% Grenache, and 2% Carignane (both from the Spice Cabinet Vineyard) in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside…
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The Mercer Estates Horse Heaven Hills Malbec 2015 is 78% Malbec and 22% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the estate Spice Cabinet Vineyard located on a hillside at a bend in the Columbia River in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA inside the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. Horse Heaven Hills is located in southern central Washington not…
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The Ménage à Trois Decadence Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Sirah, and 6% Merlot (those 3 grapes are the Trois in Manage a Trois) sourced from vineyards in Lodi, Monetary and the North Coast AVAs of California. There are 17 different Menage a Trois wines, a brand created in 1996 by…
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The Mercer Horse Heaven Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is sourced from their estate Princeton Vineyard near the town of Alderdale is southern Washington. The Horse Heaven Hills AVA (one of the 12 sub-AVA’s inside the Columbia Valley AVA) is located in south central Washington with the Columbia River acting as its southern border, Oregon is on the…
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The Prisma Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is an estate grown, the estate has several vineyards, but the Prisma was sourced from 2 of its vineyards, in the Casablanca Valley in coastal Chile. The Casablanca Valley (everyone thinks of Humphrey Bogart when the hear Casablanca, but it translates to “White House“) is situated near the equator, which under normal circumstance would…
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The Vigilance Cimarron 2014 is 79% Syrah, 8% Grenache, 7% Mourvedre, and 6% Petite Verdot sourced from vineyards located in several AVAs inside the Lake County AVA which is inside the larger North Coast AVA of Northern California. Lake County is north of Napa, Mendocino is north and west and Sonoma is south and west. A…
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