Cheap wines that hover right around twenty bucks
The Dove Creek Monterey Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 seems to be a $11.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from estate grown grapes from 2 vineyards, one located in the San Lucas sub-AVA and the other in the Hames Valley sub-AVA of the Monterey AVA which is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. I say this seems to be an…
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The Atlantis Albariño 2016 is 100% Albariño sourced from vineyards in the Condado de Tea district of the Rias Baixas DO in northwest Spain. Rias Baixas is just north of Portugal and along the Atlantic Coast, the Condado de Tea sub-region is the southernmost district in Rias Baixas and the furthest from the coast. The climate is heavily influenced…
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The Ferrari-Carano Pinot Grigio 2016 is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Russian River Valley AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA of northern California. The Russian River Valley AVA follows the Russian River as it turns to the west towards the Pacific Ocean but stops before the coastal region. Ferrari-Carano has produced wine since 1985, their…
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The Veiga Naum Albariño 2016 is 100% Albariño grown in the Salnés Valley of the Rias Baixas DO located in the Galicia region of northwest Spain. The Rias Baixas DO is just over Spain’s northern border with Portugal and along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Veiga Naum is produced by Bodegas Riojanas, founded in 1890, though the…
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The Lazy Creek Vineyards Rose Of Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from sustainably grown grapes farmed in the Anderson Valley AVA inside the Sonoma AVA in Northern California. Lazy Creek Vineyards have been around for about 100 years and are currently own by Don and Rhonda Carano, they are the Carano in the Ferrari-Carano Winery. This…
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The Folie à Deux Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is sourced from grapes grown in the Anderson Valley AVA inside the Sonoma AVA of Northern California. Folie à Deux translates from French to “the madness of two” or to translate a little further to “a shared psychosis“. Folie à Deux is one of the Trinchero Family Estates…
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The Locations “I” (Italy) Red Blend is a blend of Negroamaro and Nero d’Avoloa from Puglia Southern Italy and Barbera from Piedmont in Northwest Italy. Italy is a land of 2,000 indigenous grapes that have existed very happily until Dave Phinney hit. This is an Italian wine made with California rules. This ain’t DOCG, this ain’t DOC,…
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The Austerity Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Austerity is one of O’Neil Vintners many labels (others include Line 39, Harkin, and Red Tree) and they control 15,000 acres of vineyards thru-out California (including Paso Robles). Paso…
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The Locations “F” (France) Red Blend is an outlaw wine. If you’re used to California wines, it’s nothing new, but if you’re used to wines from France, it will set your hair on fire! This is a blend of Bordeaux grapes, Rhone grapes, and Roussillon grapes – and if you don’t think that’s strange, go…
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The Psâgot Rosé 2016 is a blend of Red wine grapes, Psâgot does not indicate which grapes are used, but they grow Bordeaux and Rhone varietals in their estate vineyards located 3,000 feet up in the northern Jerusalem Mountains. Israel has produced wine for thousands of years, but Psâgot is a very modern (and beautiful) winery founded…
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The Rosa Regale 2016 is a Sparkling Red wine made from the Brachetto grape grown in the Banfi Estate La Rossa vineyard near the town of Acqui Terme (the Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG) in Piedmont located in northwest Italy. I think that a wine that has a story behind it tastes better and the Rosa Regale has a story. There…
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The Charles Smith Vino Rosso 2015 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese sourced grapes grown in Washington State (the label says Washington State and not Columbia Valley). The Sangiovese came from 2 vineyards in the Yakima Valley AVA and the Cabernet came from the Frenchman Hills vineyard, which is located near the Wahluke Slope AVA, Frenchman…
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The Poppy Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA inside California’s Central Coast AVA. Poppy has not updated their production notes for the 2015 vintage, but the 2014 Poppy Cab was sourced from the B & E Vineyard in Paso Robles and I expect that the…
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The Castle Rock Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from vineyards located in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon. The Willamette Valley is my favorite Pinot Noir region, I know I am supposed to think Burgundy in France is numero uno, but for me, it’s the Willamette Valley. Most of the wineries in the Willamette…
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The By.Ott Rosé 2015 is a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Syrah and Cinsault sourced from 2 Domaines Ott vineyards, along with some grapes by a couple of long-term contract grower in the Cotes de Provence AOC in the south of France. Domaines Ott has produced Rosé since 1912 and has a long history of making some…
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The Doña Paula Estate Malbec 2014 is sourced from 2 sustainably grown Estate vineyards located high in the Andes foothills of the Uco Valley in the southwest Mendoza region of Argentina. The Uco Valley is considered to be one of the prime Malbec growing areas in Argentina. The vineyards are 3,500 to 4,500 feet above sea level and…
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The Les Hauts de Lagarde Rouge 2014 is a certified Organic blend of 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc grown and produced at the Vignobles Raymond (Vineyards of Raymond)Estate near the town of Saint Laurent du Bois, in the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, France. The Estate is family owned and was founded in 1850….
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The Cab Sauv Columbia Valley 2013 is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot sourced from 8 vineyards in 5 Columbia Valley AVAs and sub-AVAs. This wine is produced by the Magnificent Wine Company (known for the House Wine series) that was originally started by Charles Smith of K Vintners and K Syrah fame. Smith sold the company in…
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The Les Hauts De Lagarde Bordeaux Blanc 2016 is a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon sourced from Certified Organic AOC vineyards in the Saint-Laurent-du-Bois district of the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux in France (where the grapes are grown is very important in French wine, maybe even more important than which grape varietals are used)….
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The Spartico Organic Cabernet Sauvignon Tempranillo 2015 is a 50/50 blend from certified organic vineyards in the Utiel-Requena region (inside of Valencia Province) of western Spain. Utiel-Requena has a wine history dating back to Roman times. The Spartico has no detectable sulfites. Sulfites are added to wine to help it age and keep it fresh, but the Spartico Organic…
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The Biokult Grüner Veltliner 2015 is certified organic, certified biodynamically grown, and Non-GMO, sourced from vineyards in Burgenland area (inside Niederösterreich state) of eastern Austria. Grüner Veltliner is a grape that is grown almost exclusively in Austria. This Gruner is aged for 7 months in stainless steel tanks. It is an expensive and time-consuming process to have your vineyards…
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The Angels & Cowboys 2015 Rosé is a deliciously dry rosé of Grenache, Merlot, Verdot (the petit kind) and Grenache Blanc sourced from three distinct AVAs in Sonoma County, California – Carneros, Alexander Valley, and Dry Creek Valley. This rosé is one of my faves for a few reasons. Reason #1 – she has a familiar…
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The DeLoach California Chardonnay 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the delta region of California. Which include Clarksburg and Lodi, they a warm weather growing region, but they are in line with the San Francisco Bay and receive cooling winds in the morning and evening. DeLoach is one of the labels for the Boisset Collection, a family owned business that has properties…
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The Cono Sur Reserva Especial Pinot Noir 2014 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from 2 estate vineyards in the San Antonio Valley region of Chile. San Antonio Valley is the newest growing region in Chile, the vineyards are located on the coast near the Pacific Ocean. The ocean winds provide a cool climate, rainfall is sparse…
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The Meiomi Pinot Noir 2014 is composed of 100% Pinot Noir grapes from 48% Monterey County, 27% Sonoma County and 25% Santa Barbara County. Meiomi (translates to “coast” in the language of the local native people) is a brand started by Joe Wagner, part of the Wagner Family who are well-known for Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon….
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