The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Rose’ is a $9.99 limited edition Trader’ Joe’s exclusive produced from a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier grown in vineyards in the North Coast AVA which includes Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa, and Lake County, all of which are north of San Francisco in Northern California. The TJ’s Reserve…
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The Novellum Chardonnay 2016 is one of Eric Solomon’s European Cellars Selection family of wines, produced by Domaine Lafage in the Côtes Catalanes district of the Roussillon growing region along the Mediterranean Ocean near the French border with Spain. Mentioning the importer is especially important with wines from France, Italy, and Spain, because the leading importers, in…
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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 California Roots Chardonnay 2016 is Targets 5 dollar answer to Trader Joe’s 2 Buck Chuck. It’s a little bit more expensive than Charles Shaw wines ( $2.99 in Illinois) and that $2.01 may be well spent. There may well be a too low price for wine, especially Red wine. Many White grape wines, Pinot Grigio,…
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The Let’s Drink Chardonnay 2016 is an ALDI $6.99 import wine, sourced from vineyards in South Australia. South Australia is a huge growing region that produces about half of Australia’s wine output. The climates vary greatly, there are areas that reach over 100 degrees in the heat of summer to cool coastal regions. As a matter…
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The Ava Grace Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The name Ava means “life” in Hebrew and an AVA is the initials for American Viticultural Area which indicates the land boundaries for American wine regions. Ava Grace is one of the many brands for The Wine Group , who are the…
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The A By Acacia Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Acacia Vineyards (founded 1979) is a well-respected vineyard and winery located in the Carneros AVA (Carneros is half in Sonoma and half in Napa). A By Acacia is their value price wine brand and Acacia itself is part…
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The Parducci Small Lot Mendocino County Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA which is located in the North Coast AVA of California. Mendocino County is north of Sonoma and west and north of Napa. Parducci was founded 85 years ago and is the oldest family owned and operated winery in Mendocino…
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The Big Churn Chardonnay 2015 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California AVA. TJ’s wines rarely have a great deal of technical information attached to them and the Big Churn is no different. But the main thing to know about the Big Churn is the producers “goal was the oakiest,…
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The Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from grapes grown in South Eastern Australia. The South East Australian wine region covers 1/3 of Australia, though the majority of the land is desert or mountains and most of the grapes are grown in the cooler coastal areas. Lindeman’s was founded in 1843 and Bin 65 Chardonnay was…
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The Stone Fly Vineyards Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from more than one AVA in California. Stone Fly Vineyards had been a boutique winery based in Napa, California, but they sold off their business and the name now seems to be used for a House Brand line of wines for Binny’s Beverage Depot, a chain of 35 huge liquor stores…
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The Cotillion Chardonnay 2014 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive (Cotillion also make a Pinot Noir) sourced from grapes grown in 63% Sonoma County, 20% Napa County, and 17% Monterey County, all 3 are terrific places to grow Chardonnay grapes. As a Trader Joe’s private brand wine there is little information about how the wine was…
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The Santa Barbara Landing Chardonnay 2014 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in Santa Barbara County, California. Santa Barbara is about a 1 1/2 hour drive (north) from Los Angeles and would be too warm a place to grow grapes for fine wine, except for a bit of luck of geography. The…
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The La Burgondie Brut Reserve is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 import exclusive, a non-vintage blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 20% Gamay (this is the grape used in Beaujolais), and 5% Aligote (the #2 White grape grown in Burgundy, Chardonnay is #1 and used primarily in the production of Cremant, which is French for Sparkling…
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The Harken Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from grapes taken from vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA – inside the Monterey AVA, which is in turn inside the Central Coast AVA. Got that? It is located in a valley off of Monterey Bay in a climate dominated by cool Pacific Ocean breezes. One thing…
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The Broken Clouds Chardonnay 2014 is an $8.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA north of San Francisco. Normally when checking the internet for information about an ALDI wine there is virtually nothing to be found, maybe a bottle shot and a vague sentence. But with the Broken Cloud wine, ALDI has vineyard photos…
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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 Sterling Vintner’s Central Coast Chardonnay 2014 is sourced from multiple vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Central Coast AVA is large, it includes 6 Counties, 27 sub-AVA’s and over 90,000 acres of planted grape vines. The Sterling Vintner’s Chardonnay underwent malolactic fermentation and was at least partially aged in oak barrels. Malolactic changes…
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The Springwood Chardonnay 2015 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, sourced from vineyards in the Murray Darling region of Australia. The Murray River and the Darling River are the 2 main rivers in the area, which is located east of Adelaide and north of Melbourne. It is a hot, dry growing region that depends on…
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The Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay 2014 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from multiple vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley in Washington State. Chateau Ste Michelle is the largest winery in Washington, their 2nd label Columbia Crest won the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year for a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (sold for $40), another label, 14 Hands makes one…
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The Poppy Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from the Poppy estate Highland Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA inside the Monterey AVA, which is part of the larger Central Coast AVA. The Santa Lucia Highlands AVA is located in the foothills east of the coastal Santa Lucia Range and on the western side of the Salinas…
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The Crystal Creek Cellars Chardonnay 2014 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. In checking around the internet, it seems that Crystal Creek is produced for ALDI by a reputable wine company located in the Northwest. For years, I have read that ALDI wines routinely win awards…
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The Rodney Strong Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from both estate and contracted vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA, Russian River AVA and the Dry Creek AVA, all inside Sonoma County in northern California. Rodney Strong Vineyards (Rodney Strong was a professional dancer, he danced ballet and on Broadway. He said he didn’t think…
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The Artesa Carneros Chardonnay 2013 is sourced 80% from Artesa estate vineyards and 20% purchased from neighboring vineyards. The Carneros AVA is half in Sonoma and half in Napa (Artesa is located in southern Carneros on the Napa side) and is a cool climate growing region that specializes in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Artesa (means…
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