The Rebuttel Chardonnay 2021 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive made for them by a winery from Lodi, California, though this wine is a California wine and not AVA designated. You may notice that Rebuttel is misspelled (Rebuttal). The name is a sort of a pun, a butt is an old measurement for wine and…
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The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is 100% Chardonnay and has been the best-selling Chardonnay in the US for 29 years in a row. Kendall Jackson is a family-owned winery founded in 1982 and was instrumental in popularizing Chardonnay in America. The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is sourced from several California AVAs,…
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The Coppola Diamond Collection Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from grapes grown in coastal vineyards. It may be confusing but there seem to be three Diamond Collection Chardonnays, a black-label Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, a Monterey Chardonnay, and a California Chardonnay. The last two both have an orange label. This Chardonnay lists for $16 on the Coppola…
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The Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2021 just may be the best cheap retail wine available. I found it at a major Chicago wine and spirits shop for $3.99. Cheapwinefinder has reviewed every vintage since 2015 except 2020. I keep expecting the quality to fall off, to be disappointed, but it never happens. And this is…
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The Stormchaser Charging Chardonnay 2020 is a wine I found for $6.69 at Aldi. This is a wine made for Aldi by Precept Wine, the largest privately held wine company in the Northwest. Their brands include Gruet, House Wine, Canoe Ridge, and many more. Aldi’s wine selection has been stagnant for months, to transportation issues,…
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The Hook or Crook Cellars Lodi Chardonnay 2020 is currently available at Costco for under $12, but will soon be available across the country at wine retail outlets. This Chardonnay is produced by Thomas Allen Wine Estates of the Lodi AVA. They produce 12,000,000 bottles of wine a year all for other major wine brands….
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The Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2020 is the “entry-level” Chardonnay from Wente Vineyards, the oldest continuously operated family-owned winery in America (founded in 1883). They survived World Wars, the Depression, and Prohibition, and their story is of great significance to the entire wine industry. In 1912 Ernest Wente started working on grapevine cutting from a…
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The J Lohr Riverstone Chardonnay 2019 is a sustainably farmed wine from J Lohr Estate, family-owned vineyards, and winery in operation since the 1970s. This Chardonnay is sourced from their estate Arroyo Seco vineyards. They have been making the Riverstone Chardonnay for over 30 years. The Arroyo Seco AVA is located in the foothills of…
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The William Wright Monterey Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Aldi exclusive, produced for them by Scheid Vineyards located in Greenfield, Monterey County in the California Central Coast AVA. Scheid is a large family-owned winery and this wine does show up in their portfolio on their website. The back label says “This classic Chardonnay was sourced…
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The Curious Beasts Chardonnay 2019 is a supermarket wine, it is made for Safeway, Albertsons, Jewel/Osco, and a host of other stores in the chain. It is produced exclusively for them the same way Trader Joe’s, Aldi’s, and Costco have their wines made for them. The Curious Beasts brand has been around for several years…
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The Mon Fére Chardonnay 2018 is a brand and winery from Taub Family Selections, which are mainly importers but have their own vineyards and wineries. They have a very extensive portfolio of wines. This Chardonnay is sourced from grapes grown in Mendocino, Monterey, and Lodi. That is a textbook example of why the Chardonnay shows…
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The 19 Crimes Martha’s Chard 2020 is a California Chardonnay from the Australian wine label 19 Crimes. The 19 Crimes referenced in the brand name are the number of offenses that would get a criminal in Great Britain deported to the Australian penal colony. The label embraces Australia’s heritage with a photo and a short…
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The Argyle Willamette Valley Brut 2017 is a vintage-dated small-batch estate-grown Sparkling wine made in the Champagne style. Argyle was founded in 1987 and produced exceptional Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Reisling, and Sparkling wines. This Bubbly consists of 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, and 15% Pinot Meunier. The Chardonnay was sourced from the Knudsen Vineyard in…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut 2021 Edition is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. We reviewed this Sparkling wine about one year ago, and I wanted to revisit this Bubbly since we recently enjoyed Trader Joe’s North Coast Brut, which sold for five dollars less at $9.99. Is the Sonoma Brut worth 33% more?…
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The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive non-vintage produced for them by Winepress Vintners. This Chardonnay is one of the trendy fitness wines, low calorie, reduced sugar, and alcohol, with no carbs or fat. This summer, Trader Joe’s also had the Slim Vine Light wines, also “diet” wines. A family-owned…
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The Ernest Rapeneau Champagne (Dec. 2021) is exclusive to Trader Joe’s in places where Trader Joe’s sells wine but is otherwise sold all over the world. Ernest Rapeneau has been in the wine business since 1901 and has concentrated on Champagne since 1927. The winery is run by the 4th generation of the family and…
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The Louis Pommery Brut NV is a blend of 95% Chardonnay, and 5% Pinot Noir sourced from vineyards in California. This Sparkling wine is the California version of Champagne Pommery (founded in 1858), with Madame Pommery creating Brut (dry, not sweet) Champagne in 1874. Pommery has had a winery in Napa since 2004. The same…
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The Buttery Barrel Chardonnay 2020 is a $6.99 Aldi sourced from vineyards in California. The back label says, Cattlemen Ridge Wines produced this Chardonnay, and they are owned by Scheid Family Vineyards of Monterey, California. Scheid makes many wines for both Aldi and Trader Joe’s; they produce their own high-end wines and have many value-priced…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine is a $9.99 Bubbly exclusive produced by Rack and Riddle of Healdsburg, California. Rack and Riddle is a custom wine brand winery that specializes in Sparkling wine. If you have had a value-priced Bubbly from California, it is possible that it was made at Rack…
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The Quarter Cut Bourbon Barrel Chardonnay 2019 is a $9.99 Aldi exclusive wine, and it is part of a line of wines aged in bourbon barrels and wine barrels. Aldi owns the Quarter Cut name trademark, but according to the California COLA website, the wine is produced by Fetzer of Hopland, California. Fetzer has a…
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The Hwy 5 Chardonnay 2020 is a $4.99 Aldi wine sourced from vineyards in California. The back label says this wine was produced by a company located in Modesto, California. That typically indicates that some entity of E & J Gallo had a hand in the production. There is no technical production information available for…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine seems to come from a producer, ABJ WInes, who I believe is owned by someone who sold their Napa vineyard and winery to produce custom-label wines. This person has extensive connections in Napa, and that is a good sign…
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The Tanner Park Carneros Chardonnay 2019 is $9.99 for Trader Joe’s wine. In doing what research you can do on a Trader Joe’s wine, it seems that the Tanner Park brand may be an older defunct brand, and Trader Joe’s is reusing the name. This Chardonnay uses grapes grown on the Sonoma side of the…
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The Louis Jadot 2020 Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay is sourced from vineyards in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy in France. Chardonnay is THE grape of this area in southern Burgundy. For reference, Beaujolais is the southernmost region of Burgundy and Champagne in the north. Loius Jadot has been in the wine business since the 1850s. They traditionally purchased…
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The Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from various vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington State. This is a wine that you should find for around ten bucks; I purchased a bottle for $8.99 on sale. The Columbia Valley comprises the vast majority of Washington’s vineyards, and there are 11 different sub-AVAs inside…
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