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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The Bouchaine Estate Vineyard Carneros Chardonnay 2013 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s special buy. Bouchaine Vineyards is the oldest continuously operating winery in Carneros (the Carneros AVA is partly in Sonoma and partly in Napa, Bouchaine is on the Napa side) and this bottling sells on their website for $30 and can be found on…
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The Cycles Gladiator Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA (inside the Monterey AVA) and the Livermore Valley AVA (near the San Francisco Bay), both inside the Central Coast AVA of California. The Cycles Gladiator brand was started in 2005 by Hahn Family Wines, Hahn recently decided to overhaul their wine…
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The 2012 Lander Jenkins Chardonnay is one of Rutherford Wine Companies brands of wine, they also produce Rutherford Ranch, Predator and Round Hill wines, among others. The grapes are sourced the Central Coast, the Central Valley and the North Coast, as well as Rutherford Wine Company estate vineyards (and long-term grower vineyards) in Napa, Monterey…
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The Segura Viudas Gran Cuvée Reserva Brut is a blend of 85% Macebeo and Parellada (these, along with Xarel.lo, are the grapes traditionally used in the production of Cava), plus 15% of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grown in the Penedès region of Spain. The Segura Viudas property has been an estate since the 1000’s and…
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The Old Soul Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from Oak Ridge Winery estate vineyards located in the Lodi AVA of northern California. Oak Ridge is the oldest winery in Lodi (founded in the 1930s) and is currently owned by the Maggio and Reynolds families who have 5 generations of vineyard and wine making experience. Lodi is…
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The Bogle Vineyards Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from grapes farmed in the Clarksburg, Monterey and Lodi AVA’s of northern California. Bogle Vineyards is a 6th generation, family owned vineyard (they have 1500 acres of grape vines) and winery located in the Clarksburg AVA, which is in the Sacramento River Delta. This Chardonnay is fermented “on…
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The Celler del Roure Cullerot Blanco 2012 is an unusual blend of Verdil, Pedro Ximenez, Macabeo and Chardonnay sourced from an estate vineyard located near the town of Moixent in Valencia, Spain. Verdil is a grape indigenous to the region that was nearly extinct, there are only a little over 100 acres of these vines…
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The Bucamel Blanco Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from a Bodegas Tierras de Orgaz vineyard located on a hillside outside the town of Los Yebens in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain. This Chardonnay is designated a Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla wine, which is like IGT wines from Italy and Vin de Pays wines…
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The Bedell Cellars Taste White 2013 is a blend of 50% Albariño, 30% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Viognier and 5% Chardonnay sourced from sustainably farmed estate vineyards near the town of North Fork in Long Island, New York. Long Island has a maritime climate that cools the vineyards during the heat of summer and protects the…
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The Sophora Sparkling Cuvée is 52% Chardonnay and 48% Pinot Noir sourced from vineyards in the Gisbourne and Hawke’s Bay districts of New Zealand’s North Island. Most of the reasonably priced New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc you see on store shelves come from Marlborough on New Zealand’s South Island. Sophora is the Sparkling wine brand from Distinguished…
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The Murrieta’s Well The Whip 2013 is a blend of 28% Semillion, 24% Chardonnay, 14% Sauvignon Blanc, 11% Orange Muscat, 11% Viognier, 11% Gewürztraminer and 1% White Riesling all grown on Murrieta’s Well estate vineyards located in the Livermore Valley AVA near the San Francisco Bay. Murrieta’s Well was originally planted in 1884 and was…
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