(and the cheap WHITES we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Le Beau Sud Sauvignon Blanc-Vermentino 2025 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, a 50/50% blend from the Pays D’OC region of southeast France. The Story Le Beau Sud translates to the Beautiful South. The vineyards are in the IGP Pays D’OC region of the Languedoc growing region of France. The Languedoc is France:s largest…
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The Andre Goichot Saint-Véran Chardonnay 2024 is $12.99 at Costco, though the internet shows prices elsewhere from $18 to $30. The Story Andre Goichot is a family owned negotiant wine business founded in 1947. A Negociant îs a French wine business with strong ties to the local wineries that purchases wine from the wineries and…
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The Marqués de la Concordia Cava MM Special Selection Brut 2022 is a Costco $12.99 import, Sparkling wine from Eastern Spain. The Story The Marqués de la Concordia has been in business since 1882 and has holdings in both Rioja and the Penedes (Cava). Their Estate in the Penedes, in the town of San Sadurni…
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The Aldi’s Specially Selected Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2025 is a $7.99 import exclusive. Touraine is located in the middle section of the Loire Valley in France. The Story Aldi’s Specially Selected series of wines are carefully chosen wines from some of the world’s best grape growing regions. You may think that Sauvignon Blanc is originally…
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The Tazmin Breeze Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024 is a Trader Joe’s $4.99 import exclusive, The Story The Tazmin Breeze Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024 is imported by an entity of Delicato Family Wines of Lodi, California. They have many brands including Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. There is no indication if there is any relationship or connection…
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The Babich Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025 is a wine I found at Trader Joe’s, selling for $12.99, which is a typical price for this wine. The Story Babich is a family-owned winery that started in New Zealand in 1906. One of the advantages of being one of the early wineries is that they had their…
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The Loveblock Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 is a wine I found selling for about $15. It is from Kim Crawford, yes, that Kim Crawford. The Story The Loveblock Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 typically scores 90+ points from wine reviewers. Kim and Erica Crawford, she handles the vineyard, he does the winemaking, sold Kim Crawford wines…
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The Côté Mas Sauvignon Blanc Vermentino 2024 is a wine I found at Trader Joe’s, selling for $11.99. Trader Joe’s price is in the ballpark with prices from other stores. The Story Côté Mas is Jean-Claude Mas of Domaine Paul Mas. The family has had vineyards since the 1890s, but more recently Jean-Claude has brought…
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The Trader Joe’s Brut California Sparkling Wine is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. It is produced by Rack and Riddle who make most of TJ’s California Bubbly. The Story The Trader Joe’s Brut California Sparkling Wine is not a Reserve or Grand Reserve wine, but a plain old Trader Joe’s wine. We already have North…
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The Bear Bros California Chardonnay 2024 is a $7.55 Aldi exclusive. Aldi owns the Trademark on the name and has had different wineries make each Bear Bros vintage. The Story The Bear Bros California Chardonnay 2024 looks like it was produced by a division of Trinchero Family Wines and Sutter Home. Trinchero Family is a…
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The 90+ Cellars DOC Prosecco Lot 50 is a Sparkling wine I found selling for around $10. It is a Bubbly sourced from vineyards near the town of Salgareda in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. The Story 90+ Cellars started its business by purchasing excess wine from established, highly rated wineries. It is common…
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The Ruta 49 Albarino 2024 is selling for $9.99 at Trader Joe’s and between $15 and $20 in areas not served by a Trader Joe’s store. The Story The Ruta 49 Albarino 2024 is a wine produced by Viña Cartín, a family-owned winery in the Rías Baixas wine region in Northwest Spain. This is the…
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The Honey Moon Viognier 2024 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive; it has kept the $5.99 price since at least the 2019 vintage. The Story The Honey Moon Viognier 2024 is produced for Trader Joe’s by some faction of Delicato Family Wines, which also makes Gnarly Head and recently purchased Coppola Wines. They make the…
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The Cambalala Chenin Blanc 2025 is a $5.99 Aldi wine from the West Cape growing area of South Africa. The Story The Western Cape wine region comprises almost all of South Africa’s wine country. The leading White grape cultivated there is Chenin Blanc. Chenin Blanc is best known as originating in the Loire Valley of…
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The Dry Creek Vineyards Sonoma Fume Blanc 2023 is a wine I found selling for $12. Dry Creek Vineyards has been family-owned and operated since the early 1970’s. The Story The first thing I need to explain is what Fume Blanc is. The Sauvignon Blanc grape originated in France, and there are two types of…
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The Thesis Russian River Chardonnay 2024 is selling for $9.99 at Costco, but $35 to $50 on the internet. This wine is produced by Fior di Sole, a family-owned Napa winery, though the Russian River is located in Sonoma. The Story The Thesis Russian River Chardonnay 2024 was a surprise. A ten-dollar Chardonnay from Costco…
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The Viale Antica Asolo Prosecco DOCG is an $8.99 Italian Bubbly sold at Trader Joe’s. It is an Extra Dry (a little sweet), and Asolo is a tiny top-rated Prosecco appellation. The Story The Prosecco region is huge, and most of the vineyards are DOC-designated. Asolo is a DOCG region with the vineyards situated around…
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The Bread & Butter Chardonnay 2024 is a wine I found on sale at a local wine store for $7, but is more likely to be found selling between $12 and $15. The Story Bread & Butter Chardonnay is a brand from WX Brands whose wines include Chronic Cellars and Trapiche (Argentina). Bread & Butter…
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The Campo Viejo Cava Brut is a wine I found selling for $7.99, but it should be available around 10 most places. Campo Viejo is one of the brands in the Pernod Richard portfolio. The Story The Campo Viejo winery is located in the Rioja region of Spain, near the border with France. This Cava…
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The Specially Selected Single Estate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025 is an Aldi $8.69 import exclusive. The single New Zealand wine estate is Lismore Wines. The Story Lismore Wines is a family-owned winery that looks like they export much of their wine to China; they have a webpage written in Chinese. Since this is an estate…
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The Big Churn Chardonnay 2024 is a Trader Joe’s exclusive, available for $6.99. It is produced for Trader Joe’s by Fior di Sole, a Napa-based wine company. The Story Fior di Sole has been producing the Big Churn Chardonnay since at least the 2015 vintage, and it has kept the $6.99 price tag the whole…
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The Kirkland Signature Ti Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025 is a Costco exclusive that should be found for around seven dollars. It was produced for Costco by Ti Point Winery. The Story Ti Point Winery was started in the 1990s with a vineyard on the Matakana Coast. They have since acquired vineyards in both the…
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The Squealing Pig Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024 is a wine I found selling for $13.99 at a local wine shop. The Squealing Pig brand; have a full line of New Zealand wines, which is part of the Treasury Wine Estate portfolio. The Story The Squealing Pig Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024 is sourced from vineyards in…
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The Shortbread Buttery Chardonnay 2023 is a wine I discovered at a local wine shop, priced at $11.99. This was a brand from Wine Hooligans, which would sell the controlling interest in their company to Bronco Wines. The Story This Chardonnay is sourced from coastal vineyards in both the Central and North Coast AVAs. The…
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The Aldi California Heritage Brut Sparkling is a $4.85 non-vintage Bubbly. It is produced for Aldi by E & J Gallo, who have plenty of experience with bargain Bubble with the Andre, Balatore, and Barefoot. The Story This is a revisit. We reviewed this Sparkling wine in February 2024 and found it to be very…
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