Back in 2011, we found that Ancient Peaks Winery owns the Familia Nueva name, so some part of their enterprise produced the wine. There are 5 AVAs inside of San Luis Obispo County, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande Valley, San Luis Obispo Coast, Edna Valley, and Youk Mountain. The Liberte San Luis Obispo Pinot Noir 2020…
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The Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 is $10.99 at Costco and $14 to $29 elsewhere. This wine is a blend of 60% Malbec, 30% Pinot Noir, and 10% Bonarda sourced from the Doña Paula Estate El Alto Vineyard (3,445 feet up in the Andes foothills of the Ugarteche sub-region of the Luján…
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The Mumm Napa Brut Prestige is a blend of 45% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, and the other 10% is a mix of Pinot Gris (White) and Pinot Meunier (Red). This Bubbly is produced in the Traditional Method or Champagne style. The second fermentation or triage lasted for a minimum of 18 months. GH Mumm started…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2021 is a $9.99 TJ’s exclusive. This wine was “produced and bottled by” Bozzano and Company. That indicates that they actually made the wine and used grapes from their vineyards or contracted grapes they control. They produce several brands seen on Trader Joe’s shelves. It is rare…
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The Oyster Bay Rosé 2022 is made from Pinot Noir grapes from grapes farmed in the Wairau Valley of the Marlborough region on the South Island of New Zealand. This is a wine found on sale in Chicago for $10.99 while the average price on the internet is $14. When New Zealand wine first broke…
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The Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2020 is produced from grapes from several growing Oregon regions. Willamette Valley is the most well-known, but there are 23 AVAs, including Rogue Valley and Umpqua Valley. The Firesteed Winery (founded in 1992) is located in Dundee, Oregon. This is their entry-level offering with their wines focusing on different areas…
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The Kirkland Signature Extra Dry Prosecco Rosé 2021 is a 7.99 Costco exclusive. The traditional Prosecco grape, Glera, and Pinot Noir are used for additional flavor and color. This is an Extra Dry or slightly sweet wine, which is the way the Italians prefer it. The natural acidity balances the extra sugar, so this is…
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The Cloudline Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2021 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from several vineyards in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon, about an hour south of Portland. Cloudline is a brand (this is its 20th year) from Domaine Drouhin in collaboration with their importer Dreyfus, Ashby, and Co. The Drouhin Family has one of…
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The Kirkland Carneros Pinot Noir 2021 is a $9.99 Costco exclusive by winemaker Alison Crowe. Alison is the Director of Winemaking at Plata Wine Partners, which own 60 vineyards and farm 18,000 acres of grapes. They supply grapes for 34 of the top 30 wine companies and make their own wine brands. This seems to…
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The Land of the Saints Central Coast Pinot Noir 2021 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from three vineyards one in the Edna Valley AVA, the next in Arroyo Grande AVA, and the Santa Maria Valley all located inside San Luis Obispo County. For reference, Paso Robles is also inside San Luis Obispo County. It is…
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The Hahn Appellation Series Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir 2020 is sourced from a single Estate vineyard the Ste—Philippe in the Arroyo Seco AVA inside the Monterey AVA again inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Arroyo Seco translates to “dry creek” and is south of the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. Hahn Estate Wines was founded…
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The Gearbox Pinot Noir 2020 is $5.99 at Trader Joe’s. This is a wine that had retailed for an average of $15 at wine retailers, though it seems that there has been a recent price reduction occurring. So this may be a wine close-out. The Gearbox Pinot Noir 2020 is produced by Precision Wine Company,…
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The Mumm Napa Brut Rosé is a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay sourced from up to 50 growers in Napa County. GH Mumm is a Champagne House founded in France in 1827. Mumm Napa was established in the late 1970s. The Mumm Napa Brut Rosé comes from almost 200 years of Champagne-making…
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The Kirkland Russian River Pinot Noir 2021 is an $11.99 Costco reclusive made for them by winemaker Nancy Walker. Nancy has over 20 years of experience and is one of the winemakers for Vintage Wine Estates. Trader Joe’s and Aldi never offer information on who made their wines, I have fun figuring out who made…
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The Kirkland Champagne Brut-2022 is a $19.99 Costco exclusive produced for them by Manuel Janisson of the Verzenay region in Champagne, France. This Champagne House has roots dating back to the 1920s. This is real Champagne do not let the low price fool you. There are over 2,100 Champagne Houses making Bubbly in the Champagne…
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