The Parducci Small Lot Mendocino County Pinot Noir 2014 is 100% Pinot Noir produced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA of Northern California. Parducci is a family owned winery celebrating their 85th year of winemaking. Mendocino is located north of the Sonoma AVA, west of the Lake County AVA, and north and west of Napa. The…
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The Petiole Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2015 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon. In case you have forgotten your 4th-grade science lessons the “petiole” is the part of the plant that attached the leaf to the stem. This is a Trader Joe’s Negociant wine, they purchased grapes…
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The Lazy Creek Vineyards Rose Of Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from sustainably grown grapes farmed in the Anderson Valley AVA inside the Sonoma AVA in Northern California. Lazy Creek Vineyards have been around for about 100 years and are currently own by Don and Rhonda Carano, they are the Carano in the Ferrari-Carano Winery. This…
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The Castle Rock Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from vineyards located in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon. The Willamette Valley is my favorite Pinot Noir region, I know I am supposed to think Burgundy in France is numero uno, but for me, it’s the Willamette Valley. Most of the wineries in the Willamette…
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The Moon X Black Pinot Noir 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. Moon X and all the other TJ’s Moon wines are produced by Delicato Family Vineyards of Lodi, California, their brands include Gnarly Head, Bota Box (check out the Nighthawk Black, the best box…
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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 VINTJS Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown by a large Willamette Valley, Oregon grower and produced for TJ’s by ABJ Wines (probably a shell company) from Geyserville, California. This is a negociant wine (meaning they buy surplus wine from existing wineries and sell under their own…
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The Brancott Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2013 is sourced mainly from 2 Estate vineyards, the Fairhall and Kaituna vineyards (here is a wine where Estate on the label actually means something), along with grapes from the Awatere Estates, all located in the Marlborough growing region on the northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand. This…
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The Angeline Vineyards Pinot Noir 2015 is sourced from multiple AVA’s in California, but mainly from the Central Coast and the Northern Coast. The Angeline line of wines is the everyday value brand for family owned (since 1990) Martin Ray Wines and Courtney Benham Wines (he is the owner). The 2015 vintage showed the effects of…
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The Cono Sur Reserva Especial Pinot Noir 2014 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from 2 estate vineyards in the San Antonio Valley region of Chile. San Antonio Valley is the newest growing region in Chile, the vineyards are located on the coast near the Pacific Ocean. The ocean winds provide a cool climate, rainfall is sparse…
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The Meiomi Pinot Noir 2014 is composed of 100% Pinot Noir grapes from 48% Monterey County, 27% Sonoma County and 25% Santa Barbara County. Meiomi (translates to “coast” in the language of the local native people) is a brand started by Joe Wagner, part of the Wagner Family who are well-known for Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon….
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The Cherry Blossom Pinot Noir 2013 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in California. Cherry Blossom Pinot is one of Bronco Wines (2 Buck Chuck) many labels, which isn’t a bad thing since they tend to produce very drinkable wines at very low prices. This Pinot is the 2013 vintage which is…
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The Sea Pearl Pinot Noir 2013 is sourced from vineyards in the Marlborough growing area of New Zealand’s South Island. Marlborough is located at the northeast tip of South Island and has the Pacific Ocean to it’s north and east and mountain ranges to the west and south. It has a very sunny, but cool climate,…
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The Bouchaine Carneros Pinot Noir 2011 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive, just the 2011 vintage, the other vintages are available elsewhere at the regular price (list price is $35). The 2011 Bouchaine Pinot Noir comes from their Estate vineyard (and 3 other Carneros growers) on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA (Carneros is…
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The Trader Joe’s Sonoma County Brut Rosé is a $9.99 blend of 84% Pinot Noir and 16% Pinot Meunier produced for TJ’s by Rack and Riddle, a custom Sparkling Wine facility located in Sonoma, California. Pinot Meunier is a grape that is routinely used in Champagne, but does not get star billing like the other…
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The Cotillion Pinot Noir 2013 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in 60% Monterey County, 24% Sonoma County and 16% Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County is about an hour north of Los Angles, Monterey County is north of Paso Robles and both are part of the Central Coast AVA. Sonoma County…
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The Seadrift Pinot Noir 2014 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from more than one grape growing AVA in California. ALDI never gives out much information about their wines, a quick check of the internet showed that the Seadrift is produced by a custom winery located in the Central Coast AVA, but anything more than…
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The Jargon Pinot Noir 2012 is 76% Pinot Noir, 18% Syrah and 6% Petite Sirah, the Syrah is sourced from the Monterey AVA, the Pinot and the Petite Sirah are sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Jargon is one of Trinchero Family Estates (founded in 1974) line of wines, other brands include…
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The Emma Pearl Pinot Noir 2013 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The Emma Pearl Pinot is 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Petite Sirah. Now, California Pinot Noir does not usually sell for under 4 bucks, there is a story to tell here. Treasury…
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The 2013 Woodwork Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in coastal regions of the Central Coast AVA of California. Woodwork is one of The Wine Bars brands of wine that include Snap Dragon, Ensemble, Uppercut and many others. The key to the Woodwork line of wines is their use of oak staves, instead of oak…
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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 Pinot Noir 2014 is Pinot Noir with Zinfandel and Merlot blended in, sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA at the northern end of the Central Valley Region of Northern California. Lodi is located east of the San Francisco Bay, south and east of Napa. The temperature can be very warm during…
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The Belcreme de Lys Pinot Noir 2013 is Pinot Noir, with a little bit of Syrah added in, sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Belcreme de Lys is one of Diageo Chateau & Estate Wine many wine brands. Their portfolio runs from Moet & Chandon to Blossom Hill White Zinfandel….
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The Natura Pinot Noir 2013 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from certified organic vineyards in the Colchagua Valley in the southern half of the Rapel Valley inside Chile’s Central Valley. The Colchagua Valley is a little cooler than the rest of the Rapel Valley and the western side of the valley sees climate influence from…
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The Fort Ross Sea Slopes Pinot Noir 2012 is sourced from the Fort Ross Vineyard in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA located about an hour and half north and west of San Francisco on the Sonoma Coast of California. Fort Ross-Seaview received AVA designation in 2011 and is situated on coastal ridges near the Pacific Ocean,…
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