(and the cheap WHITES we’re diggin’ on lately)
The Devil’s Corner Tasmania Chardonnay 2023 is a wine I found selling for $16.99 at a local wine shop. The grapes were farmed in vineyards in the Tamar Valley of Tasmania. The Story Tasmania is an Australian state located south of Melbourne, an island in its own right. The Tamar Valley is a river valley…
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The Tarongino Frizzante with Valencia Oranges is priced at $12.99 at Trader Joe’s. This is a wine produced in Spain, and a quick internet search reveals that Trader Joe’s may hold the US distribution rights. The Story The Tarongino Frizzante with Valencia Oranges is a Bubbly infused with 100% Valencia orange juice from an orchard…
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The Copilot Carneros Chardonnay 2023 is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s for $7.99. A little internet sleuthing found that this wine was produced by some component of Fior di Sole, a family-owned and operated wine company headquartered in Napa. The Story Trader Joe’s has recently offered bargain wines from Carneros vineyards. Last month, they featured…
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I found the Doris & Leopold Grüner Veltliner 2023 wine at Trader Joe’s for $5.99. This wine is produced by Sutter Winery in Austria. The Story The Sutter Winery has been around for 100s of years, and wine has been grown and produced here (Hohenwarth, Austria) since 1150. Doris and Leopold are the proprietors of…
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The evoluna Mendocino Chardonnay 2023 is available at Trader Joe’s for $9.99. This is an organic wine brand from the Boisset Collection. The Story The Boisset Collection is Jean-Charles Boisset’s wine company, which features wine and spirits from both France and California. The evoluna brand seems to be a discontinued line of wines. The brand…
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The Specially Selected Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2024 is a $11.99 Aldi exclusive. The Story The Specially Selected line of wines is an Aldi brand that offers affordable wines from the best wine regions in the world. The Specially Selected brand has a sub-genre of Napa Valley wines, here is a link to their Napa…
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The Casone Toscana Vermentino 2023 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive to the coastal regions of Tuscany in north-central Italy. Vermentino is the white wine grape of Tuscany, while Sangiovese is the main Red Grape. The Story The Casone Toscana Vermentino 2023 is bottled by Castellani S.p.A., Famiglia Castellani, a Tuscan winery started in…
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The Cambalala South African Sauvignon Blanc 2024 is a $5.99 Aldi exclusive sourced from grapes grown in South Africa’s Western Cape growing region. The Story The story is that there is almost no story to tell. Aldi owns the Cambalala name, which completely masks the producer of this wine. Most of the vineyards and sub-regions…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Huichica Hills Vineyard Carneros Napa Chardonnay 2023 Is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Huichica Hills Vineyard in the title is Duckhorn’s Carneros property. The Story Carneros is an AVA located in both Sonoma and Napa, near San Pablo Bay’s northern edge. This is the Bay east of Oakland, California. The…
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The Raimund Prüm Essence Mosel Riesling 2023, which costs around $15 at Costco, is widely available elsewhere for a few dollars in either direction. The Story The Prüm family has owned vineyards in the Mosel region (Germany) since the 100s. Sebastian Alois Prüm founded a winery in the 1800s. Raimund Prüm became director in 1971,…
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The La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2023 is a wine I found selling for 14.99 at Costco, a quick check of the web saw prices ranging from a low of $11 to $23. La Crema’s original name was La Crema Viñera, which translates to “best of the vine.” The Story La Crema’s estate vineyard is…
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I found the Lustrous Russian River Chardonnay 2023 at Trader Joe’s, selling for $8.99. Precision Wine Company, which makes private-label and retail wine shop wines, appears to have produced it for Trader Joe’s. Their wines can be found at Costco and Trader Joe’s. The Story Precision Wine Company produces 22 separate labels along with Trader…
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The 19 Crimes Revolutionary Red Limited Edition is a wine released near St. Pat’s Day, which I found selling for under $10. It looks like this wine was first released in March 2024, but this version has a different label, so it seems to be new and not a 2024 leftover. 19 Crimes is a…
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The Specially Selected Single Estate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 is a $9.99 Aldi exclusive. Their Specially Selected brand showcases wine from the greatest growing regions in the world. The Story The single estate in the wine name is from Lismore Wines, which specializes in wine from Marlborough and Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. Lismore Wines…
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I found the Locations NZ Sauvignon Blanc Release #12 selling for $16.99. Dave Phinney created the Locations line of wines; if anyone is a “Rock Star” winemaker, it’s Dave. The Story Dave Phinney is the man behind the massively successful The Prisoner line of wines. The Prisoner sold for about $50, and those wines flew…
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The Field Recordings Chenin 2024 is a wine I found at a local wine shop selling for $14.99. This Chenin land was sourced from three vineyards in the Central Coast AVA that were planted in the 1970s. The Story Field Recordings is a project by winemaker Andrew Jones. He was a Feldman who traveled the…
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The Kolbie California Brut Sparkling Wine is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive. This Bubbly is produced by the Rack and Riddle facility in Geyserville, California. The Story Rack and Riddle is a custom Sparkling wine producer with locations in Sonoma and Lodi. It is a large operation that can produce all types of Sparkling wines. Rack…
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The Starpointe Yakima Valley Chardonnay 2023 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This is a wine produced for Trader Joe’s by DNA Vineyards, who have, over the years, produced some of Trader Joe’s best wines. The Story DNA Vineyards is Dennis Patton (40 years experience) and Andrea Silverstein (25 years experience). They have been making…
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The Kirkland Signature Asolo Prosecco (Bottled Nov 2024) is a $7.69 Costco exclusive. This Kirkland Signature Asolo Prosecco is designated a Prosecco Superiore DOCG. The Story DOC Prosecco is farmed from vineyards in the flat section of the Prosecco region in the Veneto area. The DOCG Prosecco is produced from grapes in the hilly sections…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Arroyo Seco Chardonnay 2023 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Arroyo Seco AVA is located inside the Monterey AVA, which is inside the Central Coast AVA. The Story As a Trader Reserve wine, there aren’t production notes available, but there are a few paragraphs in the current Fearless Flyer. They mention…
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I found the Joel Gott California Sauvignon Blanc 2023, selling for $12.99. Joel and Sarah Gott founded the company in 1996, and it produces wine from grapes grown in California, Washington, Oregon, and New Zealand. The Joel Gott California Sauvignon Blanc 2023 is a wine I found at a local grocery store selling for $12.99….
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The Chandon California Brut Rosé is a Sparkling Wine I found selling for $18.99 at Target. Chandon is the first French Champagne House to start a California outpost (1973). The Story Chandon, California, is the California winery of Moet & Chandon, founded 281 years ago. Both are now part of LVMH, a luxury brand company…
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The Henri Laffard Grande Reserve Brut Champagne is a $24.99 Bubbly found at Trader Joe’s. It looks to be a Trader Joe’s US exclusive. This is a Grower Champagne, which is a Bubbly from one of the vineyard owners in the Champagne region. Less than 5% of the Champagne wines in the US are Grower…
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The Cambria Katherine’s Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2022 is a wine I found selling at Costco for $15.99. A check of the web saw average internet prices of around $20. Cambria Vineyards is part of the Jackson Family Wines portfolio (think Kendall-Jacjson), and this is Katherine (Katie) Jackson’s winery. This is a single vineyard…
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The J Lohr Riverstone Arroyo Seco Chardonnay 2023 is a wine that I found for $12.99, and with a quick check of the internet and wine shops, it is the going rate. This is an estate wine from J Lohr a family owned and operated winery and vineyards located in the Monterey AVA since 1974….
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