The Coppola Diamond Collection Pavilion Chardonnay 2016 is a limited edition wine sourced from vineyards in 60% Santa Barbara and 40% Sonoma, the regular Diamond Collection Chardonnay is sourced from Monterey. In a side note, this Chard could have shown California on the front label, since Santa Barbara is part of the Central Coast AVA and…
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The Ferrari-Carano Sonoma County Chardonnay 2015 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from Ferrari-Carano Estate vineyards in Alexander Valley AVA, Dry Creek AVA, the Russian River Valley AVA, and the Carneros AVA all inside the Sonoma County AVA. Those 4 AVA’s are an excellent selection of cool growing areas and warmer regions, giving this Chard a nice taste…
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In this podcast episode, we bring cheap to a whole other level with the Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2017 Listen in to see if real cheap is just too cheap.
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The Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2016 is 98% Chardonnay and 2% Gewürztraminer grown in Wente Estates vineyards in the Livermore Valley AVA just inland from the San Francisco Bay inside the larger Central Coast AVA of California. Wente Vineyards has a very interesting story, they are the oldest continuously (since 1883) operated family owned vineyards and winery…
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In this episode, we review the Poppy Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands 2014. Listen now to hear what we have to say about it!
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The Edna Valley Vineyard Central Coast Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from vineyards in both the Edna Valley AVA (inside San Luis Obispo County, about 1/2 between L.A and S.F.) and the Monterey County AVA, both inside the Central Coast AVA. Edna Valley Vineyards were one of the pioneers of the Edna Valley AVA (founded in 1982)…
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The Wishing Tree Unoaked Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from higher elevation vineyards in the Adelaide District (Barossa, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, and Adelaide Hills) of South Australia. The South Australia growing region provides over 50% of the wine produced in Australia and the vineyards are located not far from the coastline. The reason high elevation vineyards…
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The Noble Vines 446 Chardonnay 2016 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from sustainable farmed Delicato Family Vineyards estate property in the San Bernabe AVA inside the Monterey County AVA below the Monterey Bay in the Central Coast AVA of California. Noble Vines is one of Delicato Family Vineyards (family owned since the 1920s with vineyards in Lodi,…
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The 90+ Cellars Mendocino Chardonnay Lot 122 2016 is a negociant wine sourced from vineyards in the Mendocino AVA, located north of Sonoma and west of Napa in Northern California. A negociant (a French term) buys surplus wine from mainstream wineries and sells these wines at a discount. Because the wines are exactly the same as…
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The Jacob’s Creek Classic Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from vineyards in South Eastern Australia, which is a huge grape growing area that encompasses most of Australia’s main growing districts. Jacob’s Creek is one of Australia’s oldest wineries, the first vineyard was planted (in Barossa) in 1847 and the first vintage was released in 1850. This is…
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The Ste Michelle Vineyards Columbia Valley Chardonnay 2016 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in different sections of the Columbia Valley in Washington. Ste Michelle Vineyards is the original name for Chateau Ste Michelle when they released their first vintage 50 years ago. The label is an accurate updating of those very first labels, I actually…
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The Hacienda Methode Champenois Brut California Sparkling Wine is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. This is one of Bronco Wines (yes, the 2 Buck Chuck folks) over 100 wine brand labels, they have 18 different Sparkling wine labels. Bronco wines is a huge operation and virtually all…
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The Expo Russian River Chardonnay 2015 is a $9.99 custom private label wine found at Whole Foods. The custom winery that produced the Expo Chard specializes in more upscale private label wine, here the grapes are sourced from the Russian River Valley AVA (Sonoma County, California) one of the elite Chardonnay growing areas in California and the label…
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The Sienna Glen Chardonnay 2016 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA and produced for ALDI by a winery located in Hopland, Ca. If you Google “Hopland Ca wineries” you can figure out who made the Sienna Glen. The back label says some of the wine saw…
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The Korbel Russian River Valley Natural 2013 is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with 75% of the grapes grown in Korbel estate vineyards in the Russian River AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. This is a vintage dated wine, most Bubbly in this price range (around $16) are non-vintage wines, using wine…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Rose’ is a $9.99 limited edition Trader’ Joe’s exclusive produced from a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier grown in vineyards in the North Coast AVA which includes Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa, and Lake County, all of which are north of San Francisco in Northern California. The TJ’s Reserve…
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The Novellum Chardonnay 2016 is one of Eric Solomon’s European Cellars Selection family of wines, produced by Domaine Lafage in the Côtes Catalanes district of the Roussillon growing region along the Mediterranean Ocean near the French border with Spain. Mentioning the importer is especially important with wines from France, Italy, and Spain, because the leading importers, in…
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The Ernest Rapeneau Brut Champagne is a $10.99 Trader Joe’s import Bubbly (this is a half bottle, 375 ml, standard bottles are 750 ml), this is a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier, and 20% Chardonnay grown in vineyards thru-out the Champagne AOC. Ernest Rapeneau is a 2nd generation, family owned Champagne House founded in…
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The Clos du Bois Lightly Effervescent Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The “Lightly Effervescent” in the title indicates this Chardonnay has some bubbles, it’s not a full-on Sparkling wine/Bubbly, bit it does bubble up your glass (they recommend a regular White wine glass, no fancy stems are…
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The California Roots Chardonnay 2016 is Targets 5 dollar answer to Trader Joe’s 2 Buck Chuck. It’s a little bit more expensive than Charles Shaw wines ( $2.99 in Illinois) and that $2.01 may be well spent. There may well be a too low price for wine, especially Red wine. Many White grape wines, Pinot Grigio,…
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The Let’s Drink Chardonnay 2016 is an ALDI $6.99 import wine, sourced from vineyards in South Australia. South Australia is a huge growing region that produces about half of Australia’s wine output. The climates vary greatly, there are areas that reach over 100 degrees in the heat of summer to cool coastal regions. As a matter…
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The Ava Grace Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The name Ava means “life” in Hebrew and an AVA is the initials for American Viticultural Area which indicates the land boundaries for American wine regions. Ava Grace is one of the many brands for The Wine Group , who are the…
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The A By Acacia Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Acacia Vineyards (founded 1979) is a well-respected vineyard and winery located in the Carneros AVA (Carneros is half in Sonoma and half in Napa). A By Acacia is their value price wine brand and Acacia itself is part…
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The Parducci Small Lot Mendocino County Chardonnay 2015 is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA which is located in the North Coast AVA of California. Mendocino County is north of Sonoma and west and north of Napa. Parducci was founded 85 years ago and is the oldest family owned and operated winery in Mendocino…
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The Big Churn Chardonnay 2015 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California AVA. TJ’s wines rarely have a great deal of technical information attached to them and the Big Churn is no different. But the main thing to know about the Big Churn is the producers “goal was the oakiest,…
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