The Frey Vineyards Natural White Organic Table whine is a non-vintage blend of Chenin Blanc (grown in certified organic vineyards in Butte County, which is near the Sierra Foothills and is included in the Central Coast AVA) and Chardonnay (sourced from certified organic vineyards in the Mendocino AVA, Frey Vineyards is located in Mendocino). Frey…
Read MoreThe Gazela Vinho Verde is a traditional Portuguese White wine blend sourced from estate vineyards and private small farms in the Vinho Verde DO in Northwest Portugal. Vinho Verde translates to “green wine” not in terms of color, but green as in unseasoned or aged. The blend consists of mainly Loureiro, with smaller amounts of…
Read MoreThe 2010 Brassfield Estate Serenity Proprietary White Blend is 65% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Pinot Grigio and 7% Gewurztraminer sourced from sustainably grown Brassfield Estate vineyards located in the High Valley sub AVA of the Lake County AVA (just north of Napa) in Northern California. The grapes were grown, the wine was produced and bottled, all on…
Read MoreMost white Bordeauxs I’ve encountered are typically blends with the dominant grape being Sauvignon Blanc. However, this wine has quite a different mix. It is made up of 60% Semillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, and 5% Muscadelle. If you’re thinking “wait, isn’t Semillon usually a dessert wine?”, don’t worry – I had the same reaction. There…
Read MoreThe 2010 Feudo Principi di Butera Insolia is sourced from Estate vineyards in the Butera district of the Caltanissetta Province in the heart of Sicily. Insolia is an indigenous grape grown in Sicily (also in a small area of Tuscany) that in the past was one of the grapes used in making Marsala fortified wine…
Read MoreThe Zibibbo Sparkling Pink Moscato is made from the Muscat of Alexandria grape grown in the Riverland growing area of South Australia. This wine is produced by Angove Family Winery, which in the US is part of Trinchero Family Estates wines. This Moscato has very light bubbles, produced in the Charmat Method– where second fermentation…
Read MoreThe Carpene Malvolti Prosecco DOCG Extra Dry is produced from Prosecco/Glera grapes grown in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG (DOCG is the highest classification of Italian wines) inside the Veneto District in eastern Italy. Carpene Malvolti has been producing Prosecco since 1868 and they perfected the Charmat Method (second fermentation occurs in large pressurized vats, whereas…
Read MoreThe 2009 Zamarro (90%) Chenin Blanc and (10%) Torrontes is sourced from the Mendoza region of Argentina. Zamarro is a brand name, not a winery, this a brand created to be sold at Safeway (and other) grocery stores, I found it selling for $3.99 on sale at Jewel’s (Chicago’s Safeway Store). This is a wine that…
Read MoreSauvignon Blanc has always been hit or miss for me. I often find the grape a bit too acidic to truly enjoy the wine without food. However, this $13.99 bottle form the Entre Deux Mers region of Bordeaux (literally meaning between the seas) changed that for me. It is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc,…
Read MoreThe 2011 Thiery-Weber Animo Gruner Veltliner is sourced from several vineyards in the Kremstal grape growing area in northeast Austria. Gruner Veltliner is THE White grape of Austria totaling 1/3 of all the grapes planted and the wines come in many different styles from age worthy Gruner to Sparkling Gruner Veltliner, the Animo Gruner is a…
Read MoreThe Paul Mas Estates Picoul de Pinet is a single vineyard Estate wine grown near the town of Pinet overlooking a Bay on the Mediterranean in the Languedoc District in the south of France. Picoul is the grape varietal and it is one of the oldest Languedoc grapes (it is also grown in the Rhone Valley),…
Read MoreThe Jane Ventura Brut Nature Reserva Cava de La Musica is a non-vintage Sparkling wine consisting of 30% Macabeo, 30% Xarel.lo and 40% Parellada (those are the traditional, indigenous grapes that are usually used in making Cava) grown in the Penedes DO of Catalan, Spain (near Barcelona). This Cava is made with the same method used to…
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The 2011 J W Morris Gewurztraminer is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. J W Morris is one of Bronco Wines (2 Buck Chuck) multitude of wine labels. Bronco Wines is very focused on keeping production costs down so there is rarely any promotional material available on the making of their wines. I will say this…
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The Gerard Bertrand Cremant de Limoux is a French Sparkling wine consisting of 70% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin Blanc and 10% Mauzac (Mauzac is the local white grape that goes into all Limoux Bubbly) sourced from vineyards located in the Limoux AOC of the Languedoc in southern France. Limoux is where Sparkling wine was first produced…
Read MoreThe 2009 Maryhill Winemaker’s White is a blend of 35% Chardonnay, 27% Viognier, 25% Sauvignon Blanc and 13% Semillon sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington State. Maryhill Winery is family owned, was founded in 1999 and was recently named “2009 Washington State Winery of the Year”. This is a fairly small production…
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The Hacienda Brut Sparkling Wine is a non vintage Bubbly sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA, and consists of 86% Chardonnay, 8% Colombard and 6% Mixed Whites (I don’t know why they say Mixed Whites rather than just listing the grapes). This Sparkling wine is made in the Methode Champenoise, which is…
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So I used to avoid French wine because the labels were confusing and I never knew what to expect. But I decided to pick up this white from the Vielle Vigne commune in Touraine, which is a popular sub region of the Loire Valley in France. They primarily grow Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc in Touraine,…
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The 2010 Comique Révolution Blanc is a Trader Joe’s ($4.99) exclusive sourced from grapes grown in California’s Central Coast. Produced by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse, they produce several dozen wine labels, along with custom wines (and a steady stream of Trader Joe’s wines) and they own some of the best vineyards in the Central…
Read MoreThe Sokol Blosser Evolution White 15th Edition is a non-vintage blend of 9 grapes, Pinot Gris, Muller-Thurgau, White Riesling (not the same as regular Riesling), Semillon, Muscat Canelli, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sylvaner, a wild mix of French, Italian and German grape varietals. The bottle lists this blend as an American wine, which indicates…
Read MoreThe 2007 Saint-Hilaire Grand Cuvee is a Sparkling wine estate grown and bottled in the Blanquette de Limoux AOC located in the Languedoc in southwest France. In 1531, Sparkling wine/Champagne was first produced by the monks at the Abbey Saint-Hilaire, Dom Perignon wasn’t born until 1638, so Champagne was not invented in Champagne. The Sparkling…
Read MoreThe 2010 Dry Creek Chenin Blanc is 100% Chenin Blanc sourced from the Clarksburg AVA located near the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River Delta, in California. The majority of the grapes grown in Clarksburg are sold to wineries outside of Clarksburg, there are a handful of wineries working in the Clarksburg AVA, with…
Read MoreThe 2010 Panilonco Chardonnay Viognier (80% Chardonnay, 20% Viognier) is a Trader Joe’s ($4.99) exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Colchagua Valley by Vinedos Errazuriz Ovalle, the largest family owned winery in Chile. The wine is aged in stainless steel vats and the alcohol content is 13.5%. The color is a pale butter yellow….
Read MoreThe 2010 Goats in Villages Chenin Blanc/Viognier is sourced from vineyards in the Paarl wine district northwest of Cape Town in South Africa. This seems to be a special bottling made for Trader Joe’s ($7.99) by the Goats do Roam Wine Company. There is no mention of this wine on their website or the importers…
Read MoreThe Superstition Riesling/Pinot Blanc is 51% Riesling and 49% Pinot Blanc sourced from the Reinhessen region of Germany. They have been making wine in Reinhessen since Caesar came marching thru, way back when and 70% of the wines produced here come from white wine grapes. Pinot Blanc is an unstable mutation of the Pinot Noir…
Read MoreThe Jaume Serra Cristalino Extra Dry Cava is sourced from Estate vineyards in the Alt Penedes growing region in Spain. This Sparkling wine uses the traditional Cava grapes, 50% Macabeo, 35% Parellada and 15% Xarel.lo. Cava uses the same second fermentation method (that is where the bubbles are added) as Champagne and this Cava is aged for…
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