The McBride Sisters Hawke’s Bay Brut Rose is a non-vintage blend of 64% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and 6% Merlot vineyards located in Hawke’s Bay growing region on the North Island in New Zealand. The Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay are iconic grapes used in Champagne wines, so the uncommon addition of Merlot is an…
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The Weed Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Weed Cellars website only mentions Paso Robles as the contributing region, but the label says Central Coast (Paso Robles AVA is inside the Central Coast AVA. I would imagine most of the grapes came from Paso, but…
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The Angeline Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is sourced from vineyards in Sonoma County, primarily the Russian River Valley AVA and the Dry Creek AVA. The Angeline brand is one of the Martin Ray Vineyards and Winery family of wines. Martin Ray Vineyards was one of the pioneers of the single varietal Burgundian style of wine…
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The Ashokawna Russian River Chardonnay 2018 is an $8.99 Aldi exclusive. The Russian River Valley AVA is in western Coastal Sonoma County. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west of the Russian River Valley AVA. The Russian River Valley runs north/south parallel to the coast. The river originally flowed east/ west until a cataclysmic event thousands…
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The Legende Bordeaux Rouge 2017 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot sourced from AOC designated vineyards in the Bordeaux region of France. The Legende brand is Domaines Barons de Rothschild’s (Lafite) line of export wines. Legende line includes wines from the major Bordeaux region and the top-of-the-line wine from Rothschild’s own…
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The Tenebres GSM 2019 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in France’s Languedoc region. The name Tenebres translates to “Darkness.” A GSM Red blend is a wine that originated in the Southern Rhone Valley in France and is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. The Languedoc is the largest wine region…
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The VINTJS Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Sonoma Coast AVA runs along the California coast from San Pablo Bay to Mendocino County to the north. The Sonoma Coast AVA is located in mountainous terrain, with most of the vineyards located high up in the foothills, well above the…
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The Exquisite Collection Chardonnay 2019 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in California and that is the extent of what I know about this wine. The Exquisite Collection line of wine is basically the ALDI equivalent to Trader Joe’s Reserve wines. Special wine deals happened upon that year, and they pass the savings…
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The Troublemaker by Austin Hope 13 is not your ordinary Red blend. For one, the 13 stands for the thirteenth edition; this is a non-vintage wine. It is a blend of grapes from three different vintages. Hope Family Wines has been in Paso Robles inside the Central Coast AVA of California, making wine for more…
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The Painted Wolf The Den Chenin Blanc 2019 is part of The Den line of wines from the family-owned Painted Wolf Winery of Swartland, South Africa. The Den is their line of every day easy to drink wines. The name Painted Wolf is a reference to the endangered indigenous wild dogs that once roamed freely….
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The Bortolomiol Bandarossa Prosecco 2019 is an extra dry, DOCG-designated, vintage-dated Prosecco from a family-owns winery with roots dating back to the mid-1800s. The central Prosecco region in Veneto is rated a DOC, but a section in the middle of Prosecco called Valdobbiadene is where the DOCG wines are located. The Italian wine authority ranks…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Oak Knoll Zinfandel 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Oak Knoll AVA inside Napa Valley. This is a one-off wine; when it sells out, it is gone for good, so if you like it, buy all you need. Oak Knoll is located in the…
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Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, a Sparkling wine made from the Pinot Noir grape sourced from vineyards in Napa Valley. There are a couple of odd details concerning the Lakeville Napa Valley Brut Róse. First, if you look at the title, the “o” in Rose has the punctuation,…
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The Tribunal North Coast Red 2018 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. A blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Barbera, and Grenache. The North Coast AVA includes Napa, Sonoma, Lake County, Mendocino, and Marin Counties, and Solano County. The Tribunal North Coast Red 2018 has been a Trader Joe’s wine for at least a…
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The Vintjs Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in Napa County in Northern California. The Vintjs brand and the Vintjs Napa Sauvignon Blanc have been around for over a decade, which is good staying power for a store brand. It seems the same Napa winery has been…
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The Evanta Malbec 2019 is a $4.49 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in Argentina’s Mendoza region. Considering that Aldi had to pay an importer and ship the wine from Argentina, this Malbec falls well within Charles Shaw/Two Buck Chuck range. The Evanta Malbec 2019 is a store brand (Aldi), and store brands have price advantages…
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The Love Noir Pinot Noir 2018 is one of the new, bolder styles of Pinot Noir sourced from grapes farmed in several regions of California. This Pinot Noir is one of The Wine Group’s families of wines. Love Noir Pinot Noir 2018, as a brand wine, is not tied to a single winery. Brand wines…
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The Burgans Albariño 2019 is sourced from vineyards in the Rias-Baixas DO in northwest Spain’s upper corner. This White wine is made by Bodegas Martín Códax, a wine collective formed in 1986. Collectives or communes are common in Spain. Bodegas Martín Códax has 600 members, all small farmers with relatively small vineyards. One of the…
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The Peachy Canyon Lodi Zinfandel 2017 can be found at Trader Joe’s for $7.99. This is a mystery wine since it does not show up on Peachy Canyon’s website or have much of a web presence. Peachy Canyon Winery, founded in 1988, is located in the Paso Robles AVA inside California’s Central Coast AVA. It…
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The Beurré Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine; a Pays D’Oc designated wine from the Languedoc in southeastern France. The Languedoc is the largest wine-producing area in France, and this is where French everyday drink-it-now wines are produced. Beurré is French for butter, and most of the writing on the front label…
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The Aviary Birds of Prey Red Blend 2018 is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Malbec sourced from vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties. The Aviary line of wines is one of the Folktale Wine Group brands of wine; here is a link to their website for more…
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The Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is sourced from estate vineyards planted in the flat land of the Wairau River Valley in the Marlborough district in the Northeast of the South Island in New Zealand. Allan Scott founded his winery in 1990 but has been part of the New Zealand wine industry since the early…
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The Castor and Pollux Pinot Noir 2019 is a $6.99 Aldi import wine from the Languedoc growing region of Southeastern France. The Languedoc is the largest wine region in France and this is the area that supplies a great deal of the every-day wines that the French drink every-day. I know that many Americans think…
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The Aiolas Red Blend 2019 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, a DOC designated wine from the Dão region of Portugal. TJ’s does not offer any information concerning this Red blend. This is somewhat unfortunate since the wines of Portugal tend to be unique. they often use indigenous grapes such as Touriga Franca or Tinta…
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The Légende Pauillac Bordeaux 2016 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot sourced from Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards in the Pauillac AOC inside the Haut-Medoc AOC on the Left Bank or westside of the river in the Bordeaux region of France. The Légende line of Rothschild (Lafite) is their drink-it-now export brand. It…
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