The Coppola Diamond Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2013 is 90.6% Sauvignon Blanc, 6% Chardonnay and 3.5% Semillon (Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon are the White wine blend of Bordeaux) sourced from vineyards in the Alexander Valley AVA and Sonoma County AVA, both sub-AVA’s of the Sonoma County AVA and the Lake County AVA (north of Napa)….
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The Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 is 94.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Merlot and 0.2 Cabernet Franc sourced from Kendall Jackson estate vineyards (about 2/3’s from Alexander Valley and the rest from Knights Mountain) in Sonoma County, California. The grapes selected are in the top 7% of all grapes grown on KJ’s…
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The 2012 Gnarly Head Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in Monterey, the North Coast AVA (includes Mendocino, Napa Valley, Sonoma And Lake County) as well as vines from Lodi. Delicato Family Vineyards, the makers of Gnarly Head as well as BraZin, Bota Box and others is located in Lodi, California. The name Gnarly…
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The 2012 DeLoach Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage Reserve is sourced from sustainably farmed grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. DeLoach was founded in 1975 in the Russian River Valley of the Sonoma AVA and the Heritage Reserve line is their value wine. DeLoach is part of the Boisset Family Vineyards group of…
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The 2012 PoiZin California Zinfandel is 75% Zinfandel, 19% Petite Sirah and 6% Grenache sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. There are actually 2 different PoiZin bottlings, this one, sourced from California vineyards, which has the black skull and crossbones on the label (should sell for a little over $10) and the…
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The 2012 Steppingstone North Coast Rocks White is a blend of Chardonnay and Muscat Canelli (the exact percentages for the blend is their little secret). The North Coast AVA incorporates 46 sub AVA’s, which include Napa Valley, Mendocino, Sonoma Coast among others. Muscat Canelli is an ancient grape varietal and is the grape all the…
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The 2012 Line 39 North Coast Petite Sirah is sourced from grapes grown in vineyards in the North Coast AVA. The North Coast AVA is located north of San Francisco and includes Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and 43 other AVA’s. Petite Sirah (also known as Durif) is a hybrid created in France in the 1800s, a…
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The 2012 VINTJS Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Dry Creek Valley is one of Sonoma’s sub–AVA’s and they have been growing Zinfandel here since the 1880s and many of these old Zinfandel vineyards are still in operation, often still owned by the original families. Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel tend to…
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The 2012 ONEHOPE Chardonnay is sourced from vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and the Central Coast AVA, with Muscat and Chenin Blanc added to the Chardonnay. Robert Mondavi JR is the winemaker, this Chardonnay sees some sort of oak aging and the alcohol content is 13.5%. The 2012 vintage was an outstanding year for California wines….
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The 2011 ONEHOPE Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and the Central Coast AVA in California. The winemaker is Robert Mondavi, Jr., this Pinot is aged in American oak and the alcohol content is 13.5%. That is a sampling of the technical details, but that is not the most important thing about the…
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The 2011 St Francis White Splash is a blend of Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Roussanne and Pinot Grigio along with lesser amounts of Malvasia and Marsanne sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. St Francis established its vineyard in 1971 and open the winery in 1979, they specialize in Sonoma based wines, White…
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The Darkhorse Big Red Blend 01A is something that I have not come across before, a bottle of wine usually says something like California or Chile on the label, or maybe something more specific like Sonoma or Maule Valley as a source for the grapes. The Darkhorse Big Red Blend 01A is made from grapes…
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The 2012 Coppola Director’s Cut Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc is 100% Sauvignon Blanc sourced from a long term contracted grower in the Alexander Valley sub-AVA of Sonoma County, California. The Alexander Valley (the Russian River flows thru the center of the valley) is, during the day, one of the warmest grape growing areas in Northern…
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The 2011 Rickshaw Cabernet Sauvignon is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc sourced from vineyards in Napa Valley, Sonoma, Paso Robles and Mendocino. Rickshaw Wines are sourced from up to 24 different lots of grapes (different vineyards, different sections of a vineyard, aged for varying times in new or used oak barrels),…
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The 2011 Chateau St Jean California Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from vineyards in Santa Barbara and Paso Robles in the Central Coast AVA and vineyards in Sonoma to Lake County in the North Coast AVA. Chateau St Jean is known for their high-end Estate wines, but the this is their entry level Cabernet Sauvignon and…
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The 2012 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Russian River Pinot Noir Lot 22 is one of the rare Trader Joe’s exclusive wines that is priced above $9.99, this Pinot is $12.99. The Lot 22 designation on the label is new, are there other Lot’s of TJ’s Russian River Pinots in the pipeline? The Russian River AVA…
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The 2012 Castle Rock Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Castle Rocks 3 AVA specific Cabernets, the other two are sourced from Napa Valley or the Columbia Valley in Washington State. Castle Rock owns no vineyards and does not have its own winery facilities, instead they have long term relationships with grape growers in…
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The 2011 Bogle Vineyards California Pinot Noir is sourced from contracted vineyards in the Russian River Valley AVA (inside Sonoma County) and the Monterey AVA along with Bogle Estate grown grapes from the Clarksburg AVA (southwest of Sacramento and west of Lodi). Bogle is a 6th generation family owned winery with extensive vineyard holdings in…
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The 2011 Coppola Diamond Collection Black Label Claret (Claret is the term used in England for Red wine blends from Bordeaux, France) is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc sourced from Coppola Estate vineyards in Sonoma as well a long term contracted vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and El Dorado AVA’s…
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The 2010 Red Rock Reserve Merlot is sourced from vineyards in several California grape growing AVA’s, but mainly from Sonoma, with Monterey and Napa providing most of the rest. Red Rock is one of E & J Gallo’s 60 brands of wines and spirits. Gallo has extensive vineyard holdings in Sonoma as well as other…
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The 2010 Lucky Star Chardonnay is 95% Chardonnay and 5% Muscat (one of the oldest known grape varietals) sourced from multiple vineyards in the Lodi AVA, Sonoma, Lake County AVA and the Central Coast AVA. Lucky Star is a virtual winery (this is very common in California), they do not own their own vineyards or their…
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The Rack & Riddle Blanc de Blanc (White from White, meaning White wine made from Chardonnay grapes) is a non vintage Bubbly sourced from contracted vineyards in California’s North Coast AVA. The North Coast AVA encompasses 6 counties and 47 AVA’s, including Napa Valley, Sonoma and Mendocino. Rack & Riddle is a custom Sparkling wine…
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The 2010 REDS “a wine for the people” Lodi Red is a blend of 60% Zinfandel, 30% Carignan (one of the main Red grapes of the Languedoc) and 10% Petite Sirah sourced from old, family owned, Heritage vineyards in the Lodi AVA, east of San Francisco Bay in California’s Central Valley. The REDS project is put…
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Ok, the 2009 Black Stallion Estate Winery Napa Valley Chardonnay does not usually sell for the $9.99, more along the lines of $18 to $20, but that is the beauty of wine shops in January, its close out time. I don’t know if this wine changed distributors or if the store had a case or…
Read MoreThe entire name of this wine is Oak Valley River Canyon Ridge by Glenn Meadows Creek Russian River Valley Chardonnay, it is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Russian River AVA which is located inside the Sonoma grape growing AVA in Northern California. This Chardonnay is produced for Trader Joe’s…
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