The Coppola Director’s Sonoma County Chardonnay 2010 is sourced from multiple vineyards located thru out Sonoma County, sort of the best of Sonoma. Coppola also produces the Director’s Cut Chardonnay and that bottling focuses on two sections of the Russian River Valley which is located inside Sonoma County. Together they are a micro and macro…
Read MoreThe LePlan Classic Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2010 is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah sourced from vineyards in the Southern Rhone Valley. The winery is owned by Dirk Vermeersch an ex-GT race car driver from Belgium. His wines are true to the Rhone Valley, but there are no Domaine this or Chateau…
Read MoreThe 2010 Mark West California Pinot Noir was sourced mainly from vineyards in Central Coast AVA (primarily Monterey and Santa Barbara) along with grapes from Mendocino, Sonoma County and Lodi grape growing AVA’s. Then to give the wine a little extra shine, they blend in Pinot Noir from their more expensive bottlings, 5% from Santa…
Read MoreThe 2010 Trapiche Varietals Malbec is sourced from several vineyards in the Mendoza grape growing region of Argentina. Trapiche was founded in 1883, in 2002 they were purchased by a US investment bank and their facilities were updated at that time, Trapiche is the leading exporter of Argentinean wines. The Trapiche line includes 11 different…
Read MoreThe 2011 Grecante Grechetto dei Colli Martani is 100% Grechetto grown on Arnold-Capri Estate vineyards on the Colli Martani DOC located on the left bank of the Tiber River in the Montefalco region of Umbria in Central Italy. The Grechetto grape made one of the most popular wines during the Renaissance and in Montefalco it was a…
Read MoreThe 2011 Noble Vines 446 Chardonnay is a single vineyard, single vineyard section (maybe), single Chardonnay grape clone wine, that just happens to list for $12.99. Nobles Vines is one of the many labels produced by Delicato Family Vineyards and the grapes are sourced from Block 46 of Delicato Family Vineyards 5,000 acre San Bernabe…
Read MoreThe 2010 Frescobaldi Remole Toscana is a blend of 85% Sangiovese and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several vineyards of Tuscany in Central Italy. Frescobaldi is a family owned winery that has been operating for 700 years and 30 generations. This is a Super Tuscan wine, which is Sangiovese blended with French varietal grapes. Super…
Read MoreThe 2011 Attems Pinot Grigio is sourced from vineyards in the Collio Goriziano area of Venezia Giulia in Italy. Venezia Giulia is in the Northeast corner of Italy, near the Alps and the area is a mix of German, Slovakian and Italian influences. This is an IGT designated wine, which is similar to Vin de Pays…
Read MoreThe 2011 Gnarly Head Pinot Grigio was mainly sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA of California, and a small proportion of the grapes came from Delicato Family Vineyards (Gnarly Head is their label) premium San Bernabe Vineyard (to give the wine a little extra shine) in Monterey. The front label lists California as the…
Read MoreThe 2010 Santa Carolina Reserva Pinot Noir ($8.99) is sourced from vineyards in the Maule Valley of Chile’s Central Vally. Santa Carolina has been in business since 1875. The Central Valley is the largest of Chile’s wine regions and it is located directly on the other side of the Andes Mountains from the Mendoza growing region…
Read MoreThe 2009 Emerald Bay Cabernet Sauvignon is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot sourced from grapes grown in several vineyards in California’s Central Coast AVA. Emerald Bay is the value entry level label for Chateau Julien, a family owned and operated winery since 1982, located in Carmel in the Monterey AVA. There isn’t a fancy…
Read MoreThe 2011 Le Vigne di Alice DOCG Extra Dry Prosecco is sourced from Glera grapes grown in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG (the area where the best Glera grapes are grown) of Italy. Le Vigne di Alice is a women owned and operated boutique winery and their motto is “Life is a Bubble”. This is a…
Read MoreThe 2011 Fat Cat Pinot Noir is 88% Pinot Noir, 9% Segalin (a cross between a grape from the south of France and a grape grown in Germany, used to give the wine some added body) and 3% Dry Red grapes (they must be really obscure grapes, it Segalin made the list and these didn’t)…
Read MoreThe 2009 Paul Jaboulet Parallele 45 Blanc is a White Blend containing 50% Grenache Blanc (one of the main White grapes of the Cotes du Rhone), 20% Marsanne, 20% Viognier and 10% Bourboulenc (a White blending grape from the south of France, gives the wine body and smoky citrus flavors) grown in vineyards in the…
Read MoreThe 2010 Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chardonnay is sourced from Rodney Strong’s estate grown vineyards as well as contracted vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and the Sonoma Coastal region. 60% of the Chardonnay was fermented and then aged for 5 months in French and American oak barrels and this portion also underwent…
Read MoreThe Pierre Delize Blanc de Blanc Brut is a non vintage Sparkling wine produced in Burgundy, France. It was bottled by Veuve Ambal, a Sparkling wine producer located in Beaune, Burgundy, but this seems to be a private/custom label and is not listed on their website. This Bubbly is a “ Vin Mousseux,” which translates…
Read MoreThe 2010 Maryhill Rose’ of Sangiovese is sourced from the Tudor Hills Vineyard in the Yakima Valley AVA inside the Columbia Valley AVA in Washington. In Tuscany, Sangiovese is the grape used to create Chianti, to be called a Chianti, the wine must contain a minimum of 80% Sangiovese grapes. To describe it in simple terms, a…
Read MoreThe Stark Raving Red is a non vintage blend of 34% Tannat, 28% Zinfandel, 18% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petite Sirah and 6% Other (why do they just say “other,” it’s not a field blend, they know what grapes they purchased) sourced from 80% Central Coast AVA and 20% Lodi AVA (which is inside…
Read MoreThe 2010 Hermanos Lurton Rueda Verdejo is 85% Verdejo, 10% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Viura (also known as Macabeo, which is one of the 3 grapes traditionally used to make Cava) grown in the Rueda DO inside of Castilla y León region in Spain. They have been growing Verdejo in Rueda since the 11th century and…
Read MoreThe 2010 The Original Darkhorse Chardonnay is $7.99 Trader Joe’s wine, but it does not seem to be a TJ’s exclusive and is available on the web for the same price. The Original Darkhorse is one of E & J Gallo’s 58 brands. I have high hopes for this Chardonnay, we posted the Darkhorse Cabernet…
Read MoreThe 2010 Wente Vineyards Morning Fog Chardonnay is sourced from Wente Estate vineyards located in Livermore Valley AVA and the San Francisco Bay AVA of California’s Central Coast AVA. Wente Vineyards is the oldest continuously family owned and operated winery in America (founded in 1883). In 1913, Ernest Wente imported Chardonnay vines from France and…
Read MoreThe 2010 flipflop Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. Seeing “California”, and not a particular AVA on the front label as the grapes place of origin is usually not a good sign when it comes to Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir grapes are hard to grow and…
Read MoreThe 2010 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, primarily Monterey County. The front label says California which indicates the grapes can be sourced from more than one AVA, but only Central Coast grapes were used and the 2011 label has been redesigned and now shows Central…
Read More$2.69, that’s right a $2.69 California Cabernet Sauvignon. The Winking Owl Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage Aldi’s exclusive, Aldi’s is the parent company of Trader Joe’s and while Bronco Wines produces their low end wine, Charles Shaw (2 Buck Chuck, actually $2.99 in Illinois), Aldi’s bargain wine, Winking Owl, is produced by E & J…
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