The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Ynez Valley GSM 2022 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive. The blend is 47% Mourvedre, 34% Syrah, and 19% Grenache, so it is an MSG blend. The Santa Ynez Valley is located in southern Santa Barbara County, between 2 mountain ranges. The western part of the valley gets cool Pacific…
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The Dearly Beloved I Thee Red Lodi 2021 sells for $7.99 at Trader Joe’s stores and seems to sell for as high as $14 in places that TJ’s does not cover. This is a wine that returns to Trader Joe’s vintage after vintage. We typically review the latest version of this Red Blend at this…
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The Bay Moon Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s wine and is the same price as it was in 2012 when we first reviewed this brand. In places where there are no Trader Joe’s stores, this wine can sell for $11.99. The back label mentions this wine was “vinted and bottled by” Trader…
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The Z Alexander Brown Uncaged Proprietary Red Blend 2020 is a wine I found for $12 at a local wine shop. It is a collaboration between musician Zac Brown and John Killebrew, the winemaker for Delicato Family Vineyards, the makers of Gnarly Head and Coppola wines. Proprietary Blend indicates that the blend is unique to…
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Strap in and prepare for a wine mystery that rivals any detective novel! It’s your affable guide, Domain Dave, and today, I’m taking you on a journey through Costco’s wine aisle to uncover the story behind a puzzling blend – the McLean Vineyard’s Love, a red blend. We’re talking questions without answers, a winery that…
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The McClean Vineyards Love Red Blend is a non-vintage Red Blend that sells for $13.89 at Costco. The price on the internet varies from $15 to $27. McClean Vineyards no longer has a webpage and they have not updated their social media in 6 months to over a year. This wine seems like a close-out…
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The JaM Cellars Butter Chardonnay 2021 is 100% Chardonnay and is a wine I found at Costco selling for $9.99 and is found on the web for 13 to $17. The JaM in the name stands for John and Michele Truchard. John is a second-generation California winemaker his father owns Truchard Vineyards in Napa. In…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2021 is a $9.99 TJ’s exclusive. The back label says this Red was “vinted and bottled by Healdsburg Wine Cellars.” That is a division of Delicato Family Wines, they make Gnarlyhead wines, along with many other brands. They recently purchased Coppola WInes and also have holdings in Napa….
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The Caretaker Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive bottled for them by Miller Family Wines. Bottled for them means just that, they officially bottled the wine, and who knows who did the rest. Miller Family Wines are the parent company of the Central Coast Wine Warehouse which 10 to 15…
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The Trader Joe’s Grower’s Reserve Red Wine 2021 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine is produced for Trader Joe’s by ASV Wines who have been in business since 1982 and own several sustainably farmed vineyards in the Central Coast AVA and an organic vineyard in southern Monterey County where they grow Cabernet Sauvignon…
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The Hahn Appellation Series Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir 2020 is sourced from a single Estate vineyard the Ste—Philippe in the Arroyo Seco AVA inside the Monterey AVA again inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Arroyo Seco translates to “dry creek” and is south of the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. Hahn Estate Wines was founded…
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The High Guard Chardonnay 2021 Trader Joe’s is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. It is produced for them by a family-owned winery located in Napa Valley, though the grapes are from California. A wine produced from grapes grown in California must show California as the place of origin f the grapes are not from one…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Barbara Syrah 2021 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive. This Syrah is produced by the Miller Family Wine Company they are a fifth-generation wine company that owns 1,500 acres of vineyards in Paso Robles. They are also part of Thornhill Companies which own the acclaimed Bien Nacido and French Camp…
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The Lindquist Family Bien Nacido Chardonnay 2020 is sourced from a single block (Block L) of the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard located inside the Santa Maria AVA which is part of the Santa Barbara AVA in California’s Central Coast AVA. Bien Nacido Vineyard has been called one of the best 5 vineyards in California, the…
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The Sea Sun California Chardonnay 2021 is sourced from three AVAs, 52% Monterey, 3% San Benito County (inside the Central Coast AVA), and 45% Soldano County, (southeast of Napa inside the North Coast AVA). Sea Sun is one of the brands from the Wagner Family (Caymus) with a history in California dating back to the…
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The Red Cloak Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir 2021 is an $11.99 Aldi exclusive made for them by a winery located in Greenfield, California (Monterey County). Arroyo Seco translates to dry creek, (there is also a Dry Creek AVA in Sonoma). It is part of the Salinas River Valley which runs north/south along the Pacific Coast….
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The Zombie Zin is a non-vintage wine that is 95% Zinfandel and 5% Syrah sourced from vineyards in several locations in California. Zombie is a brand from Chateau Diana a family-owned and operated winery started in 1981 and is located in Sonoma. Zombie Zin may be a brand that was produced to take advantage of…
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The Dearly Beloved I The Red 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s wine sourced from vineyards in California’s Central Coast AVA. There are 3 wines in the Dearly Beloved line, another Red with a different blend of grapes from California and a North Coast Chardonnay. These wines are made by Precept Wine, the largest privately…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Paso Robles Cabernet Franc 2021 is a Trader Joe’s limited release exclusive. It is produced for Trader Joe’s by the Miller Family Wine Company which also makes Trader Joe’s Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc, also from Paso Robles grapes. The Miller Family Wine Company also owns the Central Coast Wine Warehouse…
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The Exquisite Collection Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a $13.99 Aldi wine exclusive. The Exquisite Collection is essentially Aldi’s version of the Trader Joe’s Reserve wines. Wines from the high-end growing regions at a bargain price. Paso Robles is located inside California’s Central Coast AVA and is halfway between Los Angeles and San Fransico….
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The Sunny With A Chance Of Flowers Chardonnay 2019 is one of the new “fitness” wines with zero sugar, 85 calories, 9% alcohol content, gluten-free, and sustainably farmed. This is one of the brands from Scheid Family Vineyards from the Monterey AVA on the Central Coast of California. This Chardonnay is sourced from Scheid’s sustainably…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Santa Lucia Highlands is situated in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains, a coastal range located near Big Sur and the Monterey Bay inside the Monterey AVA of California’s Central Coast AVA. The Santa Lucia Highlands is a…
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The Outlander Meritage Red 2019 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles, California. This wine was produced by Coppola Winery from Sonoma California and was purchased the last year by Delicato Family Vineyards, headquartered in Lodi. A Meritage Red blend is a California wine that uses the approved grapes of the…
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The Scarlet Path Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2020 is an $8.99 Aldi exclusive, it used to be $7.99, but things cost more now. This wine is made for Aldi by a wine company in Greenfield, California, inside the Monterey AVA in the Central Coast AVA. A family-owned winery in Greenfield produces many of the California…
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The Angeline California Pinot Noir 2020 is the second brand of wine from the Martin Ray Winery of the Russian River AVA in Sonoma. While the Martin Ray brand wines are expressions of the AVA or a single vineyard or two, the Angeline wines are more about the varietal. Martin Ray Winery was originally in…
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