The 90+ Cellars Mendocino Chardonnay Lot 122 2016 is a negociant wine sourced from vineyards in the Mendocino AVA, located north of Sonoma and west of Napa in Northern California. A negociant (a French term) buys surplus wine from mainstream wineries and sells these wines at a discount. Because the wines are exactly the same as…
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The Forty Ounce Rose’ 2017 is a blend of 53% Gamay, 33% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Pineau d’Aunis sourced from vineyards in the Muscadet and Touraine regions of the Loire Valley in France. Gamay is the grape used in the making of Beaujolais and Pineau d’Aunis is a very old French grape that was…
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The Fiction Paso Robles Red Blend 2015 is a blend of 48% Zinfandel, 15% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre, 8% Graciano (a grape usually grown in Rioja, Spain), 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Touriga Nacional (maybe the best known grape from Portugal), and 3% Carignan (a grape best known from southern France and northern Spain) sourced from 8 carefully…
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The Evodia Garnacha 2016 is 100% Garnacha sourced from 40 to 100 year old vines located in the Calatayud DO inside the Aragon district of northeast Spain. Evodia is one of big-time importer Eric Solomon of European Cellars wines and this one of CWF’s personal favorites, we have write-ups on the 2008, 2010, and the 2013 vintage…
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The Maison Barboulot Marsanne-Viognier 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards near the Black Mountains in the Languedoc region of Southeast France (along the Mediterranean Ocean). Maison Barboulot is a brand name, there is no Maison Barboulot estate and the label is faux French. It is actual French writing, but none of…
Read MoreThe Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is, of course, a Trader Joe’s $2.99 (in Chicago) exclusive, June of 2018 will mark the 16th year of Chuck and Joe’s relationship. I must admit to not being a 2 Buck Chuck fan, there are other very inexpensive wines at TJ’s that I prefer (the LaGranja 360 wines in…
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The La Jaglerie Rose’ D’Anjou 2016 is 80% Grolleau and 20% Cabernet Franc sourced from the Anjou AOP of the middle Loire Valley located south and west of Paris in France. The Loire Valley runs for 300 miles along the Loire River with vineyards along the hillsides on both sides of the river. The Anjou region,…
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The Artezin Mendocino County Zinfandel 2016 is 84% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, and 2% Carignan sourced from well-respected old vine family owned vineyards in the warmer Ukiah Valley section of Mendocino County. Mendocino is north of Sonoma and much of the growing area is under the cooling influence of the Pacific Ocean which is great for a grape…
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The La Croix de Maunay Vouvray 2016 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Vouvray (inside the Loire Valley growing area) is located south and west of Paris and the vineyards are situated along the Loire River and boundaries are defined by 8 villages, Vouvray being the most important. The grape they grow in Vouvray is…
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The Santa Julia Winemaker’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from sustainably farmed Estate high altitude vineyards (3,130 to 4,600 feet) located in the Uco Valley in the south-west corner of the Mendoza region of Argentina. The vineyards are on the east side of the Andes Mountains, the vineyards in Chile are on the…
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The 100 Mile Red Blend Lodi 2016 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Normally, when TJ’s has a wine made for them they try to hide which winery produced it, in their Fearless Flyer they left clues hiding in plain sight. It’s a Lodi winery, the oldest winery still operating, founded in 1934, which makes…
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The Velvet Devil Merlot 2015 is 84% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% “other” sourced from 7 sustainable farmed vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. To be technical, this could be called a Bordeaux blend or in the US a Meritage blend since it uses 4 of…
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The Ste Michelle Vineyards Columbia Valley Chardonnay 2016 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in different sections of the Columbia Valley in Washington. Ste Michelle Vineyards is the original name for Chateau Ste Michelle when they released their first vintage 50 years ago. The label is an accurate updating of those very first labels, I actually…
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The La Joie du Boeuf Ventoux 2014 is 100% Grenache sourced from organic vineyards in the Ventoux AOP on the foothills of Mount Ventoux in the Rhone Valley of southeast France. La Joie du Boeuf translates to “joy of beef” and has a happy cow frolicking on a sunny day in a field of flowers on the…
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The Hacienda Methode Champenois Brut California Sparkling Wine is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. This is one of Bronco Wines (yes, the 2 Buck Chuck folks) over 100 wine brand labels, they have 18 different Sparkling wine labels. Bronco wines is a huge operation and virtually all…
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The Brooks Runaway Red Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2016 is sourced from 10 practicing biodynamic vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Biodynamic farming goes beyond organic farming practices, they make vineyard decisions based on the phases of the moon, they plant complimentary shrubs and flowers in the vineyard that attract the insects that feed on…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Monterey County Pinot Noir 2014 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by ASV Wines sourced from a single vineyard (according to TJ’s Fearless Flyer) in the Monterey County AVA inside of California’s Central Coast AVA. Normally, who made these Trader Joe’s exclusive wines are a well-kept secret, but here,…
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The Cline Old Vines Lodi Zinfandel 2015 is sourced from 70 to 50 year old vines in vineyards along the Mokelumne River in the delta section of the Lodi AVA in California’s Central Coast AVA. Lodi is south and east of Napa Valley. Cline is a family owned operation, founded in the early 1980s, with properties…
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The Aime La Vie! Syrah Grenache Rose’ 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of south-eastern France, along the Mediterranean Ocean and just north of Spain. Aime La Vie! translates to “love the life”, you usually see J’Aime La Vie which means “the life I love”. This Rose’…
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The Death Metal Red Vol.1 2016 is a private label wine blend found at Whole Foods for $8.99 and sourced from vineyards in the Castilla-LaMancha growing area of central Spain. This wine does not exist on the internet, that’s not uncommon for private label wines since part of the reason for their existence is to remove…
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The Hahn GSM Central Coast 2016 is a blend of 71% Grenache (mainly from vineyards in the Arroyo Secco AVA), 22% Syrah (mainly from vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA), and 7% Mourvedre sourced from vineyards in the San Benito AVA, the Contra Costa AVA, and the Paso Robles AVA, all inside the Central Coast…
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The Velvet Moon Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. The Velvet Moon Cabernet is part of a line of wines with “Moon” in the title made for TJ’s by a leading Lodi, Ca. winery. They feature well-known grape varietals and sell…
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The Korbel Russian River Valley Natural 2013 is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with 75% of the grapes grown in Korbel estate vineyards in the Russian River AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA in Northern California. This is a vintage dated wine, most Bubbly in this price range (around $16) are non-vintage wines, using wine…
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The Michael David Sixth Sense Syrah 2015 is Syrah with a little bit of Petite Sirah added, grown in vineyards in the Lodi AVA, which is south and east of Napa Valley. The Michael David in the title are the Phillips brothers, they are the 5th generation of Phillips to work these lands (the 6th generation…
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The Apothic Sparkling Winemaker’s Blend is a limited release, non-vintage Sparkling wine sourced from vineyards in California. Apothic is one of E & J Gallo (largest family owned winery in the US) multitude of wine labels. The Apothic Sparkling, $12 in Chicago and for some reason $23 on Amazon wine, this is I believe the first…
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