The Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2021 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from sustainably farmed Kendal Jackson Estate vineyards in Santa Barbara County, The Santa Maria County AVA (the northern boundary of the Santa Barbara AVA and Monterey County. To show Santa Barbara on the label 75% of the grapes have to be grown…
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The Don’t Mind If I Do Pinot Grigio 2022 is Vegan-friendly. You might ask how can something made from fruit not be ok with vegans? It is the fining process, fining is where the solids, grape skin residue and spent yeast are removed from the wine after aging and before bottling. They have traditionally used…
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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 Don’t Mind If I Do Red Blend 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi sort of exclusive. It is a wine that has zero sugar, 85 calories, is gluten-free, and has only 9% alcohol content. It is made for Aldi by Scheid Vineyards and family-owned operation located on the Monterey AVA. The reason I say that…
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The Joel Gott California Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is sourced from vineyards in Sonoma, Lake County, Lodi, Monterey, and Santa Barbara AVAs. Joel Gott Wines was founded in 1996 and specialized in wine from California, Washington, and California. The Joel Gott California Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is #5 on Wine Spectators’ list of top ten value wines…
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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 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 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 Don’t Mind If I Do Sparkling Wine is a $9.99 ALDI exclusive. ALDI owns the brand name and the still wines in this line are made by a family-owned winery in Monterey, California. The Sparkling wine has been made by a family-owned winery, since 1938, located in Lodi, California. They are the largest Sparkling…
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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 Rodney Strong Charlotte’s Home Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is sourced from vineyards in 38% Alexander County, 31% Dry Creek, 11% Russian River, 10% Arroyo Seco, and 2% Monterey County. For a wine to show Sonoma on the label as the place of origin for the grapes 85% of the grapes must be from Sonoma,…
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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 Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is 100% Chardonnay and has been the best-selling Chardonnay in the US for 29 years in a row. Kendall Jackson is a family-owned winery founded in 1982 and was instrumental in popularizing Chardonnay in America. The Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2020 is sourced from several California AVAs,…
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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 Velvet Moon Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in California. The wine is made for Trader Joe’s by a large family-owned winery based in Lodi and Napa. They have extensive vineyards in Lodi, Monterey, Sonoma, and other locations. These are wines available each year, here is a…
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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 Coppola Diamond Collection Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from grapes grown in coastal vineyards. It may be confusing but there seem to be three Diamond Collection Chardonnays, a black-label Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, a Monterey Chardonnay, and a California Chardonnay. The last two both have an orange label. This Chardonnay lists for $16 on the Coppola…
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The Bear Bros Rosé 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in California, but probably most, if not all, from the Monterey AVA. Bear Bros’ line of wines is made for Aldi by Scheid Family Vineyards which have multiple vineyards spread out over 70 miles of the Salinas Valley. Scheid is known for…
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The Don’t Mind If I Do Rosé 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive. This Rosé has 85 calories, Zero sugar, and 9% Alcohol content, along with being gluten-free and vegan friendly. It is produced for Aldi by Scheid Family Vineyards who are one of the pioneers of Monterey, California wine. Scheid Family has a brand…
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The Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2020 is the “entry-level” Chardonnay from Wente Vineyards, the oldest continuously operated family-owned winery in America (founded in 1883). They survived World Wars, the Depression, and Prohibition, and their story is of great significance to the entire wine industry. In 1912 Ernest Wente started working on grapevine cutting from a…
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The J Lohr Riverstone Chardonnay 2019 is a sustainably farmed wine from J Lohr Estate, family-owned vineyards, and winery in operation since the 1970s. This Chardonnay is sourced from their estate Arroyo Seco vineyards. They have been making the Riverstone Chardonnay for over 30 years. The Arroyo Seco AVA is located in the foothills of…
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Trader Joe's Reserve Chalone Pinot Noir 2020- The Best Ten Dollar Pinot Noir #2 Chalone is a 300-acre AVA 1,300 to 2,300 feet up in the Monterey coastal mountains. The soil is closer to Burgundy, France than California and the climate is all it's own. Pinot Noir from the Chalone AVA sells from $25 to…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Chalone Pinot Noir 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The interesting part of the last sentence was the reference to the Chalone AVA. The Chalone AVA is perched about 1,200 to 2,300 upon a plateau in the Monterey coastal mountains. There are only 300 acres of vines planted with only…
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