The Story The Franciscan Napa & Monterey Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from vineyards in 63% Napa County (mostly Carneros and Southern Napa) and 37% Monterey County (including Arroyo Secco and San Bernabe). These are excellent Chardonnay growing regions where the average Chardonnay is far more expensive than the Franciscan's $14.99 list price. The list price for…
Read More
The Story The Franciscan Napa & Monterey Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from vineyards in 63% Napa County (mostly Carneros and Southern Napa) and 37% Monterey County (including Arroyo Secco and San Bernabe). These are excellent Chardonnay growing regions where the average Chardonnay is far more expensive than the Franciscan’s $14.99 list price. The list price for…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Meritage Napa Valley Lot #176 2015 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, it’s a Red blend with Merlot as the main grape, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec sourced from vineyards in the Napa Valley of Northern California. The word Meritage is a combination of merit and heritage…
Read More
The VINTJS Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from a vineyard or vineyards in Napa Valley, California. Trader Joe’s says this Sauv Blanc came from a well-known Napa winery/vineyard with whom they have had a 10 year relationship. I think I know who that is, but I can’t be certain,…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Yountville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Lot 74 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, Yountville is one of the 16 sub-AVA’s inside Napa Valley. The typical Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon is a cellar worthy wine that sells for $50 and up, so is this a $50 wine that somehow is priced at…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s 2013 Grand Reserve Meritage Napa Lot 63 2013 is a $12.99 TJ’s blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec (these are 5 of the 6 grapes approved for Bordeaux Red blends, the only grape missing is Carménère) sourced from vineyards somewhere in the Napa Valley of California. When dealing with…
Read More
The 2012 VINTJS Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, produced for them by St. Supery Vineyards and Winery, a very well respected Napa Valley wine producer. Now, that does not mean that the VINTJS is a relabeled bottle of St. Supery’s $20 Estate grown Sauvignon Blanc, neither Trader Joe’s or St. Supery…
Read More
The 2011 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay is a $5.99 TJ’s exclusive. The Petit Reserve label indicates that Trader Joe’s was offered a one time deal on a relatively small supply of wine, when these wines sell out, they are gone for good. This Chardonnay was “vinted and bottled by” Healdsburg Wine Cellars, vinted…
Read More
The 2011 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a Trader Joe’s $7.99 exclusive sourced from grapes grown somewhere in Napa Valley, California. Trader Joe’s says one of their long time wine partners needed to sell some of their Cabernet Sauvignon, the price was right, so here it is. Back in 2008, when…
Read More
The 2010 Whispering Valley Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay is an $8.99 Aldi’s exclusive that is currently on close-out for $4.99. The 2009 Whispering Valley Chardonnay was sourced from the Delle Venezie growing region of northeast Italy, not Napa Valley, California. Aldi’s does not provide much information concerning this bottle, such as who made it and…
Read More
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 More
The 2009 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Napa Valley Meritage is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The term “Meritage” (pronounced like heritage) indicates this a Red blend using the grapes approved in Bordeaux wines. Either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot as the lead grape with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot used as blending grapes (Malbec and Carmenere are…
Read MoreThe Steltzner Vineyards Napa Valley Claret 2009 (English term meaning Bordeaux grapes varieties were used, usually referred to as Meritage in California) sourced from Steltzner Estate vineyards in the Stag’s Leap AVA along with grapes from other vineyards in Southern Napa Valley. The blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc and 13% Merlot. Steltzner Vineyards…
Read MoreThe 2008 Castle Rock Napa Valley Merlot is sourced from several Napa Valley vineyards. Castle Rock has an interesting approach to producing wine, they do not own their own vineyards, but have long term contracts with vineyards all over California, Oregon and Washington. The don’t produce just one Merlot, but 3 Merlot’s from Napa, Mendocino…
Read MoreThe 2007 Ravenswood Napa Valley Old Vines Zinfandel is 76% Zinfandel and 24% Petite Sirah sourced from several contract vineyards in Napa Valley, California. This is the middle of Ravenswood’s line of Zinfandel, with the Vintners’ Blend as the entry level and the Single Vineyard wines on top. I found this wine selling for $9.99…
Read More
The 2007 Walker Napa Valley Red Blend is a $7.99 Aldi’s exclusive (don’t be scared, Aldi’s is the parent company of Trader Joe’s). If you see Napa Valley on the label, then at least 75% of the grapes were grown in Napa Valley. This wine was cellared and bottled (that means they didn’t grow the…
Read MoreTrader Joe’s +Cabernet Sauvignon+Napa Valley=$4.99. Spiral Wines is a custom label produced by Fior di Sole, a custom and private label winemaker. The back label says Spiral Wines vinted and bottled this Cabernet and legally that indicates that Spiral Wines fermented a minimum of 10% of the wine. The term “Reserve” on the bottle has…
Read MoreThe 2010 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Napa Valley Rose’ is a complete mystery wine, the label does not tell which grape was used to produce this Rose’. They did think it was important to tell you that the grapes were grown in Napa Valley. The only reason I can think of for withholding the type…
Read More
The Embroidery Monterey Pinot Noir 2021 is a $6.89 wine at Costco. The .89 indicates that this is a special price and may not last. This is a wine produced by Precision Wine Company located in Napa, California. They have about 25 brands and made wine for Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Costco. The Monterey County…
Read More
The OVZ Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel 2021 is a wine selling for around $15, though Costco will sometimes have it for under $10. This is a brand from Oak Ridge Winery a family-owned winery in business since 1906, they built their first winery in 1934. It is common for Lodi wineries to be in the…
Read More
The Aldi California Heritage Merlot is a $4.99 exclusive, produced by a branch of E & J Gallo for ALdi. This is a non-vintage wine, meaning grapes picked in different years are included in this bottling. Producers do this to keep costs down and use a more upscale wine from a previous year to “improve”…
Read More
The Juggernaut Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a wine brand from Bogle Family Vineyards of Clarksburg, California. It is a wine I found for $14.99 at a local wine shop. The Sonoma Coast AVA is the most westward AVA in California and runs to Mendocino. It features rugged Coastal Mountain valleys and is a cool climate…
Read More
Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Russian River Chardonnay-A Seriously Good $12.99 Chardonnay We have gotten used to Trader Joe's Reserve wine over the years. Sometimes they are remarkable bargains and sometimes they are puzzling. This time it is a remarkable wine at a crazy value price. A boutique Napa winery is involved with the bottling. It…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Russian River Chardonnay is a $12.99 Trader exclusive produced with grapes from the Russian River Valley AVA in Sonoma County. The back label says this wine was “vinted and bottled by”Aril WInes of Oakville, Napa. They are a small boutique high-end winery with winemakers from Turley and Silver Oak. Vinted…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Wahluke Slope Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from certified organic grapes grown in the Wahluke Slope AVA of the Columbia Valley in Washington State. This Cab Sauv was produced for Trader Joe’s by DNA Vineyards an independent winery that has produced many wines for TJ’s both Reserve wines…
Read More
