The Sola Lodi Syrah 2012 is produced by Sola Winery, a small Napa winery that purchases premium grapes from various California AVA’s. Their stated mission is to be “the best value wine on the West coast.” They keep their overhead low and their costs down and these small production, boutique wines are priced lower than…
Read More
The Renwood Amador County Old Vine Zinfandel 2011 is 90% Zinfandel, 5% Primitivo (an Italian twin of the Zinfandel grape), 3% Syrah and 2% Barbera sourced from Renwood Estate vineyards and other old vine vineyards in Amador County. Amador County is located east of the Lodi AVA in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern California. Amador…
Read More
The Coppola Diamond Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2013 is 90.6% Sauvignon Blanc, 6% Chardonnay and 3.5% Semillon (Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon are the White wine blend of Bordeaux) sourced from vineyards in the Alexander Valley AVA and Sonoma County AVA, both sub-AVA’s of the Sonoma County AVA and the Lake County AVA (north of Napa)….
Read More
The Four Vines Paso Robles Zinfandel 2011 is 82% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah, 4% Grenache and 4 % Primitivo (Primitivo is a twin of the Zinfandel grape) sourced from two vineyards in the westside of the Paso Robles AVA inside the larger Central Coast AVA of California. This Zin was aged in oak barrels and has an…
Read More
The Sphere Lodi Zinfandel 2012 is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive. TJ’s says the grapes came “from a premium winemaker’s vineyards in Lodi“, which makes the Sphere an estate grown, single AVA, 6 buck California wine, that is something you do not see very often. There is a top-notch Lodi winery that produces a…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Coastal Sauvignon Blanc 2012 is a $4.99 TJ’s exclusive, sourced from grapes grown in California’s Central Coast AVA. Vinted and bottled by Castoro Cellars, who have grown grapes and produced wine in Paso Robles since the early 80s. Vinted and bottled by indicates that Castoro aged the wine and bottled the…
Read More
The Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 is 94.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Merlot and 0.2 Cabernet Franc sourced from Kendall Jackson estate vineyards (about 2/3’s from Alexander Valley and the rest from Knights Mountain) in Sonoma County, California. The grapes selected are in the top 7% of all grapes grown on KJ’s…
Read More
The 2012 Four Vines Naked Chardonnay is sourced from vineyards in the Santa Barbara County AVA on the southern end of California’s Central Coast AVA. Santa Barbara is about 1 1/2 hours north of Los Angeles in Southern California, but it gets cooling fog in the morning and while the days can be hot, the…
Read More
The 2012 Garnet Monterey County Pinot Noir is sourced from Garnet Vineyards estate vineyards near the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA in Monterey County, California. This Pinot Noir lists for $14.99, but its tech sheet reads like a far more expensive Pinot. First, Garnet grew the grapes themselves, then they aged the Pinot Noir in 100% French…
Read More
The 2011 Four Vines Truant Old Vine Zinfandel is 90% Zinfandel, 7% Barbera and 3% Petite Sirah sourced mainly from the Lodi, Paso Robles and Mendocino AVA’s. Here is a brief run down on “old vine” Zinfandel in California, it was first planted by Italian immigrant farmers in the late 1800s as a taste…
Read More
The 2012 Caymus 40th Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon celebrates Caymus Vineyards 40th year of wine-making in Napa Valley, California. Caymus Vineyards is still and family owned and operated vineyard/winery and in 1972, their first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon sold for $4.50 a bottle. In 1987, Wine Spectator proclaimed Caymus, “The best damn Cabernet Sauvignon in California,” and twice…
Read More
The Gnarly Head Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 is sourced from vineyards located in 6 of the 7 sub-AVA’s in Lodi, California. The bottle says the grapes are sourced from California, which means that more than one AVA is involved with no AVA producing 85% of the grapes, but Gnarly Head’s technical information says this is…
Read More
The 2012 Gnarly Head Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in Monterey, the North Coast AVA (includes Mendocino, Napa Valley, Sonoma And Lake County) as well as vines from Lodi. Delicato Family Vineyards, the makers of Gnarly Head as well as BraZin, Bota Box and others is located in Lodi, California. The name Gnarly…
Read More
The 2012 Natura Cabernet Sauvignon is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot sourced from certified organic and sustainably farmed vineyards in the Rapel Valley in the northern half of Chile’s Central Valley. The Natura label is one of Emiliana Organic Vineyards line of 100% organic, sustainable frown and sometimes bio-dynamic wines. The Rapel Valley…
Read More
The 2012 Novas Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from certified organic vineyards in the San Antonio Valley DO of Chile. Novas means “birth of a star” and is one of Emiliana Vineyards line of 100% sustainably farmed, organically grown wines. Many of the wines from Chile in this price range (lists for $16, but…
Read More
The 2012 DeLoach Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage Reserve is sourced from sustainably farmed grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. DeLoach was founded in 1975 in the Russian River Valley of the Sonoma AVA and the Heritage Reserve line is their value wine. DeLoach is part of the Boisset Family Vineyards group of…
Read More
The 2012 Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Milestone Winery is one of Constellation Brands 121 different wine labels, Constellation is the largest wine producer in the world, their labels include Ravenswood, Robert Mondavi, Toasted Head and Kim Crawford. Milestone Wines were created by Brian…
Read More
The 2012 Left Foot Charley Pinot Gris is sourced from a 2 acre vineyard (Tale Feathers) in the Old Mission Peninsula AVA near Traverse City on Lake Michigan in Upper Michigan. They have been growing grapes on the Peninsula since 1870, but didn’t really get serious about it until the 1970s. The Old Mission Peninsula…
Read More
The flipflop Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes that are, according to the front label, from the Left Coast of Chile. The last time we tried a flipflop Pinot Noir is was a vintage designated (2010) California wine, this time around it is a non-vintage wine from Chile. As a California wine it was $7…
Read More
The 2013 Domaine Berrien Cabernet Franc is sourced from grapes grown on their 40 acres of Estate vineyards near the town of Berrien Springs, Michigan in the Michigan Shores AVA along Lake Michigan. Berrien Springs is 94 miles from Chicago on the opposite site of Lake Michigan and is probably not the first place…
Read More
The 2013 Septima Chardonnay is sourced from (50%) two areas in the Uco Vally (one of the elite growing regions in Argentina) and (50%) vineyards near the region of Agrelo in the Lujan de Cuyo district inside the larger Mendoza grape growing area of Argentina. One thing I commonly hear when people talk about Chardonnay is that they do not…
Read More
The 2012 Belle Ambiance Chardonnay is sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance is a new label from Delicato Family Vineyards, they also produce Gnarly Head, Bota Box and HandCraft along with several others. Chardonnay is the wine makers wine, it can be light and crisp or full-bodied and buttery…
Read More
The 2012 Belle Ambiance Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance is a new label, suggested list price $9.99, from Delicato Family Vineyards, who have been in business for over 80 years. DFV also produce Gnarly Head, Brazin, HandCraft and Bota Box, along with…
Read More
The 2013 Belle Ambiance Pinot Grigio is sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance translates to “beautiful place” and is one of Delicato Family Vineyards wines, their other labels include Gnarly Head, Brazin and HandCraft, they specialize in well priced California wines aimed at the American palate. DFV is family…
Read More
The Modern House Wines Red Blend is a greeting card you can drink. The Modern House Wines label has been around since 2010, back then it was a Napa Merlot based Red with labels that said Lucky You, Please Forgive Me and Merci among others and it sold for around $25. The new version of…
Read More
