The Ferrari-Carano Bella Luce (translates to beautiful light) Sonoma County White is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Canelli, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Semillon and Muscat Giallo grown in several Ferrari-Carano vineyards in Sonoma County, California. The individual grape varietals are fermented separately in stainless tanks and then blended to get the proper mix. This…
Read MoreThe Coppola Director’s Sonoma County Chardonnay 2010 is sourced from multiple vineyards located thru out Sonoma County, sort of the best of Sonoma. Coppola also produces the Director’s Cut Chardonnay and that bottling focuses on two sections of the Russian River Valley which is located inside Sonoma County. Together they are a micro and macro…
Read MoreThe 2010 Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chardonnay is sourced from Rodney Strong’s estate grown vineyards as well as contracted vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and the Sonoma Coastal region. 60% of the Chardonnay was fermented and then aged for 5 months in French and American oak barrels and this portion also underwent…
Read MoreThe 2010 Tribunal Sonoma County Red is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive in the US, it is available in Canada and sells for $25 to $28 Canadian. This is a “kitchen sink” blend with the grapes and the percentages changing with each vintage, so if you loved or hated the 2008 or 2009, the 2010…
Read MoreThe The County Fair The One Man Band Sonoma County Zinfandel 2010 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Made from 80% Zinfandel and 15% Petite Sirah and 5% “other” (if you can find out what the 5% is, you can figure out who made the wine). The wine is produced by HDD LLC and wine…
Read MoreThe 2008 Cline Sonoma County Syrah is 100% Syrah sourced mainly from Cline’s family owned and sustainable farmed vineyard in the Sonoma Coast AVA along with grapes that are also sustainably farmed from 2 vineyards located on the Sonoma side of the Carneros AVA in Northern California. The Syrah is aged on French oak barrels…
Read MoreThe 2009 Wine Guerrilla Zinfandel is 85% Zinfandel and 15% Petit Sirah sourced from vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley AVA’s of Sonoma County, California. The seems to be 2 bottlings of the Sonoma County Zinfandel, there is another bottle that also has Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan blended in, 1,100 cases…
Read MoreThe 2009 Sebastiani Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is 99% Chardonnay and 1% Roussanne sourced from several vineyards with long term grape contracts in Carneros and other Sonoma growing areas. 52% of the wine (mostly from vineyards in the coolest growing areas) was aged in mainly Hungarian oak barrels (Hungarian oak barrels are $300 cheaper than French oak…
Read MoreThe 2008 Louis M. Martini Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from vineyards in several Sonoma County wine growing areas, Dry Creek is the only AVA actually name checked on Louis Martini’s website. Louis Martini is one of Gallo Wines 40+ wine labels, but Michael Martini a third generation winemaker is still in charge of…
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The Lucia Victoria Reserva Rioja 2018 is a wine available at Costco for $8.89 (the .89 indicates a Costco special buy) and can be found elsewhere for about $15. This wine was produced by Bodegas Valdelacierva from 2 vineyards (50-year-old vines) near San Vincente in the Rioja Alta region. The importer is Vinamericas and here…
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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…
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The Aldi’s Specially Selected Napa Valley Chardonnay 2021 is a $10.99 ALd exclusive new to the Specially Selected brand as of April 2024. The Aldi Specially Selected line includes wines from premium growing regions like Napa, Rioja, Marlborough, Bordeaux, etc. Napa Valley is a large AVA, so simply showing Napa Valley as the place of…
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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…
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The Kirkland Signature Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2021 is a $12.99 Costco Exclusive. This is a wine produced for Costco by Precept Wine and Spirits, a large northwest wine company that controls 4,000 acres of vineyards and has an excellent brand and retail wine portfolio. The winemaker is Sarah Cabot who is the head winemaker…
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The Kirkland Signature Bordeaux Supérieur 2021 is a $6.89 Costco import exclusive. The .89 in the price typically denotes a special low price but the 2020 version was $6.99 so 10 cents is not much of a discount. This Red is made by Chateau Petit-Freylon a small estate near the town of Saint-Genis-du-Bois, this winery…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Los Carneros Brut Sparkling Wine 2019 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This Bubbly is a blend of 84% Pinot Noir and 16% Chardonnay sourced from grapes grown in the Carneros AVA, located inside both the Sonoma AVA and the Napa AVA. Carneros sits on the northern shore of San…
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The Matias Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is a bit of a mystery wine, their website is gone, and their trail leads to more than one place. They seem to have two vintages of this Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2019 vintage and this 2021. The 2019 was one of the best in recent years and the…
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The Anna de Codorniu Cava Brut Rosé is a Sparkling wine I found on sale selling for $8.99. Anna de Codorniu is the oldest winery in Spain, founded in 1551. Today they are part of the Raventos family of wines. Raventos started growing grapes in 1497 and 1872 producing the first Traditional Method Cava. The…
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The Photograph North Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is sourced from vineyards in the Sonoma and Napa AVAs, the list price is around $13, but I found it on sale at Target for $8.99. It was a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy in 2023 and received 92 points. This brand from Vintage Wine Estates offers 34 different…
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The Elouan Oregon Chardonnay 2020 is one of the brands from Copper Cane, the wine company owned by Joe Wagner who is part of the Wagner family of Caymus fame. Joe Wagner is the son and you should know him from Meiomi wines which he founded and sold for 1/3 of a billion dollars. The…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2021 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. There was a 2020 Vintage TJ’s Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot which also sold for $14.99. This seems to be a reoccurring Thanksgiving wine. The Carneros AVA is located on the San Pablo Bay, east of Oakland, and about half of…
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The Cameron Hughes Russian River Pinot Noir 2018 Lot 947 is a Nogociant wine, you should be able to find it for around $19. A negociant is a French wine company that goes to wineries and makes a deal to buy excess wine. It is all very hush-hush, nobody is to know who the winery…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2021 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. In January of 2022, Trader Joe’s offered the Platinum Reserve SLH Pinot Noir. That wine sold for $14.99 and if you click on the link you will find that we thought it had too much alcohol and wasn’t…
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VINTJS Redwood Valley Zinfandel 2021-Give it a Try This is a Trader Joe's $9.99 wine. In the past VINTJS wines were $6.99, but in the last few years were wine from the Sonoma Coast AVA. Wines from the Sonoma Coast do not sell for $6.99, maybe $26,99 and up, but not the lessor. VINTJS skipped…
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The VINTJS Redwood Valley Zinfandel 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Trader Joe’s seems to have taken a break from the VINTJS house brand. We last reviewed a VINTJS wine for the 2019 vintage, which was a $6.99 wine. The last VINTJS wine we reviewed was a 2019 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir which you…
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