The Lazy Bones Paso Robles Cabernet Franc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. It has been $6.99 for years we first reviewed the 2013 vintage, here s a link. This Red was produced by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse back then. Today the producer on the back label is Miller Family Wine Company. It…
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The Michael David Freakshow Zinfandel 2019 is 86% Zinfandel, 8% Petite Sirah, and 6% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA. Petite Sirah is often found blended with ZInfandel, it is almost a surprise if no Petite Sirah is added. Petit Verdot is one of the Red grapes approved for wines in Bordeaux….
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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 Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Syrah 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Most of these Trader Joe’s Reserve wines are one-offs. Wines that disappear after the run sells out, but this wine, Lot 100, has been offered since the 2013 vintage. The back label says this Syrah was produced by Familia Neuva Vineyards,…
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Trader Joe's Reserve Sonoma Valley Merlot 2020-Don't Look Sideways At This $9.99 Merlot Ok, Merlot is awesome. Just because some guy in a movie about screwed up drunk people said otherwise is no excuse for you not drinking merlot. (see the movie Sideways) Merlot is one of the Great grapes of Bordeaux. It should be…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma Valley Merlot 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes farmed in the Sonoma Valley AVA and produced for TJ’s by William Knuttel Winery. They make their own high-end wine along with custom wine for folks like Trader Joe’s. Tj’s Fearless Flyer mentions William Knittel Winery as one…
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The Loveblock Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is an estate-grown, sustainably farmed wine from Kim and Erica Crawford’s New Zealand winery. Yes, that Kim Crawford, from the brand that is almost synonymous with New Zealand wine. The Crawfords sold their brand back in 2004 and stayed with the company for a few years before starting Loveblock….
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The 14 Hands Hot To Trot Red Blend 2018 is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 19% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards through the Columbia Valley AVA in Washington. The name 14 Hands refers to the wild horses that at one time roamed free in the area….
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Vigilance Red Hills AVA Sauvignon Blanc 2020-An Excellent California Sauv Blanc Red Hills AVA is inside the Lake County AVA just north of Napa. For years they sold their grapes to other wineries. Today, excellent wineries are making terrific wine in Lake County. Vigilance is one of the brands from Shannon Ridge, a family-owned winery…
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The Vigilance Red Hills AVA Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is one of the brands from Shannon Ridge winery located in the Lake County AVA north of Napa. This Sauv Blanc is sourced from estate vineyards in the Red Hills sub-AVA, situated on the southern end of Clear Lake. The vineyards are situated in the foothills of…
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The Michael and David Petite Petit 2019 is 85% Petite Sirah, and 15% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA of California. This is technically a Petite Sirah single varietal wine since more than 75% of this wine is Petite Sirah. But the Petite Petit name is more fun. Michael and David Phillips…
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The Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a wine sourced from vineyards in the Central Valley of Chile. The Central Valley is an Intermediate Depression between the Andes Mountains and the Coastal Mountain Range. The Santa Rita Winery was founded in 1880, and their 120 brand of wines (which has been around for 50…
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The Flora and Stone Merlot in 2021 is a $6.99 non-vintage ALDI wine from California. An inexpensive budget supermarket wine normally does not inspire a great deal of confidence. But we recently reviewed the Flora and Stone Gewürztraminer, a $4.99 non-vintage wine, and it was an enjoyable drink. Flora and Stone wines are made by…
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The Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. This is one of Charles Smith’s wines, now called House of Smith. They have some of the best technical notes for wines at any price point. They tell you which vineyards the grapes came…
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The Tabor Hill Blueberry Demi-Sec is a mix of a White wine blend and blueberry wine from a winery in Southwest Michigan that has produced different types of wine for over 50 years. The White wine is Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec, a blend of Vidal, Vignoles, Riesling, Traminette, Seyval, and Gewürztraminer grapes. Demi-Sec translates to…
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Le Grand Verre 2020 – Boutique Single Serving Bottle French Wines Single serving, double glass unbreakable 6.3-ounce bottles (a standard pour is 5 ounces) French Boutique Estate wines… organic Chardonnay and Rosé from a female winemaker in the Languedoc. Small estate Rosé from Bandol in Provence. Cru Bordeaux Red from the Hait-Medoc. These are not…
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The format for this review is going to be different, we typically give our attention to one wine, but the Le Grand Verre 2020 is not about one individual bottle of wine. Instead, the name translates to “the big glass” and is a hand-picked line of single-serve bottles of boutique, small-batch French Estate wines. The…
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The Evodia Garnacha 2018 is sourced from 40 to 100-year-old vines in vineyards located in the foothill of the Sierra Santa Cruz Mountains in the Calatayud region in northeast Spain. This is a wine that sells for around $10 and is a perennial 90+ point wine. It has been a bang-for-the-buck favorite for years. Here…
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Los Vascos Cromas Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 – Why Chile ? This is the Domaines Barons De Rothschild (Lafite) property in the Colchagua Valley in Chile; they have been there since 1988. One of the Legends of Bordeaux making classic wines in Chile. This is a wine that should sell for about $20, it…
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The Los Vascos Cromas Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, and 5% Carménère sourced from Estate vineyards of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Colchagua Valley vineyard and winery in central Chile. This Estate was founded in 1988 and was the first French wine project in modern Chile. Barons de Rothschild…
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The Blue Shell Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southeast France. The label says the location is the “Southern French Coast,” which makes sense since the Languedoc runs along the Mediterranean Ocean. This is an IGP (Indication Geographique Protégée) classified wine; it is…
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The Federalist Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a wine brand from Terlato Wines International. They are the folks who imported Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio to the United States. Before they brought the wine Pinot Grigio was not a “thing,” now it is definitely a “thing.” Santa Margherita spun off a few years ago, but Terlato…
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The Attack of the Clones!!! Not so fast. A grape clone is a grapevine that exhibits excellent characteristics and is grafted onto rootstock to create enough vines to be categorized and indexed. Most wine grape vines today are some type of clone. The Noble Vine 337 Cabernet Sauvignon is a Lodi wine made from a…
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The Noble Vines 337 Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is one of the many labels from Delicato Family Vineyards, a family-owned winery since 1924. The Noble Vines line of wines is dedicated to showcasing grapevine clones. A clone is when a grapevine with particular characteristics, resistance to pests and disease, and growing and flavor traits is grafted…
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The Blackbird Vineyards Dissonance Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is 87% Sauvignon Blanc and 13% Semillon. The Sauv Blanc sourced from the Hudson Vineyard, located on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA. The Semillion was taken from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in the Knights Valley AVA of northeast Sonoma County.The Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend is inspired…
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