The Gambler’s Flash Paso Robles Red Table Wine is a non-vintage $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. The back label says this is a proprietary blend which is a polite way of saying, “we ain’t telling what’s in the mix.” In Europe…
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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…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2014 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive and is a blend of Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles (about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco) inside the Central Coast AVA. The back label says this blend was “vinted and bottled by…
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The Dearly Beloved I Thee Red 2015 is Red blend found at Trader Joe’s ($7.99) made from grapes grown in the Central Coast AVA of California. This is a TJ’s wine that has been around for a while, we first reviewed the 2009 vintage. Dearly Beloved is one of the Truett-Hurst labels, they specialize in selling…
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The 90+ Cellars Big Red Blend Lot 113 2015 is an unusual blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Tempranillo, and Souzoa sourced from vineyards in Lodi, California. 90+ Cellars are Negociants, what negociants do is purchase surplus wine from wineries and sell it under their own label. Sometimes they buy fermented juice from a famous winery…
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The Les Hauts de Lagarde Rouge 2014 is a certified Organic blend of 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc grown and produced at the Vignobles Raymond (Vineyards of Raymond)Estate near the town of Saint Laurent du Bois, in the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, France. The Estate is family owned and was founded in 1850….
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The Outlander Meritage 2013 is a $8.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA of California. A Meritage wine is made from the grapes varietals that are permitted for use in the Red blends of Bordeaux in France. Here the blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot…
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The Sterling Vintner’s Collection Meritage 2013 is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot sourced from Sterling’s Paris Valley Ranch Vineyard near Monterey Bay along with other vineyards in California’s Central Coast AVA. A Meritage wine (rhythms with heritage) is a Red Blend wine based on the wine-making tradition of…
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The Domaine Dozon Chinon Rose’ 2014 is 100% Cabernet Franc sourced from a sustainably farmed vineyard on the hillside above the Vienne River in the Chinon AOC of the Loire Valley in France. Cabernet Franc is one of the grapes approved for Bordeaux Red blends. But, in the Chinon AOC, Cabernet Franc is not only…
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The Michael David Inkblot Tannat 2012 is sourced from a single vineyard located in the southeastern edge of the Lodi AVA in northern California. Michael and David Phillips are brothers and 5th generation grape growers (their family has been farming in Lodi since the 1850s) who started their winery in 1984. Lodi is in the…
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The Murrieta’s Well The Spur 2011 is a blend of 31% Petite Sirah, 29% Petit Verdot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from estate vineyards in the Livermore Valley AVA near San Francisco Bay. Murrieta’s Well was first planted in 1883 and in the 1930s was purchased by Wente Vineyards (they…
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The Columbia Crest Grand Estates Red Blend 2011 is 61% Merlot, 27% Syrah, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% “other” sourced from vineyards in the Wahluke Slope AVA, the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (both inside the Columbia Valley AVA) and the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. Columbia Crest is owned by Chateau…
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The Gnarly Head Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel 2022-Grateful Dead Edition is a wine I found on sale for $7.99. Gnarly Head wines offer both a Grateful Dead Zinfandel and a Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines are from Delicato Family Vineyards which have been in Lodi for 100 years, they recently purchased Coppola Wines. The Lodi AVA…
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The La Galope Gascogne Rosé 2023 is a wine I found selling for $9.99 at a local supermarket, a web check showed this wine selling for an average of $13. Cascogne is located between the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean in southwest France. This is designated a Comté Tolsan IGP wine which is one of…
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Maison Barboulot Cinsault Rosé 2023-Trader Joe's $6 Tasty French Rosé Maison Barboulot has been a popular brand at TJ's with their Cabernet/Syrah value-priced wine. These are Vin de Pays/IGP wines from vineyards in the Languedoc. The Languedoc is the largest growing region in France and the place where French people get their value-priced wines. You…
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The Daou Paso Robles Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is a wine listed for $17 and often found for several dollars less. I found it for $15.99 at Trader Joe’s. The Daou winery is one of the premier facilities in Paso Robles (halfway between Las Angeles and San Francisco). Daou was founded in 2006 by two brothers…
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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 Revelation Pays D’Oc Chardonnay 2021 is $7.99 at Trader Joe’s in the US and is widely available in other countries. Badet Clement is the producing winery. That is a project by two winemakers who make affordable wines with grapes from the Rhone Valley, Burgundy, and the Languedoc, and about 2/3rds of their wines are…
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The Noble Vines 181 Merlot 2020 is $7.99 at Costco, anywhere from $8 to $14 online. Nobles Vines is a Delicato Family Vineyards brand that started in Lodi and expanded to Napa Valley and recently purchased Coppola wines in Sonoma. The 181 in the title refers to the number of the Merlot Clone they planted…
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The Kirkland Bordeaux Superieur 2020 is a $6.99 Costco exclusive, a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The Superieur designation is a step up from plain Bordeaux wines, the best Bordeaux wines are from specific locations such as Medoc or Pomerol. Over half of the wines from Bordeaux sell for under $25. The…
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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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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 Sauvignon de Seguin Bordeaux Blanc 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Bordeaux Blanc is Sauvignon Blanc often blended with Semillon, but the wine is 100% Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is made by Chateau Seguin, the current Chateau was built in 1780, though the Estate has a history back to the times of…
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The Ugly Sweater Red Blend 2021 Edition is $8.49 at Trader Joe’s. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in Lodi, California. It is a non-vintage wine; Christmas 2022 may have a different grape blend. The information on the bottle is confusing; the back label says…
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