The Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Miller Family Wine Company. The SLO in the title is San Luis Obispo which is in the middle of California’s Central Coast AVA, inside the SLO AVA in Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Arroyo Secco, and the San…
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Trader Joe's Grand Reserve San Luis Obispo Coast Pinot Noir 2022-A $13 SLO Pinot Noir San Luis Obispo County which included Paso Robles, Edna Valley, and Arroyo Secco AVAs got repositioned. The San Luis Obispo Coast AVA was organized in 2022 and included Edna Valley and Arroyo Secco, these are some of the coolest temperatures…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve San Luis Obispo Coast Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The San Luis Obispo Coast AVA is new, founded in 2022, and includes the Edna Valley AVA and the Arroyo Secco AVA. These are all cool climate AVAs. Paso Robles is more inland and specializes in warm-weather…
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Rolling Mist Cabernet Sauvignon-A New $9 Wine From Aldi This is a non-vintage California wine that was made by some part of E & J Gallo for Aldi. Why is it a non-vintage wine? They do not explain, they do not offer any information. So check out https://cheapwinefinder.com/ and listen to the PODCAST to see what CWF…
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The Rolling Mist Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage $8.99 ALdi exclusive made by some division of E & J Gallo of Modesto, California. Neither Aldi nor Gallo offer any information concerning this wine. The back label mentions blackberry, which is a flavor characteristic of Cabernet Sauvignon, and oak spice and vanilla which are oak influences…
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The Aldi Hwy 5 Chardonnay 2021 is a $4.99 Aldi exclusive made by a company from Modesto, California which means some entity of E & J Gallo produced this brand. This is Aldi’s answer to Charles Shaw wine (2 Buck Chuck) from Trader Joe’s. Last summer we did a cheap Chardonnay shoot-out, Charles Shaw, Hwy…
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The Trader Joe’s Coastal Merlot 2022 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The winery of record on the back label is Castoro Cellars from Paso Robles, California. The label says “vinted and bottled by” which does not mean that much anymore. A winery and its equipment may be organized into one entity or LLC, the…
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The Chronic Cellars Suite Petite Petite Sirah 2021 is sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles in California’s Central Coast AVA. It is 90% Petite Sirah and 10% Syrah. This brand was founded (in 2004) by the Beckett Brothers, the sons of Doug Beckett who was the owner of Peachy Canyon Wines, one of the folks…
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Butternut Chardonnay 2021- A reasonably oaked Chardonnay This is a Chardonnay I found for $11.99. Butternut is part of the Miller Family Line of wines, they are located in Paso Robles, but the Butternut Chardonnay is from grapes all over California. This is a good-tasting Chardonnay if you like a little oak influence. This makes…
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The Butternut Chardonnay 2021 is a wine I found for $11.99, the label says the grapes came from California. Butternut is one of the brands in the Miller Family Wines line of wines. The Miller Family Wines also own Central Coast Wine Warehouse, a custom wine producer, who ten years ago was a major producer…
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The Peaks & Tides Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is a reoccurring wine, this brand also includes a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I did a little digging and found that Plata Wine Partners produces this wine for Aldi. Plata Partners says they are the “largest independent California coastal…
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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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Matias Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021-A Wine Well Worth Searching For! This is a brand from winemaker Dan Fitzpatrick, who has worked for some of the best wineries in California. The brand may be hard to find and there seem to be different brands for each wine from a different AVA . This $21.99 Cabernet…
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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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Piper Sonoma Brut- Sonoma vs Champagne- This Wine Rocks The Piper Sonoma Brut has been in Sonoma for 43 years, it is the California outpost of Piper Heidsieck. I found it for $17 while it does list for $22. Which is half of what the French version sells for, Is the French stuff twice as…
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The Piper Sonoma Brut is a non-vintage Champagne-style Sparkling wine I found selling for $17 (lists for 21.99). It is a blend of 56% Chardonnay, 37% Pinot Noir, 7% Pinot Blanc, and 6% a blend of aged Reserve wine. The aged Reserve wine is from their higher-tier sparkling wine. Piper Sonoma was. founded in 1980…
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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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I think the Trading Post by Trader Joe’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is a $19.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. I say I think because I can’t find a single mention of this wine on the internet. I do not recall another “by Trader Joe’s” wine before, typically the wines in this price range are Patinum…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Sonoma County Brut Sparkling Wine-2023 Edition is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive featuring a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and a little bit of Pinot Meunier which is a classic Champagne blend. This Sparkling wine was “produced and bottled by” (that means they made this Bubbly) Rack and Riddle of…
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Skull Red Wine 2021-Organic-Bespoke+Skulls I have never had a bad Skulls/Skeleton wine. This is a Red Blend from a famous Sommelier and one of the leading Syrah wine producers in California. It is a small-production wine that is essentially hand-made and I found selling for $15. Not all value-priced wine is factory wine. For more…
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The Skull Red Wine 2021 is organic and blends 60% Zinfandel, 30% Petite Sirah, and 10% Mission sourced from Mendocino and Santa Barbara vineyards. This brand is from Patrick Cappiello (who owns Monte Rio Cellars) and Pax Mahle (Pax Wines). Patrick Cappiello is an ex-skate punk, hence the Skull imagery, and an award-winning Sommelier who…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Ynez Valley GSM 2022 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive. The blend is 47% Mourvedre, 34% Syrah, and 19% Grenache, so it is an MSG blend. The Santa Ynez Valley is located in southern Santa Barbara County, between 2 mountain ranges. The western part of the valley gets cool Pacific…
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The Burlwood Brut Sparkling Wine is a $4.95 Aldi exclusive made by some part of E & J Gallo Winery, any time you see Modesto, California on the back label you can bet that Gallo made the wine. Gallo also produces Andre Champagne and Barefoot Bubbly lines, all in the same general price range. The…
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The Mumm Napa Blanc de Blanc is a Bubbly that lists at $26 but should be available for under $20 during the holiday season. Mumm Napa is the California division of C.H. Mumm, a Champagne house founded in 1827. In 1983 they started producing Sparkling wines in Napa under the Domaine Mumm name which was…
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Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2021- A $13 Modern Pinot Noir In California, there are two competing styles of Pinot Noir, the Burgundian style and the modern Meiomi style which is rich and full. I am old school, I dig the Burgundian style, but I am well aware that the new…
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