The Tuatea Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, 100% Sauvignon Blanc sourced from vineyards in the Marlborough Region in the northeast corner of the South Island in New Zealand. Tuatea is Māori for “crest of a wave“, if you are attempting to learn the Māori language one random word at a…
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The Santa Julia Winemaker’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from sustainably farmed Estate high altitude vineyards (3,130 to 4,600 feet) located in the Uco Valley in the south-west corner of the Mendoza region of Argentina. The vineyards are on the east side of the Andes Mountains, the vineyards in Chile are on the…
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The Velvet Devil Merlot 2015 is 84% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% “other” sourced from 7 sustainable farmed vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. To be technical, this could be called a Bordeaux blend or in the US a Meritage blend since it uses 4 of…
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The Aime La Vie! Syrah Grenache Rose’ 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of south-eastern France, along the Mediterranean Ocean and just north of Spain. Aime La Vie! translates to “love the life”, you usually see J’Aime La Vie which means “the life I love”. This Rose’…
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The Hahn GSM Central Coast 2016 is a blend of 71% Grenache (mainly from vineyards in the Arroyo Secco AVA), 22% Syrah (mainly from vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA), and 7% Mourvedre sourced from vineyards in the San Benito AVA, the Contra Costa AVA, and the Paso Robles AVA, all inside the Central Coast…
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The Velvet Moon Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. The Velvet Moon Cabernet is part of a line of wines with “Moon” in the title made for TJ’s by a leading Lodi, Ca. winery. They feature well-known grape varietals and sell…
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The Billy’s Shadow Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot 2014 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, a blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Shiraz (exact same grape as Syrah), and 11% Merlot sourced from vineyards in South Australia. In Australia, this wine is sold under the Jamiesons Run brand (known for delivering good wine for the money), a…
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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 Adventure Series DOCG Chianti 2015 is an ALDI $4.99 import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy. The main grape of Chianti is Sangiovese with a handful of local grapes allowed in the blend. Italy has rather strict control agencies for grape growing and wine production, the DOC and the DOCG…
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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 Vigilance Cimarron 2014 is 79% Syrah, 8% Grenache, 7% Mourvedre, and 6% Petite Verdot sourced from vineyards located in several AVAs inside the Lake County AVA which is inside the larger North Coast AVA of Northern California. Lake County is north of Napa, Mendocino is north and west and Sonoma is south and west. A…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma County Sangiovese Lot 128 2015 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. And that is about all the details I know about this wine. It seems some years TJ’s sells a Lot 135 Reserve Sangiovese that is sourced from grapes grown in the Alexander Valley AVA, which is located inside Sonoma County….
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The Seventy Five Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc 2015 is 90% Clone 1 Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Musquee Clone Sauvignon Blanc sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The Seventy Five Wine Company is named after the year (1975) that Tuck Beckstoffer founded his company. His family is pioneers in Napa Valley wine…
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The Michael and David Petite Petit 2015 is 85% Petite Sirah and 15% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA (south and east of Napa) in California’s Central Valley. Michael and David are the Phillips brothers, their family have been fruit and vegetable growers in Lodi since the 1850s and have farmed grapes for over…
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The Terras Gauda O Rosal 2015 is a blend of 70% Albariño, 20% Caiño, and 10% Loureiro grown in Bodegas Terras Gauda vineyards located in the O Rosal sub-district of Rias Baixas in northwest Spain.Virtually all the wine produced in Rias Baixas is White wine with Albariño comprising 96% of the vines planted.grapes. Loureiro and Caiño are…
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The Parducci Small Lot Mendocino County Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot (Merlot is the traditional Bordeaux companion to Cabernet Sauvignon, it adds flavor and softens the Cab) produced from grapes grown in vineyards in the Mendocino County AVA of Northern California. Parducci is a family owned winery that has done business…
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The La Galope Rose’ 2016 is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Domaine De L’Herré vineyard in the Comte Tolosan IGP region of the Côtes de Gascogne area of Gascony in southwest France (just south of Bordeaux). The proprietor of La Galope says they are not your typical French winery, yes, they are passionate about wine, but…
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The Austerity Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA inside the Central Coast AVA about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Austerity is one of O’Neil Vintners many labels (others include Line 39, Harkin, and Red Tree) and they control 15,000 acres of vineyards thru-out California (including Paso Robles). Paso…
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The Locations “F” (France) Red Blend is an outlaw wine. If you’re used to California wines, it’s nothing new, but if you’re used to wines from France, it will set your hair on fire! This is a blend of Bordeaux grapes, Rhone grapes, and Roussillon grapes – and if you don’t think that’s strange, go…
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The Psâgot Rosé 2016 is a blend of Red wine grapes, Psâgot does not indicate which grapes are used, but they grow Bordeaux and Rhone varietals in their estate vineyards located 3,000 feet up in the northern Jerusalem Mountains. Israel has produced wine for thousands of years, but Psâgot is a very modern (and beautiful) winery founded…
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The Ménage à Trois Midnight Red 2014 is a blend of 49% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petite Sirah, and 7% Petit Verdot sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. The Ménage à Trois brand was founded about 20 years ago as a left-over wine after the original winery bottled their main line…
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The Charles Smith Vino Rosso 2015 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese sourced grapes grown in Washington State (the label says Washington State and not Columbia Valley). The Sangiovese came from 2 vineyards in the Yakima Valley AVA and the Cabernet came from the Frenchman Hills vineyard, which is located near the Wahluke Slope AVA, Frenchman…
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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 Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage wine sourced from vineyards in Argentina, there is also a little Aspiran Noir blended in. Aspiran Noir is a grape founded mainly in the Languedoc region of France and it adds some color, a perfumed nose and a little flavor. Barefoot is E and J Gallo’s line of…
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The Los Andicos Malbec 2015 is a $6.99 ALDI import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Mendoza Province of Argentina. Mendoza produces most of the wine coming out of Argentina, it includes some of the highest altitude vineyards in the world. Because of the lofty altitudes, the vines receive hours of intense sunlight and the higher elevations keep most…
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