The Bodegas Dehesa de Luna 2012 is a blend of mainly Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah with additional indigenous grapes sourced from 2 Estate vineyards (sustainably farmed) in the Castilla-LaMancha region (near Madrid), in the middle of Spain. This is classified a Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla wine, which is roughly equivalent to the Vin de Pays…
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The Sola Lodi Syrah 2012 is produced by Sola Winery, a small Napa winery that purchases premium grapes from various California AVA’s. Their stated mission is to be “the best value wine on the West coast.” They keep their overhead low and their costs down and these small production, boutique wines are priced lower than…
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The Bistrot Tropezien Cotes de Provence Rose’ is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and a little Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Cotes de Provence AOP, the largest of the Provence (Southeast France) wine districts. The Cotes de Provence AOP produces 72.6% of all the wines from Provence and 89.5% of those wines are Rose’. Cinsault and…
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The 2011 Chapelle-St-Arnoux Cotes-du-Rhone Red is a blend of 70% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre, the vineyards used featured vines that where at least 50 years old. This bottle is from the Negociant Eleveur side of Arnoux & Fils, a family owned wine business founded in 1717. A Negociant Eleveur purchases excess wine from existing…
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The 2012 Bodegas Atalaya Laya Red is a blend of 70% Garnacha Tintorera (also called Alicante Bouschet) and 30% Monastrell (also known as Mourvedre) sourced from vineyards in the Almansa D.O. of the Castile-La Mancha region of eastern Spain. Garnacha Tintorera is a hybrid, it is a cross between Garnacha and Petit Bouschet. It was created in…
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The 2011 Tarantas Monastrell is certified organic and Vegan friendly, sourced from organic vineyards near the town of Valencia in the Jumilla DO of Southeastern Spain. Monastrell is also known as Mourvedre (France & the US) and Mataro (Australia) and is the M in GSM wines along with Garnacha and Syrah. The back label of…
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The 2012 Coppola Votre Sante (French for “to your health”) Chateau Red is a blend of Rhone grape varietals, mainly Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre with a few other grapes added in small amount to season the stew, sourced from several California grape growing AVA’s, but primarily from Monterey, the North Coast and Lodi. This blend…
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The Stark Raving Cab (that’s right, Cab, not Cabernet Sauvignon) is a non-vintage Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from grapes grown in the Languedoc region of France, with about 15% Grenache blended in. Stark Raving is a Brand put together by Rosenblum Cellars, a leading producer of California Zinfandel. Value priced wines are often non-vintage to keep…
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The 2010 Wine by Joe Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from contracted vineyards, mainly Willamette Valley with grapes also from Umpqua Valley.This isn’t a cutesy “Brand” wine, there is a Joe, he is Joe Dobbes, since 2002 he has owned and operated Joe Dobbes Wines in Willamette Valley, Oregon. 22 years ago he…
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The 2009 Mazzoni Toscana Rosso is a Super Tuscan blend of 72% Sangiovese and 28% Merlot grown on the Francechi Estate in the Brunello region of Montalcino in Tuscany, Italy. The Brunello region is the prime growing region for the Sangiovese grape and Brunello’s are among the best of Italian wines. Super Tuscan wines came…
Read MoreThe Chateau Amour Red (Medoc) 2009 , a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive (this bottling was produced specifically for Trader Joe’s) is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot grown in estate vineyards in the Medoc region of Bordeaux, France. Chateau Amour is one of Chateau Panigon labels, Chateau Panigon’s usual Bordeaux…
Read MoreThe Flame Lily California Red 2010 is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Syrah sourced from vineyards in 40% Monterey (in the Central Coast AVA) and 60% Lodi Delta (at the North end of the Central Valley, east of San Francisco). Flame Lily is a label owned by Sutter Home Wines who are…
Read MoreThe HobNob Wicked Red is an unusual blend of Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc in the south of France. There are 3 levels of wine in France, the top level is AOC (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, etc), the 2nd is IGP (used to be known as Vin…
Read MoreThe Chateau Poyanne Cotes de Bourg Bordeaux 2009 is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive sourced from Estate grown grapes (The Albert Schweitzer vineyards) in the Côtes de Bourg Appellation about a half hour away from the town of Bordeaux in Southern France. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and while it is…
Read MoreThe Stark Raving Red is a non vintage blend of 34% Tannat, 28% Zinfandel, 18% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petite Sirah and 6% Other (why do they just say “other,” it’s not a field blend, they know what grapes they purchased) sourced from 80% Central Coast AVA and 20% Lodi AVA (which is inside…
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The 2009 Retorno (translates to repay or return) Garnacha is sourced from old vine vineyards (60+ years old) located in the Calatayud D.O. of the Province of Zaragoza in the Aragon region of Spain. The Retorno is designated as a “young” wine in Spain indicating that it receives little or no oak barrel aging, this…
Read MoreThe 2010 Feudo Principi di Butera Insolia is sourced from Estate vineyards in the Butera district of the Caltanissetta Province in the heart of Sicily. Insolia is an indigenous grape grown in Sicily (also in a small area of Tuscany) that in the past was one of the grapes used in making Marsala fortified wine…
Read MoreThe 2008 Vicious Red is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Zinfandel, 19% Petite Sirah and 5% Malbec sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Made by Sobon Family Estates, a top notch, mainly Zinfandel producer out of Amador County in the Sierra Foothills around two hours away from the San Francisco…
Read MoreLovers! In the words of Jim Gaffigan, “Without Valentine’s Day, February would be… well, January!” What should we be drinking with our hotties? Wine, of course – A.K.A. “the ultimate aphrodisiac“. How about Champagne? For Valentines Day it’s a no-brainer. They go hand-in-hand like wine and cheese. Like wine and chocolate. After all, Champagne’s for…
Read MoreThe 2010 Dr Jebediah Drinkwell’s Meritage is a Trader Joe’s ($6.99) exclusive label made for them by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse (a custom wine producer) from grapes grown in Paso Robles, California. They have been making this wine for several years and the blend from 2010 is 44% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec,…
Read MoreThe 2009 Concannon Conservancy Crimson & Clover Red Blend is 50% Petite Sirah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah and 10% Zinfandel sourced from vineyards in the Livermore Valley AVA near San Francisco in Northern California. Concannon Vineyards have quite a history, the founder, James Concannon planted the vineyard from Bordeaux grapevine cuttings in 1883, they…
Read MoreThe Domaine Sainte-Eugenie Le Clos (translates to “enclosed field or vineyard”) is a blend of 45% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Carignan and 20% Grenache grown in Estate vineyards in the Corbieres AOC in the Languedoc, near the Mediterranean Sea in France. For some reason the Le Clos does not conform with the rules and…
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