The Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is the first winery to plant Sauvignon Blanc grapes in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand’s South Island. In 1973 the Montana Winery (now Brancott Estates) planted the first Sauv Blanc vineyard, and by 1979 they had their first wine. The rest, as they say, is history. Brancott Estates…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Prophecy Pinot Noir 2019 – Everyday Pinot With A Fancy Label Can you choose a book by the cover? No, because all that came before the age of marketing and focus groups and the rise of social media. Can you choose a wine by its label? It seems you can. Check…
Read More
The Prophecy Pinot Noir 2019 is an $11 or $12 wine available at supermarkets and wine shops. The Prophecy brand is one of E and J Gallo’s large family of wines. The first thing of interest you notice about these wines is the labels designed by Victo Ngai, a talented illustrator from Hong Kong. She…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Pichilemu Sauvignon Blanc 2020 – Bang For The Buck TJ’s Chilean White Check us out at http://www.cheapwinefinder.com or email us at [email protected] Pichilemu Sauvignon Blanc 2020 – Bang For The Buck TJ’s Chilean White A $6.99 Trader Joe’s Sauvignon Blanc. You expect a nice juicy White wine, but the Pichilemu Sauvignon…
Read More
The Pichilemu Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine. The wine is made by Viña Marchigue, a family-owned winery located in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. The winery also owns vineyards in the Curico Valley, located near the middle of the Central Valley in Chile. The Curico Valley is in between the…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Elementalist Pinot Grigio – $7 ALDI Summer Cooler I drink a lot of wine. Ok, don't judge me. Just kidding, I don't care. But the wine reality is that when you drink expensive wine, and it gives you exactly what you expect, it is nice! When you drink an inexpensive wine…
Read More
The Elementalist Pinot Grigio 2020 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive wine sourced from multiple vineyards in California. ALDI does not give out technical information concerning this wine. It did wine some best new products of the 2021 award, but since we are just over halfway through 2021, it seems early to issue that sort of…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon – Pick A Wine By The Label? I like the label for this Cab! Check out ww.cheapwinefinder.com to see it. Most of the world's great wine regions are located in river valleys or the foothills to mountains. Hillsides are important. The label for the Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet…
Read More
The Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is sourced from several California AVAs, but all the vineyards are located on hillsides. Hillsides are nothing new for wine vineyards; most grape-growing locations are river valleys or foothills of mountains. But, hillsides offer some unique advantages in farming grapes. Vines planted on the side of a hill or…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Mark West Pinot Noir 2018 – In Search Of Cheap Pinot This is a podcast with a story that goes beyond a wine review. Constellation Brands, a huge wine and spirits company, sold its value-priced wine portfolio to E and J Gallo, the largest wine company in America, for over a…
Read More
The Mark West Pinot Noir 2018 is sourced from several California grape-growing AVAs. It is a brand that has been around since the 1990s and had been the top-selling Pinot Noir in the US. Mark West is a brand that specializes in value-priced Pinot Noir. This is their taste of California blend, but they have…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020 – Why Russian River? Trader Joe's often has these fancy AVA wines at a bargain price. Are they really $20 wines selling for $10? Well, sometimes, but not always. Check out http://www.cheapwinefinder.com for the full story! Check us out at http://www.cheapwinefinder.com or email us…
Read More
The Trader Joe’s Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s wine made for them by Owl Creek Wine Services, a custom wine company operating in the Russian River AVA for the last 12 years. The Russian River AVA is located near the Pacific Ocean. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west and closer…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Flora and Stone Merlot – The Return Of Merlot? This is a $6.99 non-vintage wine from ALDI. From 1990 to 2010, Merlot rivaled Cabernet Sauvignon as the top-selling Red wine in America. But that was then, and this is now. They grow more Pinot Gris/Grigio in California than Merlot (as of…
Read More
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…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail 223 Grenache 2020 – A Tasty & Cheap French Red Ok, here are the details. $6.99 @Trader Joe's but $13 to $16 in Europe. A Vin de Pays d'Oc wine from vineyards around a single village in the Languedoc. Grenache is a Cheapwinefinder secret to quality value-priced Red wine. Check out…
Read More
The 223 Grenache 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine in the USofA, though it is available at wine shops outside the US in the $13 to $16 range. This is 100% Grenache sourced from vineyards near and around the village of Cébazan in the Languedoc region of southeast France. The 223 in the name…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail RSVP Brut Sparkling Wine in 2021-TJ's $7 Champagne-Style Summer Bubbly A California Traditional Method Champagne-Style Bubbly for $6.99? Does it taste good? Yes! A real Champagne bottle and a real cork? Yes! But, at $6.99, none of the fancy Champagne marketing stuff. Stick it in an ice bucket, pour it into…
Read More
The RSVP Brut Sparkling Wine in 2021 is a revisit of a Sparkling wine we reviewed in 2019 (also 2010). It is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s Traditional Method Sparkling wine. It is made for Trader Joe’s by Bronco Wine Company, the same folks behind Charles Shaw wines (2 Buck Chuck), and many other brands. The…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Crossbow Carneros Pinot Noir 2018 – $45 going for $15? Normally we talk about a $10 wine that tastes like $20. But with the Crossbow Pinot is a $45 wine that tastes like a $45 wine but is on sale for $15. Even if you are not a Pinot Noir fan,…
Read More
The Crossbow Carneros Pinot Noir 2018 is one of the Shannon Family of Wines, Shannon Ridge is the winery, and they are located in the Lake County AVA of Northern California. Shannon Ridge was founded in 1995. Lake County is directly north of Napa Valley, and the Shannon Ridge vineyards are only 35 miles away…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay 2019 – The Best Cheap Chardonnay? Here is one of the weird things about writing about affordable wine. A $100 wine that brings it is like, well, of course, it costs $100. A $3.99 wine that brings it is a revelation! Is that wrong? Rocking it cheap…
Read More
The Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2019 is a perennial CheapWineFinder favorite. This is a wine that has been around since the early 1980s. Lindeman’s was one of Australia’s first wineries founded in the 1840s, but the winery no longer exists, and Lindeman’s is a brand wine. The leading wine seller in Chicago and the surrounding…
Read More
Send us Fan Mail Cocobon Roasted Oak Red Blend – Would Wood Make A Difference? A Red Blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah aged “on” toasted French oak. $6.99 at Trader Joe's, but available elsewhere for around the same price. There are 3 Cocobon Red Blend wines; this is where the winemaker shows off…
Read More
The Cocobon Roasted Oak Red Blend is a non-vintage blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in several California grape-growing AVAs. This wine is available at Trader Joe’s for $6.99, and it is also available at retail wine shops for a similar price. Cocobon is a brand from The Wine Group, which…
Read More
