The Poppy Chardonnay 2013 is sourced from the Poppy estate Highland Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA inside the Monterey AVA, which is part of the larger Central Coast AVA. The Santa Lucia Highlands AVA is located in the foothills east of the coastal Santa Lucia Range and on the western side of the Salinas…
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The Heartswork Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is a certified USDA Organic with no detectable sulfites, available at ALDI and some other wine shops for $6.99. This Cabernet is sourced from certified organic vineyards located in more than 1 California grape growing AVA (in California, if 75% of the grapes were farmed in one AVA, then that…
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The Vinas Chilenas Sauvignon Blanc 2015 is a $4.49 Trader Joe’s exclusive brand sourced from grapes grown in Chile’s Central Valley. The Central Valley lies in between the Chilean Coastal Mountain Range and the Andes Mountains, it is a warm area with intense sunlight and a long growing season. This is a young wine, meaning…
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The Peirano Heritage Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from 50 year old vines grown in Peirano Estate vineyards in Lodi, California. Peirano Estate Vineyards is family owned and was founded in 1895. Lodi is a little south and east of Napa Valley, it is an inland AVA and has a Mediterranean…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Paso Robles Zinfandel 2013 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from 3 sections of a single vineyard in Paso Robles, California. A different Zinfandel clone was grown in each section, so this Zin is a blend of three Zinfandel variants. The back label says this wine was “vinted and…
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The Granite Coast Vineyards Red Blend 2013 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, estate grown and produced in Monterey, California. Granite Coast Vineyards seems to be a brand name and not an actual vineyard and winery, so if you want to know which estate grew the grapes and made the wine, look up wineries in…
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The Beso de Vino Old Vine Garnacha 2014 (translates to kiss of wine) is sourced from 40 year old vines grown near the town of Aguarón in the Carinena DO of the Aragon Province in northeast Spain. This is a wine that you should be able to find for ten dollars or less, but it…
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The Chiare Blanc de Blancs 2014 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive (this is a seasonal Sparkling wine that sold for $9.99 during the holidays) made from Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Muscat grapes grown in Monterey County, California. This is a Sparkling wine produced with the Charmat Method, the same technique used to make Prosecco. The…
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The IL Nespoli Sangiovese 2012 is 100% Sangiovese sourced from Poderi dal Nespoli 1929 (name refers to the year the winery was founded) family owned estate vineyards located near the village of Nespoli in the Romagna region of Emilia-Romagna in north-central Italy. Emilia-Romagna is the part of Italy where Ferrari, Maserati and most of the…
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The Poderi dal Nespoli Pagadebit 2014 is 90% Bombino Bianco and 10% Sauvignon Blanc sourced from Poderi dal Nespoli 1929 (the winery, which was founded in 1929) DOC vineyards, located in the Hills of Forli area of Romagna, Italy. There are hundreds of different White grape varietals in Italy, each region and almost every town…
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The Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon with a 10% of a mix of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot sourced mainly from vineyards in the Lodi AVA, along with grapes from the Sacramento Delta and the San Joaquin Valley. These are inland growing regions that receive cooling breezes coming in from the…
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The Crystal Creek Cellars Chardonnay 2014 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. In checking around the internet, it seems that Crystal Creek is produced for ALDI by a reputable wine company located in the Northwest. For years, I have read that ALDI wines routinely win awards…
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The Alias Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Syrah sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Alias Wines started off as a side project for a group of 8 young California winemakers, they called themselves the Gang of 8. They all had friends and contacts with growers and wineries…
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The Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2014 is produced from the Gamay grape sourced from long-term contract growers in the Beaujolais-Villages AOC and from Louis Jadot Beaujolais Cru vineyards near the village of Régnié. Gamay is a cousin of the Pinot Noir grape and has been grown in the region since the 1300s. In France, wine is categorized by…
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The Pillar Heights Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 is an $8.99 ALDI exclusive, produced for them by Turn Key Wine Brands. Turn Key is a private label winery with vineyards in Paso Robles and Santa Barbara, along with contracts with other growers. Paso Robles is located inside the Central Coast AVA, about half way between Los…
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The Bouchaine Carneros Pinot Noir 2011 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive, just the 2011 vintage, the other vintages are available elsewhere at the regular price (list price is $35). The 2011 Bouchaine Pinot Noir comes from their Estate vineyard (and 3 other Carneros growers) on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA (Carneros is…
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The Trader Joe’s Sonoma County Brut Rosé is a $9.99 blend of 84% Pinot Noir and 16% Pinot Meunier produced for TJ’s by Rack and Riddle, a custom Sparkling Wine facility located in Sonoma, California. Pinot Meunier is a grape that is routinely used in Champagne, but does not get star billing like the other…
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The Kamiak Rock Lake Red 2012 is a blend of 53% Syrah, 44% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. Kamiak is the entry-level label for Gordon Estates, a family owned winery founded in 1980. Gordon Estate is known for estate grown and produced wines made under…
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The Leer Vineyards Valiant White is a non-vintage Moscato sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. The Valiant White and the Heroic Red Blend were created to support the Military Warriors Support Foundation provide mortgage free and tax-free homes for combat wounded veterans. A portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold go…
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The Leer Vineyards Heroic Red is a non-vintage blend of 58% Syrah, 29% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several California grape growing AVA’s. That is the particulars on this bottle of wine, but that is not the story here. The Leer Family and Leer Vineyards (Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay…
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The Blue Nun Winemaker’s Passion Riesling 2014 is sourced from Qualitätswein (translate to quality wine, the top German quality category) vineyards in the Rheinhessen region of Germany. The Blue Nun brand started in 1923 with the 1921 vintage. It was created to simplify German wine for wine drinkers outside of Germany who couldn’t read the…
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The Cycle Buff Beauty Shiraz Malbec 2013 is 90% Shiraz, sourced from 2 vineyards in McLaren Vale and 1 in Clare Valley and 10% Malbec sourced from a single vineyard in Clare Valley, both a part of the South Australia growing region. Shiraz (Shiraz and Syrah are two different names for the same grape) and…
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The Casillero del Diablo Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2015 is sourced from the Casablanca Valley, Rapel Valley and the Limari Valley, each in a different growing region of Chile. This is a young wine, the grapes were picked in 2015 and it is still December 2015. Sauvignon Blanc does well as a young wine, meaning a…
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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 Cotillion Pinot Noir 2013 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in 60% Monterey County, 24% Sonoma County and 16% Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County is about an hour north of Los Angles, Monterey County is north of Paso Robles and both are part of the Central Coast AVA. Sonoma County…
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