Send us Fan Mail Noble Vines 181 Merlot 2020-Attack of the 181 Clones The importance of Clones in Grape Varietals cannot be overestimated. Except for value-priced wines, where quality grapes regardless of the clone are King. High-priced Pinot Noir is all based on the proper clone being used. There are vineyards in Bordeaux that have…
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The Noble Vines 181 Merlot 2020 is $7.99 at Costco, anywhere from $8 to $14 online. Nobles Vines is a Delicato Family Vineyards brand that started in Lodi and expanded to Napa Valley and recently purchased Coppola wines in Sonoma. The 181 in the title refers to the number of the Merlot Clone they planted…
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The Rough And Ready Cabernet Franc Vs Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s wine, but in places that don’t have a Trader Joe’s this wine sells for $15 to $18. It is a wine made for Trader Joe’s by Bozzano & Co., they have produced other quality wine for TJ’s in the past….
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Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2021-A Quality 10 Buck Red Blend A Meritage Blend uses the grapes approved for Bordeaux Red Wines. Meritage is a California Organization that promotes Bordeaux grapes, funds studies for vineyard advances, and educates wine drinkers. Wineries must pay a fee to use Meritage on the…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Paso Robles Meritage 2021 is a $9.99 TJ’s exclusive. The back label says this Red was “vinted and bottled by Healdsburg Wine Cellars.” That is a division of Delicato Family Wines, they make Gnarlyhead wines, along with many other brands. They recently purchased Coppola WInes and also have holdings in Napa….
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Send us Fan Mail Cloudline Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2021- Legit Under $20 Pinot Noir After 15 years of writing CheapWineFinder.com, I have figured out that my favorite wines are Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Hey, your CWF why are you promoting expensive Boutique Pinot? Because years of drinking Trader Joe's, Aldi's, and Costco wines have…
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The Outlander Meritage Paso Robles 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive. The Meritage in the name indicates that this is a Bordeaux blend, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec grapes. To be a Meritage wine a license is purchased from the Meritage Alliance. They are an industry group promoting education and working on…
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Send us Fan Mail 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Blanc 2021-Sippin' On Sauvignon Blanc Who knew that Snoop Dogg's Sauvignon Blanc from 19 Crimes is the perfect Patio Pounder wine of the summer of 2023? This wine is rated Medium-Sweet, but it has enough acidity to balance the sugar. This is a Sau Blanc that…
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The 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Blanc 2021 is California Sauvignon Blanc, Cali Blanc is simply Snoop’s name for it. There is a history of calling this grape something other than Sauvignon Blanc. In the 1960s Robert Mondavi tried selling high-end Sauv Blanc and nobody was buying. In those days Sauvignon Blanc was the cheap…
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The Land of the Saints Central Coast Pinot Noir 2021 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from three vineyards one in the Edna Valley AVA, the next in Arroyo Grande AVA, and the Santa Maria Valley all located inside San Luis Obispo County. For reference, Paso Robles is also inside San Luis Obispo County. It is…
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The Tuatea Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine. This wine is imported to the US by WX Imports. It seems this wine sells in places where there is no Trader Joe’s for $13.99. CWF reviewed the 2017 vintage Tuatea and the Fearless Flyer back then mentioned his wine had some oak…
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The Highland 41 Black Granite Paso Robles Red 2020 was picked as the #1 wine in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Value Wines ($15 and under) of 2022. It is widely available but Costco has it for $11.99. It is a blend of 45% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, 15% Malbec, 10% Syrah, and 10% Merlot all…
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The Motif Red Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is a Trader Joe’s $4.99 exclusive. The Red Hills AVA is located inside the Lake County AVA which is north of Napa Valley and east of Mendocino. Clear Lake is the largest lake in California and it is situated in Lake County. The Red Hills AVA is on…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer says this wine would sell for around $25 at a retail wine shop. A quick web check showed a 2017 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon selling in 2023 for a range of $20 to $70. Most wines,…
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The 3 Rein Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 Aldi is a $10.99 Aldi exclusive made for them by Precept Wines, the largest independently owned wine company in the Northwest. Horse Heaven Hills AVA comprises about a fourth of the grapes grown in the Columbia Valley in Washington State. The Horse Heaven Hills AVA is…
Read MoreSend us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Napa Valley Petit Verdot 2021 Never had a Petit Verdot wine? Well, if you had a Bordeaux blend or a California Meritage wine you probably had. Or maybe one of the Petite Petit wines that blend Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah because, why not. This wine is…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Napa Valley Petit Verdot 2021 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Petit Verdot is one of the five grapes approved to be included in the blend for the Red wines of Bordeaux, France. The other Red grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. The name Petit Verdot roughly…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Barbara Syrah 2021 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive. This Syrah is produced by the Miller Family Wine Company they are a fifth-generation wine company that owns 1,500 acres of vineyards in Paso Robles. They are also part of Thornhill Companies which own the acclaimed Bien Nacido and French Camp…
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Send us Fan Mail Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc 2021-Always A Good Value This is a ten-dollar Sauv Blanc from the Columbia Valley. Chateau Ste Michelle is the largest (by far) winery in Washington. This affordable Sauvignon Blanc is more Bordeaux than New Zealand. Which if you want a change of pace Sauv Blanc is…
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The Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petite Verdot, and 8% Merlot sourced from vineyards in the 58% Paso Robles AVA and 42% Lodi AVA. This is a Bordeaux blend. Cycles Gladiator is a project from winemaker Adam LaZarre started in 2005. The brand is part of the Wine Hooligans’ stable…
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The Substance CH Chardonnay 2020 is a brand in winemakers Charles Smith’s House of Smith family of Washington State wines. Those wines span from fairly expensive 100-point wines to value-priced wines. The CH Chardonnay lists for $17, but I found it for $12.99. The Substance CH Chardonnay 2020 was sourced from three vineyards, 70% Frenchmen…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Paso Robles Cabernet Franc 2021 is a Trader Joe’s limited release exclusive. It is produced for Trader Joe’s by the Miller Family Wine Company which also makes Trader Joe’s Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc, also from Paso Robles grapes. The Miller Family Wine Company also owns the Central Coast Wine Warehouse…
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The Petite Sirah vs Petit Verdot Red Blend 2021 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s wine sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA. This is the first wine that I can remember where I was not sure what the name was. It could be Rough & Ready or Two Heavy Hitters or it could be all…
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The Dreaming Tree Pinot Noir 2020 is a collaboration between Dave Matthews (yeah, that Dave Matthews) and New Zealand winemaker Sean McKenzie. This is Pinot Noir sourced from multiple locations in France. French wines are typically sourced from one appellation or a sub-appellation, such as Bordeaux or the Médoc. The vineyards used for a particular…
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Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Reserve North Coast Meritage 2020- A Wine Well Worth Drinking!! A Meritage wine is a Bordeaux-style blend produced in California. A Bordeaux-style blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec grapes. This wine is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. The North Coast AVA…
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