Send us Fan Mail Bread & Butter California Pinot Noir 2024 I found this wine at Trader Joe’s for $11.99; it sells elsewhere for $12 to $16. Bread and Butter is a brand from WX Wines. Bread and Butter has a full portfolio of wines. This Pinot Noir is an excellent value-priced Pinot. It is…
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The Bread & Butter California Pinot Noir 2024 is a wine I found at Trader Joe’s selling for $11.99, though it is available elsewhere in the $12 to $16 range. The Story Bread and Butter is a brand from WX Brands whose portfolio includes Chronic Cellars and Trapiche (Argentina). It is a full line of…
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Send us Fan Mail Method California Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 The podcast goes into detail, but this California Cabernet Sauvignon is a 93-point wine and Wine Enthusiast’s Value Wine of the Year 2025. Multiple wine reviewers give the 2023 vintage 93 points. A ten-buck, 93-point wine is a joy. A 2025 Value Wine of the Year…
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The Method California Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 is a $9.99 wine at Costco, and according to the web is $14 to $20+ elsewhere. The Story The Method brand is a collaboration with Navigator Wine Company (formerly Precept Wine) and Master Sommelier Ian Cauble. The line has two wines: the Method Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and this…
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The Hess Select California Chardonnay 2024 is a wine I found at Trader Joe’s, selling for $10.99. A quick check of the web shows it at a $12 nationwide average. The Story The Hess Select California Chardonnay 2024 is an entry-level wine from Hess Perrson Estates. Donald Hess started the winery in the late 1970s…
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Send us Fan Mail Hess Select California Chardonnay 2024 This is a Chardonnay sourced from all over California. 30% of the juice was both fermented and aged in French oak barrels. Hess has been around since the late 70s, so they have great contacts for purchasing grapes. All that combines to produce an excellent value-priced…
Read MoreSend us Fan Mail Trader Joe’s Brut California Sparkling Wine This is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s Bubbly that is well-made and full of flavor. Mother’s Day is approaching, and Spring Bubbly cocktails time is upon us! Pouring supermarket orange juice into an expensive Champagne seems excessive. But the Trader Joe’s Brut California Sparkling Wine calls…
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The Trader Joe’s Brut California Sparkling Wine is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. It is produced by Rack and Riddle who make most of TJ’s California Bubbly. The Story The Trader Joe’s Brut California Sparkling Wine is not a Reserve or Grand Reserve wine, but a plain old Trader Joe’s wine. We already have North…
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Send us Fan Mail Bear Bros California Chardonnay 2024 Another wine in Aldi’s Bear Bros line of California wines. All well under ten bucks. His wine was not my favorite, but you may have a different opinion. I thought it had too much vanilla, but you may think it was just right. Check us out…
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The Bear Bros California Chardonnay 2024 is a $7.55 Aldi exclusive. Aldi owns the Trademark on the name and has had different wineries make each Bear Bros vintage. The Story The Bear Bros California Chardonnay 2024 looks like it was produced by a division of Trinchero Family Wines and Sutter Home. Trinchero Family is a…
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Send us Fan Mail Aldi California Heritage Brut Sparkling E & J Gallo have been producing cheap Bubbly for decadesm they know what they are doing, Inexpensive wine has never been of a higher quality. Aldi is offering cheap Bubbles that are extremely drinkable. They won't make you forget about Champagne, but they will make…
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The Aldi California Heritage Brut Sparkling is a $4.85 non-vintage Bubbly. It is produced for Aldi by E & J Gallo, who have plenty of experience with bargain Bubble with the Andre, Balatore, and Barefoot. The Story This is a revisit. We reviewed this Sparkling wine in February 2024 and found it to be very…
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Send us Fan Mail Angeline Vineyards California Pinot Noir 2024 This is a value-priced Pinot Noir, a brand from Martin Ray Winery, a family-owned wine business since 1990. Angeline Vineyards has also been around since 1990. This is a wine I found at Trader Joe's for $9.99; it should be available everywhere. It is a…
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The Angeline Vineyards California Pinot Noir 2024 is a wine I discovered at Trader Joe’s, priced at $9.99. It is widely available in wine shops across the US and can be found on the wine list for $15 on the company’s website. The Story Angeline Vineyards is a brand from Martin Ray Winery. The original…
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Send us Fan Mail Imagery California Pinot Noir 2023 This is a Pinot Noir that comes in a round-about way from Benzinger Family Wines and The Wine Group! The Wine Group has 125+ brands. This is a Pinot Noir that is fuller-bodied than the typical California Pinot Noir. Not in Meoimi Territory, but full of…
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The Imagery California Pinot Noir 2023 is a wine I found selling for $12.99; the Imagery website lists its price as $25. This is a brand from The Wine Group and Benziger Family Winery. The Story Benziger Family Vineyards has been producing biodynamic and organic wines since 1995. Today, they are part of The Wine…
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Send us Fan Mail Korbel California Champagne Brut This is a Bubbly from a California winery in business since the 1880s and a family-owned winery since 1954. They are legally allowed to call their Bubbly Champagne. This Brut lists for $14 and is often on sale. Want a good Bubbly, but money is tight, Korbel…
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The Korbel California Champagne Brut is a Sparkling wine that should be found for under $14. Korbel has the legal right to call itself a Champagne since it was grandfathered in after the French enforced their trademark a few decades ago. The Story Korbel was founded by three Korbel brothers in the Russian River region…
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Send us Fan Mail Elliot Cooper sounds like the guy who was in your gym class. It is a non-vintage wine that does not sound too promising. But it is actually a very good California Chardonnay. It drinks well, is versatile, and did I say it drinks well? Non-vintage wine from Aldi, and you expect…
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The Elliot Cooper California Chardonnay is a non-vintage $10 Aldi exclusive. Aldi owns the brand name, but a subsidiary of Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits produced the wine. The Story Aldi tends to own the brand names in case the need to change the producer arises. A popular product can continue and have several producers…
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Send us Fan Mail Expecting a brooding beast from a “dark red blend”? We pop Intermingle California Dark Red 2023 from Aldi and find something better: a calm, balanced, mid-weight red that drinks clean, pairs easily, and costs just $6.99. We walk through the blend—Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Sirah—exploring how inky color can still…
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The Intermingle California Dark Red Blend 2023 is a $6.99 Aldi exclusive. The Story The Intermingle brand is produced for Aldi by a division of Sutter Home Family Vineyards. Sutter Home was founded in 1890, and the original owners operated the winery until the onset of Prohibition. In 1948, the winery and vineyards were acquired…
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The Bonflor California Organic Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 is a $7.99 wine found at Aldi stores. The name Bonflor translates to “Good Flower, which is “likely a reference to the type of plants grown in the organic vineyard to attract the kinds of insects and birds that feed on the insects detrimental to the vines. The…
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Send us Fan Mail Ever wonder if you’re overpaying for sparkling wine? That’s exactly what crossed my mind while sipping the surprisingly sophisticated Peaks and Tides Sonoma Brut from Aldi. At just $13.99, this California sparkler challenges everything you think you know about budget bubbles. I stumbled upon this gem during a routine Aldi visit,…
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The Bear Bros. The California Sauvignon Blanc 2023 is an Aldi exclusive, priced at $7.99. I checked the California Wine Club Registry and found that an entity of Sutter Home was involved in the production. The Story Sutter Home wines are part of the Trinchero Family of Wine and Spirits. Sutter Home typically sells non-vintage…
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