Send us Fan Mail Motif Red Hills Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon 2022-New Vintage Of TJ's Wonder $5 Red This is a $4.99 wine. Lake County is the AVA that is on the Northern border of Napa County! Red Hills is located on the southern side of Clear Lake, the largest lake in California. The…
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The Motif Red Hills Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s USA exclusive, it seems to be available for export for between $10 and $15. CWF reviewed the 2020 vintage and was impressed. The Red Hills AVA is located in the southern section of Lake County which is just north of Napa…
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The Liberte San Luis Obispo Pinot Noir 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine has been available at Trader Joe’s since at least 2017, here is a link to the 2017 vintage. The name of the producing winery was obscured in the past, but today this wine has its own website, and Ancient…
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The Peaks & Tides Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is a brand that Aldi has every year. Here is a link to a review for the 2021 vintage. In the 2021 review, we identified the producer, but Aldi hid its tracks this time. Aldi owns the Brand name, that…
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Send us Fan Mail Le Grand Noir Chardonnay 2022- Costco's Ten-Dollar Summer Sipper This wine is 85% Chardonnay and 15% Viognier from the IGP Languedoc region of SouthWest France. The Viognier changes everything. Viognier is often added to give the wine some ZIP or to add a beautiful fragrance to the wine. Here it adds…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma County Blanc de Blancs 2021 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. This wine is not to be confused with the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve and Platinum Reserve Sonoma and North Coast Sparkling wines from the last two years. Blanc de Blancs translates to white from white meaning a Champagne or…
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The Acacia Carneros Pinot Noir 2020 sells for $12.99 at Costco and I have seen it at $35 but is more likely found for around $20. Acacia Vineyards was founded in the Carneros AVA in 1979 and was one of the first Pinot Noir wineries in the region. Acacia has changed ownership several times over…
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The Claude Manciat Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022 is $12.69 at Costco and $17 to $23 elsewhere. Bourgogne is what we call Burgundy, the home of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Claude Manciat is a family-owned winery founded in the 1890s, and today has 55 acres of vineyards around the region. This small winery does not have a…
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The Trader Joe’s Growers Reserve Organic Chardonnay 2023 is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive made from certified organic grapes farmed in California. The back label states this wine was vinted and bottled by ASV Wines. ASV Wines is a family-owned wine business with over 50 years of experience and started converting its vineyards to organic…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Moulis-En-Modec Bordeaux 2022 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. The Moulis-en-Modec is an AOC on the Left Bank in Bordeaux. The Left Bank is primarily, though not exclusively, a Cabernet Sauvignon growing region. Since Trader Joe’s does not provide details does not provide details on the making of this…
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The Scarlet Path Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel 2021 is a $7.99 exclusive wine at Aldi. It is produced by some segment of a large sustainably farmed family-owned vineyards and winery from Monterey California. They have a branch that makes contracted brands and several Aldi wines. Lodi is located in the Central Valley of California, and…
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The Mark West Pinot Noir 2021 is the largest selling under $15 Pinot Noir for 15 years straight. It is a wine I found with a rebate for $4.99 but typically is priced for about ten bucks. Mark West Winery was founded in 1978 as a Pinot Noir-based company. They are now owned by E…
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Send us Fan Mail Kate Arnold Columbia Valley Riesling 2022-A Bottle of Columbia Valley Goodness This is a new winery from some California wine veterans. They offer wines from the North Coast in California, the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and a couple of Columbia Valley Washington wines. Columbia Valley Riesling is a favorite of mine….
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The Kate Arnold Columbia Valley Riesling 2022 is a wine I found in Chicago selling for $11.99, a quick check of the web saw prices from $10 to $15. Kate Arnold Wines is a family-owned winery located in Kelseyville, Ca. in Lake County. Kate and Jean Arnold are co-owners, they feature a Sauvignon from the…
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The Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot sourced from several Northern and Central California AVAs. decoy is a second label from Duckhorn Vineyards, founded by Dan and Margret Duckhorn in Napa in 1976, and has been an elite winery ever since. This is very intentionally sourced wine the AVAs include…
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Send us Fan Mail Florifity French Rosé 2023-Aldi-$7.99-Pretty Good This is a French Rosé with very California production details. We do not know where exactly the grapes were grown, we don't even know which grapes are used! This is very un-French. What it is is vegan-friendly certified organic and very tasty! For all the necessary…
Read MoreSend us Fan Mail Outlander Paso Robles Meritage 2022-Aldi-$8 Of Juicy Goodness If you like your California Bordeaux ripe and juicy this is your wine. It is a Blend Of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Merlot, the only Bordeaux-approved grape missing is Cabernet Franc. Meritage is a California organization dedicated to the research and…
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The Outlander Paso Robles Meritage 2022 is a $7.99 Aldi exclusive, Aldi has trademarked the Outlander name. It is produced by a winery located in Greenfield, California, (Monterey AVA) which happens to be the home of a family-owned winery in business since 1972. A Meritage (rhymes with heritage) wine is a California wine that exclusively…
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The Embroidery Monterey Pinot Noir 2021 is a $6.89 wine at Costco. The .89 indicates that this is a special price and may not last. This wine is produced by Precision Wine Company, located in Napa, California. They have about 25 brands and make wine for Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Costco. The Monterey County AVA…
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Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Saint-Emilion 2022-The Best $15 Merlot? Saint-Emilion is a village on the Right Bank in Bordeaux and they do Merlot, between them and Pomerol they produce what may be the best Merlot in the world. American value-priced wine drinkers barely know what Merlot is. There are plenty of…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Saint-Emilion 2022 is a 414.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive. Saint-Emilion is on the Right Bank of the Garonne River in Bordeaux and along with nearby Pomerol is arguably the best place in the world to grow Merlot. The Merlot grape comprises 79% of the vines, 15% of Cabernet Franc, and…
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Send us Fan Mail Aldi's Specially Selected Napa Valley Chardonnay 2021-Aldi Is Killing It! This is a $10.99 Napa Valley Chardonnay, big deal, right? Napa is about place and people and this Chardonnay is Napa generic. Is that Bad? No, not when the wine is $10.99. It tastes like Napa and costs like California. For…
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The Porto 6 Vinho Tinto 2021 (Vinho Tinto translates to Red Wine) is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 import exclusive sourced from vineyards in Lisboa Portugal. Lisboa is a region along the northern Atlantic coast near Lisbon. It is a large wine region with several sub-regions inside. Porto 6 Vinho Tinto 2021 is produced by Vidigal…
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The Juggernaut Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a wine brand from Bogle Family Vineyards of Clarksburg, California. It is a wine I found for $14.99 at a local wine shop. The Sonoma Coast AVA is the most westward AVA in California and runs to Mendocino. It features rugged Coastal Mountain valleys and is a cool climate…
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The Babs Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2020 is a $15.99 wine at Costco, $25 to $35 elsewhere. Babs is a project by John Wagner, he owns Peake Ranch Winery with three vineyards two in the Santa Rita Hills AVA and one in the Santa Maria AVA, all within Santa Barbara County and all very high-end…
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