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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The Gruet Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine is a Pinot Noir-based Champagne-style non-vintage Sparkling wine from Sante Fe, New Mexico. This is a Sparkling wine that should be found selling for around $15, I found it on sale for $13.99 and Brut means dry or not sweet. Gilbert Gruet had a Champagne House in Champagne France…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Russian River Chardonnay is a $12.99 Trader exclusive produced with grapes from the Russian River Valley AVA in Sonoma County. The back label says this wine was “vinted and bottled by”Aril WInes of Oakville, Napa. They are a small boutique high-end winery with winemakers from Turley and Silver Oak. Vinted…
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The Loudenotte Pays D’Oc Pinot Noir 2022 is a $.6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, it is $12 in places that TJ’s does not cover. D’Oc indicates that this wine is from the Languedoc in France. This wine has been available at Trader Joe’s for several vintages. Here is a link to the 2018 version. The Languedoc…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve SLO County Chardonnay 2022 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Miller Family Wine Company. The SLO in the title is San Luis Obispo which is in the middle of California’s Central Coast AVA, inside the SLO AVA in Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Arroyo Secco, and the San…
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Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Grand Reserve San Luis Obispo Coast Pinot Noir 2022-A $13 SLO Pinot Noir San Luis Obispo County which included Paso Robles, Edna Valley, and Arroyo Secco AVAs got repositioned. The San Luis Obispo Coast AVA was organized in 2022 and included Edna Valley and Arroyo Secco, these are some…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve San Luis Obispo Coast Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The San Luis Obispo Coast AVA is new, founded in 2022, and includes the Edna Valley AVA and the Arroyo Secco AVA. These are all cool climate AVAs. Paso Robles is more inland and specializes in warm-weather…
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Send us Fan Mail Rolling Mist Cabernet Sauvignon-A New $9 Wine From Aldi This is a non-vintage California wine that was made by some part of E & J Gallo for Aldi. Why is it a non-vintage wine? They do not explain, they do not offer any information. So check out https://cheapwinefinder.com/ and listen to the PODCAST…
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The Rolling Mist Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage $8.99 ALdi exclusive made by some division of E & J Gallo of Modesto, California. Neither Aldi nor Gallo offer any information concerning this wine. The back label mentions blackberry, which is a flavor characteristic of Cabernet Sauvignon, and oak spice and vanilla which are oak influences…
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The Aldi Hwy 5 Chardonnay 2021 is a $4.99 Aldi exclusive made by a company from Modesto, California which means some entity of E & J Gallo produced this brand. This is Aldi’s answer to Charles Shaw wine (2 Buck Chuck) from Trader Joe’s. Last summer we did a cheap Chardonnay shoot-out, Charles Shaw, Hwy…
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The Trader Joe’s Coastal Merlot 2022 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The winery of record on the back label is Castoro Cellars from Paso Robles, California. The label says “vinted and bottled by” which does not mean that much anymore. A winery and its equipment may be organized into one entity or LLC, the…
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The Chronic Cellars Suite Petite Petite Sirah 2021 is sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles in California’s Central Coast AVA. It is 90% Petite Sirah and 10% Syrah. This brand was founded (in 2004) by the Beckett Brothers, the sons of Doug Beckett who was the owner of Peachy Canyon Wines, one of the folks…
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