Send us Fan Mail Freakshow Red Blend 2019-Freaks Come Out At Night A big, bold, flavorful Red wine from Michael & David of Lodi, California I choose this wine as a Halloween party wine, but it is much more than that. This is a solid, well-made Red blend that can compete with wines twice the…
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The Freakshow Red Blend 2019 is a blend of 59% Syrah, 37% Petite Sirah, and Souzao (a blending grape mainly used in making Port wine) sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Lodi AVA. FreakShow is a line of wine from Michael and David Phillips, fifth-generation growers (the 6th generation is also part of the…
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Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Russian River Pinot Noir 2020 is an exclusive wine of $12.99 Trader Joe’s. This Pinot was produced for Trader Joe’s by MWK Wine Consulting, a private label winemaker. This wine is 100% Pinot Noir, which is nice to see when Petite Sirah and Syrah are added to give Pinot Noir some…
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The Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier 2020 is 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Viognier. The Chenin Blanc is sourced from ten plots in contracted growers in the Clarksburg AVA; the Viognier uses vineyards in the Lodi AVA. Both Clarksburg and Lodi are situated inside the greater Central Valley AVA. The bulk of California wines come…
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The Game Day Rosé 2020 is a $6.99 ALDI wine. ALDI typically owns the trademark to their brand names, but that is not the case here. The producer’s name, Cattlemen Ridge Wine, is owned by a large family-owned winery headquartered in Greenfield in Monterey, California. The Greenfield winery makes several wines for ALDI and Trader…
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The Michael and David Petite Petit 2019 is 85% Petite Sirah, and 15% Petit Verdot sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA of California. This is technically a Petite Sirah single varietal wine since more than 75% of this wine is Petite Sirah. But the Petite Petit name is more fun. Michael and David Phillips…
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The Grifone Primitivo 2020 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards in Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot. The Primitivo grape and the Zinfandel grape are two separate clones of a grape from Croatia named Crljenak Kasteljanski. That grape is extremely obscure, so, amazingly, it found its way to Italy and California,…
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The Gruet Sauvage Rosé Bubbly is 100% Pinot Noir produced from grapes grown in New Mexico, Washington, and California. The Sauvage is a French word meaning wild and free, outside of modern society, something in its natural state. This Bubbly is a no dosage Sparkling wine. The dosage is typically the last production detail performed…
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Send us Fan Mail Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay- Drink Like The French This is a Burgundian Chardonnay from Louis Jadot, a producer in the wine business since the 1850s. The wine sells for around $13, less on sale, and they make enough to find this wine in grocery stores and wine shops. Even California Chardonnay…
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The Louis Jadot 2020 Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay is sourced from vineyards in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy in France. Chardonnay is THE grape of this area in southern Burgundy. For reference, Beaujolais is the southernmost region of Burgundy and Champagne in the north. Loius Jadot has been in the wine business since the 1850s. They traditionally purchased…
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Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Reserve Dry Creek Zinfandel 2020-A Tale Of Fire & Smoke? There seem to be fires in California wine country every year. In 2020, Dry Creek AVA had its fire and smoke issues. So is this Trader Joe's Reserve Dry Creek Zinfandel 2020-A Tale Of Fire & Smoke? and smoke…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Dry Creek Zinfandel 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. TJ’s sells many versions of these Reserve wines every year. They are wines sourced from vineyards in high-end AVAs that sell at a bargain price. You never get much information on the wine, so just how exclusive these vineyards are never…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Central Coast Rosé 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Petit Reserve designation indicates that this is a one-time deal with limited quantities. These Trader Joe’s Reserve wines are California versions of French Negociant wines. A Negociant buys leftover or excess wine from wineries and sells them under their…
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The Franciscan Monterey Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a wine with a very particular story. The Franciscan winery was founded in the 1970s, started with humble beginnings, and rose to become a well-respected winery. Over the years, ownership has changed hands several times, and the last change is the subject of this story. Franciscan Estates is…
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The Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is the first winery to plant Sauvignon Blanc grapes in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand’s South Island. In 1973 the Montana Winery (now Brancott Estates) planted the first Sauv Blanc vineyard, and by 1979 they had their first wine. The rest, as they say, is history. Brancott Estates…
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The Prophecy Pinot Noir 2019 is an $11 or $12 wine available at supermarkets and wine shops. The Prophecy brand is one of E and J Gallo’s large family of wines. The first thing of interest you notice about these wines is the labels designed by Victo Ngai, a talented illustrator from Hong Kong. She…
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The Pichilemu Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine. The wine is made by Viña Marchigue, a family-owned winery located in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. The winery also owns vineyards in the Curico Valley, located near the middle of the Central Valley in Chile. The Curico Valley is in between the…
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The Elementalist Pinot Grigio 2020 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive wine sourced from multiple vineyards in California. ALDI does not give out technical information concerning this wine. It did wine some best new products of the 2021 award, but since we are just over halfway through 2021, it seems early to issue that sort of…
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The Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is sourced from several California AVAs, but all the vineyards are located on hillsides. Hillsides are nothing new for wine vineyards; most grape-growing locations are river valleys or foothills of mountains. But, hillsides offer some unique advantages in farming grapes. Vines planted on the side of a hill or…
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The Mark West Pinot Noir 2018 is sourced from several California grape-growing AVAs. It is a brand that has been around since the 1990s and had been the top-selling Pinot Noir in the US. Mark West is a brand that specializes in value-priced Pinot Noir. This is their taste of California blend, but they have…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s wine made for them by Owl Creek Wine Services, a custom wine company operating in the Russian River AVA for the last 12 years. The Russian River AVA is located near the Pacific Ocean. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west and closer…
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Send us Fan Mail Flora and Stone Merlot – The Return Of Merlot? This is a $6.99 non-vintage wine from ALDI. From 1990 to 2010, Merlot rivaled Cabernet Sauvignon as the top-selling Red wine in America. But that was then, and this is now. They grow more Pinot Gris/Grigio in California than Merlot (as of…
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The Flora and Stone Merlot in 2021 is a $6.99 non-vintage ALDI wine from California. An inexpensive budget supermarket wine normally does not inspire a great deal of confidence. But we recently reviewed the Flora and Stone Gewürztraminer, a $4.99 non-vintage wine, and it was an enjoyable drink. Flora and Stone wines are made by…
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The 223 Grenache 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine in the USofA, though it is available at wine shops outside the US in the $13 to $16 range. This is 100% Grenache sourced from vineyards near and around the village of Cébazan in the Languedoc region of southeast France. The 223 in the name…
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Send us Fan Mail RSVP Brut Sparkling Wine in 2021-TJ's $7 Champagne-Style Summer Bubbly A California Traditional Method Champagne-Style Bubbly for $6.99? Does it taste good? Yes! A real Champagne bottle and a real cork? Yes! But, at $6.99, none of the fancy Champagne marketing stuff. Stick it in an ice bucket, pour it into…
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