The RSVP Brut Sparkling Wine in 2021 is a revisit of a Sparkling wine we reviewed in 2019 (also 2010). It is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s Traditional Method Sparkling wine. It is made for Trader Joe’s by Bronco Wine Company, the same folks behind Charles Shaw wines (2 Buck Chuck), and many other brands. The…
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The Crossbow Carneros Pinot Noir 2018 is one of the Shannon Family of Wines, Shannon Ridge is the winery, and they are located in the Lake County AVA of Northern California. Shannon Ridge was founded in 1995. Lake County is directly north of Napa Valley, and the Shannon Ridge vineyards are only 35 miles away…
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The Cocobon Roasted Oak Red Blend is a non-vintage blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in several California grape-growing AVAs. This wine is available at Trader Joe’s for $6.99, and it is also available at retail wine shops for a similar price. Cocobon is a brand from The Wine Group, which…
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The Slim Vine Light Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, and it seems to be related to the ALDI $7.99 Don’t Mind If I Do Sauvignon Blanc 2020. Both wines are from a producer based in Greenfield, California (Monterey AVA). They also have a few details in common, such as 85 calories,…
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Send us Fan Mail Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 – Affordable, Interesting, Whimsical, Excellent Ok, students…today's lesson is California Chardonnay. No, not the oak barrel Chardonnay, unoaked Chardonnay. The Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 is one of the original unoaked Chardonnay. It sees no oak, no “on lees” (check out www,cheapwinefinder.com to see what that…
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The Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 subtitled Francine’s Selection is sourced from long-term contracts with family-owned vineyards in Mendocino County AVA in Northern California. Toad Hollow winery was founded in 1993 by Todd Williams and Rodney Strong. Rodney Strong had been a Broadway choreographer and owned a winery bearing his name. Todd Williams passed away…
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The Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2019 is a taste of Oregon Pinot, sourced from several AVAs inside the state. The Oregon version of wine from California simply California on the label as the place of origin. When folks think of Oregon Pinot Noir, they usually think of Willamette Valley, but there is more to Oregon…
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The Bear Bros Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive made for them by a large family-owned winery based in Monterey, California. The origin of the grapes on the label says California, which means the Central Coast AVA and/or the North Coast AVA or Central Valley AVA. ALDI sells several wines made by this…
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The Decoy Brut Cuvée is a blend of 49% Pinot Noir, 47% Chardonnay, and 4% Pinot Meunier sourced from vineyards in several locations in California. Decoy is one of Duckhorn Vineyards’ wines; they are a high-end winery founded by Dan and Margret Duckhorn in 1976. The Decoy line of wines started as Duckhorn’s second line…
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The High Guard Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards located in several California AVA’s. This is a wine produced for Trader Joe’s by a custom wine company making wine for TJ’s for several years. I read that half of the wineries in California are faux-wineries, meaning that they do not…
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The Los Vascos Cromas Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, and 5% Carménère sourced from Estate vineyards of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Colchagua Valley vineyard and winery in central Chile. This Estate was founded in 1988 and was the first French wine project in modern Chile. Barons de Rothschild…
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The Vin Seven Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 is a $4.99 wine that I found at Trader Joe’s, but the 7 in the Vin Seven name stands for 7/Eleven. At one time, the Vin Seven Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 was a 7/Eleven exclusive wine. Sonoma Bespoke makes custom private-label wines for Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, grocery store chains,…
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The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from Poppy’s Highland vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands sub-AVA inside the Monterey AVA, which is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. The Santa Lucia Highlands is exactly what the name suggests; it is located in the foothills of the Santa Lucia coastal mountains. This…
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The Boneshaker Old Vine Zinfandel 2019 is sourced from two vineyards in the Mokelumne River AVA inside the Lodi AVA in the Central Valley of California. Boneshaker is one of the Hahn Family Vineyards wine brands. They purchased the Smith and Hook vineyard in 1979 and soon had a winery located in the Santa Lucia…
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Send us Fan Mail Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend – Weird Bottle Good Wine An $8.99 from Trader Joe's, though not a TJ's wine, though this edition may well have been made for Trader Joe's The Red Blend on the Kings of Prohibition website is different than this. Barossa Valley is maybe the equivalent…
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The Don’t Mind If I Do Pinot Noir 2019 is a $7.99 ALDI wine with 85 calories, zero fat, and no sugar every 5 oz. serving. Eighty-five calories are 30% less than a typical California Pinot Noir, and the alcohol content of similar wines is 13% to 14.5%. Most wines have some sugar content. We…
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Send us Fan Mail Snoop Dogg wine? It's got to be a gimmick. Wrong. It has 10.5% alcohol; the typical California Rosé is 12.5% to 13.5%. This is old school Rosé, the kind you sip while sitting at a cafe on a plaza while watching the world walk by. Maybe a little more nectar sweet…
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The 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Rosé 2020 is a brand from Treasury Wine Estates, a mainly Australian company with wines from all over the world, including American wines like Beringer and Stags’ Leap. The 19 Crimes brand lineup features Australian wines, but the Snoop Dogg wines are sourced from California vineyards. The 19 Crimes wines…
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The Federalist Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a wine brand from Terlato Wines International. They are the folks who imported Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio to the United States. Before they brought the wine Pinot Grigio was not a “thing,” now it is definitely a “thing.” Santa Margherita spun off a few years ago, but Terlato…
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Send us Fan Mail No sugar, no fat, low carbs, 9% alcohol usually means the wine will taste like something is missing—usually flavor and mouthfeel. But not with is $7.99 ALDI Sauv Blanc from California. It isn't big and bold, more leaner and balanced. But the flavor is still there. The winery that possibly produced…
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The Don’t Mind If I Do Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $7.99 ALDI low-calorie wine. This is a wine with 85 calories, sugar-free, 3.4g of carbohydrates, .4g of protein, and 0% fat. One of the reasons for the low calories is this Sauvignon Blanc has only 9% alcohol content. The brand name Don’t Mind If…
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The Los Vascos Chardonnay 2020 is sourced from the estate vineyards of Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) property in the Colchagua Valley of Chile. This is a wine that is often available for under ten dollars, and the 2020 vintage received 90 points from a leading wine critic. You would think that Domaines Barons de Rothschild…
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Send us Fan Mail The Attack of the Clones!!! Not so fast. A grape clone is a grapevine that exhibits excellent characteristics and is grafted onto rootstock to create enough vines to be categorized and indexed. Most wine grape vines today are some type of clone. The Noble Vine 337 Cabernet Sauvignon is a Lodi…
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The Noble Vines 337 Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is one of the many labels from Delicato Family Vineyards, a family-owned winery since 1924. The Noble Vines line of wines is dedicated to showcasing grapevine clones. A clone is when a grapevine with particular characteristics, resistance to pests and disease, and growing and flavor traits is grafted…
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Send us Fan Mail Sea Sun Pinot Noir 2019 This is a wine from Charlie Wagner, the son of Chuck Wagner from Caymus Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and the head of Wagner Family Wines. Joe Wagner, Charlie's younger brother, did Meiomi Pinot Noir before he sold it for a crazy amount of money. Jenny Wagner has…
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