The Story The Burlwood Extra-Dry Sparkling Wine (ALDI) is a $4.99 non-vintage ALDI exclusive made for them by a winery located in Modesto, California. ALDI does not tell us what grapes are used, at $4.99 there is no money left over for niceties like technical sheets. But an under 5 buck Sparkling wine is probably judged…
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The Story The Sierra de Viento Garnacha 2016 is sourced from vineyards in the Cariñena region of the Aragon DO in Northeast Spain. Cariñena is an old wine producing region, it was founded by the Romans. Its funny that virtually every wine producing area in Europe has a heritage that is connected to Rome and some along the…
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Send us Fan Mail The Story The Franciscan Napa & Monterey Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from vineyards in 63% Napa County (mostly Carneros and Southern Napa) and 37% Monterey County (including Arroyo Secco and San Bernabe). These are excellent Chardonnay growing regions where the average Chardonnay is far more expensive than the Franciscan's $14.99 list price….
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The Story The Franciscan Napa & Monterey Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from vineyards in 63% Napa County (mostly Carneros and Southern Napa) and 37% Monterey County (including Arroyo Secco and San Bernabe). These are excellent Chardonnay growing regions where the average Chardonnay is far more expensive than the Franciscan’s $14.99 list price. The list price for…
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Send us Fan Mail The Story The Domaine de la Prébende Beaujolais 2017 is a AOP Beaujolais Villages designated Gamay Red wine. The actual name of this bottling is the Anna Asmaquer Beaujolais Villages 2017, but you will only find this in small print on the back label. Anna is the Great Grandmother of the winemaker, Ghislaine…
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The Story The Domaine de la Prébende Beaujolais 2017 is a AOP Beaujolais Villages designated Gamay Red wine. The actual name of this bottling is the Anna Asmaquer Beaujolais Villages 2017, but you will only find this in small print on the back label. Anna is the Great Grandmother of the winemaker, Ghislaine Dupeuble, of Domaine Dupeuble…
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The Story The Nick Goldschmidt Fidelity Alexander Valley Railroad Estate Zinfandel 2017 is 88% Zinfandel and 12% Petite Sirah sourced from the Railroad Estate vineyard in Alexander Valley, Sonoma, California. Nick Goldschmidt is the head of a vineyard and winemaking family, everyone get involved, including the children. They have vineyards and wineries in New Zealand,…
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Send us Fan Mail The Story The Rain Cloud Red Blend 2016 is a $5.99 wine from Trader Joe's. This is a bit of a mystery wine, there is no official information for it on the web. The Rain Cloud Red won a Silver Medal in the Cabernet Sauvignon based Red blend category at the…
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The Story The Rain Cloud Red Blend 2016 is a $5.99 wine from Trader Joe’s. This is a bit of a mystery wine, there is no official information for it on the web. The Rain Cloud Red won a Silver Medal in the Cabernet Sauvignon based Red blend category at the San Fransisco Chronicle Wine Competition,…
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Send us Fan Mail The Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Target) is a $9.99 Target exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. Target also offers their California Roots line of $5.00 wines, which I thought were “ok” but not anything special. It is hard to be too critical of a decent five buck wine. Should we expect…
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The Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Target) is a $9.99 Target exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. Target also offers their California Roots line of $5.00 wines, which I thought were “ok” but not anything special. It is hard to be too critical of a decent five buck wine. Should we expect a wine twice as…
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Send us Fan Mail The d'Arenberg Stump Jump GSM 2014 is a blend of 38% Grenache, 32% Shiraz/Syrah, and 30% Mourvedre sourced from vineyards in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia. McLaren Vale is one of the premier winemaking regions in Australia, it is located near the city of Adelaide, near a bay on land…
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The d’Arenberg Stump Jump GSM 2014 is a blend of 38% Grenache, 32% Shiraz/Syrah, and 30% Mourvedre sourced from vineyards in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia. McLaren Vale is one of the premier winemaking regions in Australia, it is located near the city of Adelaide, near a bay on land that juts out into…
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Send us Fan Mail The Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highland Pinot Noir Lot 80 2017 is 100% Pinot Noir exclusive Trader Joe's $12.99 wine sourced from a vineyard or vineyards from a very high-end exclusive Pinot Noir growing area in Monterey County, California. Here is a Trader Joe's Grand Reserve from Carneros. The Santa Lucia…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highland Pinot Noir Lot 80 2017 is 100% Pinot Noir exclusive Trader Joe’s $12.99 wine sourced from a vineyard or vineyards from a very high-end exclusive Pinot Noir growing area in Monterey County, California. Here is a Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve from Carneros. The Santa Lucia Highlands are located on…
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Send us Fan Mail The Dark Horse Brut Sparkling Wine is a non-vintage Chardonnay based Bubbly sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing/wine-producing AVA. Dark Horse is one of E & J Gallo's (the largest family owned winery in the US) many wine labels, here are links to our posts on Dark…
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The Dark Horse Brut Sparkling Wine is a non-vintage Chardonnay based Bubbly sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing/wine-producing AVA. Dark Horse is one of E & J Gallo’s (the largest family owned winery in the US) many wine labels, here are links to our posts on Dark Horse Double Down Red and…
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Send us Fan Mail The Carpe Diem Anderson Valley Chardonnay 2015 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in the Anderson Valley AVA (about 100 miles north of San Francisco) which runs along the Pacific Coast of Mendocino County in Northern California. Carpe Diem is a joint project between the winemakers of Roederer Estate (the Champagne House's…
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The Carpe Diem Anderson Valley Chardonnay 2015 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in the Anderson Valley AVA (about 100 miles north of San Francisco) which runs along the Pacific Coast of Mendocino County in Northern California. Carpe Diem is a joint project between the winemakers of Roederer Estate (the Champagne House’s California holdings in Mendocino) who…
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Send us Fan Mail The Trader Joe's Cotillion Pinot Noir 2016 is a $9.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from vineyards in 56% Monterey County, 33% Sonoma County, and 11% Santa Barbara County. These 3 counties are very solid Pinot Noir growing region and the bottle could have indicated California as the grape origin, since 2…
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The Trader Joe’s Cotillion Pinot Noir 2016 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in 56% Monterey County, 33% Sonoma County, and 11% Santa Barbara County. These 3 counties are very solid Pinot Noir growing region and the bottle could have indicated California as the grape origin, since 2 of the AVA’s are…
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The Chiare’ Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine (Chiare’ is Italian for clear) is a $7.99 ALDI’s vintage dated Bubbly sourced from vineyards in Monterey, California. CWF reviewed the 2014 vintage (it was $6.99 then) and thought it was worth twice the price. ALDI must have showcased the 2014 in its advertisements, because we learned that vintage…
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The Motto Gung Ho Red 2014 is a Red Blend, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Petit Verdot, 12% Petite Sirah, and 10% Zinfandel, all sourced from California vineyards, that is currently selling for $3.99 at Trader Joe’s. This isn’t a Trader Joe’s exclusive, it is selling on the internet for 6 to 7 bucks (though a few…
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The Dark Horse Double Down Red is a non-vintage limited edition Red blend using Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Tannat (a blending grape originally from France, used to add dark fruit and structure to the blend) and Teroldego (a grape originally from Italy, it has characteristics similar to Zinfandel and Syrah) all sourced from vineyards in California. Dark…
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The Old Moon Old Vine Zinfandel 2016 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, part of the Trader Moon series of wines produced for TJ’s by a family owned vineyards and winery located in the Lodi AVA, the gnarled vine on the bottom of the front label is a clue to the producer. As with most Trader…
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