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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The Meiomi Rose’ 2017 is mainly a Rose’ of Pinot Noir sourced from vineyards in 54% Monterey County, 36% Sonoma County, and 10% Santa Barbara County which are all first class areas for growing Pinot Noir. In a side note, wines that feature grapes from both the Central Coast AVA and the North Coast AVA, such as…
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The Eris Carneros Chardonnay 2014 is a $7.99 (this time around) Trader Joe’s exclusive that the front label says is Estate grown from a winery located on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA in Northern California. Carneros is half in Sonoma and half in Napa and has a southern border on the San Pablo Bay…
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The Louis M Martini Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is Cabernet blended with a bit of Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, and Merlot sourced primarily from a vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley AVA and another in the Alexander Valley AVA of Sonoma County. Louis M Martini was founded in Sonoma in 1933, but is now one of…
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The Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from grapes grown in the Côte-Mâconnais district in the south of Burgundy centered around the village of Mâcon in eastern central France. The Beaujolais district is just south of Mâcon. The Louis Jardot Chardonnay is AOC wine and the Mâcon-Villages classification is step up from the entry-level Mâcon wines. In Burgundy the different…
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The Gnarly Head Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel 2016 is sourced from 35 to 80 year old grapevines farmed in vineyards in the Lodi delta region. Gnarly Head is one of the labels from Delicato Family Vineyards, a family owned winery and vineyards founded in 1924, some of their other brands include Both Box, Handcraft, Twisted, and…
Read MoreSend us Fan Mail In this podcast episode, we reminisce about our travels to California Wine Country, in … Sipping Sonoma Part 1 Heading to Sonoma County? Listen in and pick up some tips along the way. Check us out at http://www.cheapwinefinder.com or email us at [email protected]
Read MoreSend us Fan Mail In this podcast episode, our California wine country tour continues in Sipping Sonoma Part 2 Where to go? Where to stay? Do you need appointments? Should you tip your tour guide? What about your tasting host? We've got the skinny for you. Check us out at http://www.cheapwinefinder.com or email us at…
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In this podcast episode, we reminisce about our travels to California Wine Country, in … Sipping Sonoma Part 1 Heading to Sonoma County? Listen in and pick up some tips along the way.
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In this podcast episode, our California wine country tour continues in Sipping Sonoma Part 2 Where to go? Where to stay? Do you need appointments? Should you tip your tour guide? What about your tasting host? We’ve got the skinny for you.
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The Coppola Diamond Collection Pavilion Chardonnay 2016 is a limited edition wine sourced from vineyards in 60% Santa Barbara and 40% Sonoma, the regular Diamond Collection Chardonnay is sourced from Monterey. In a side note, this Chard could have shown California on the front label, since Santa Barbara is part of the Central Coast AVA and…
Read MoreThe Sonoma-Cutrer Owsley Vineyards Russian River Pinot Noir 2016 is a single vineyard Pinot Noir grown in the southeastern corner of the Russian River AVA inside the Sonoma County AVA of Northern California. The Owsley Vineyard is along the Bloomfield Gap which is the geological feature that funnels fog inland from the Pacific Ocean to the…
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The Ferrari-Carano Sonoma County Chardonnay 2015 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from Ferrari-Carano Estate vineyards in Alexander Valley AVA, Dry Creek AVA, the Russian River Valley AVA, and the Carneros AVA all inside the Sonoma County AVA. Those 4 AVA’s are an excellent selection of cool growing areas and warmer regions, giving this Chard a nice taste…
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The Burning Cavalier Merlot Cabernet 2017 is a rather morbidly named $5.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyards in the Languedoc region of France, just north of the border with Spain and along the Mediterranean Sea. The Languedoc is the largest grape growing region in France and while there…
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The Castle Rock Los Carneros Sonoma Pinot Noir 2012 is, of course, sourced from long termed contracted vineyards in the Sonoma side of the Carneros AVA in Northern California. Carneros is located inside both Napa and Sonoma, which is why the distinction is made. If you are trying to find Carneros sail east under the Golden…
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The Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2016 is 98% Chardonnay and 2% Gewürztraminer grown in Wente Estates vineyards in the Livermore Valley AVA just inland from the San Francisco Bay inside the larger Central Coast AVA of California. Wente Vineyards has a very interesting story, they are the oldest continuously (since 1883) operated family owned vineyards and winery…
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