Send us Fan Mail Vigilance Red Hills AVA Sauvignon Blanc 2020-An Excellent California Sauv Blanc Red Hills AVA is inside the Lake County AVA just north of Napa. For years they sold their grapes to other wineries. Today, excellent wineries are making terrific wine in Lake County. Vigilance is one of the brands from Shannon…
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The Vigilance Red Hills AVA Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is one of the brands from Shannon Ridge winery located in the Lake County AVA north of Napa. This Sauv Blanc is sourced from estate vineyards in the Red Hills sub-AVA, situated on the southern end of Clear Lake. The vineyards are situated in the foothills of…
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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 Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a wine sourced from vineyards in the Central Valley of Chile. The Central Valley is an Intermediate Depression between the Andes Mountains and the Coastal Mountain Range. The Santa Rita Winery was founded in 1880, and their 120 brand of wines (which has been around for 50…
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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 Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. This is one of Charles Smith’s wines, now called House of Smith. They have some of the best technical notes for wines at any price point. They tell you which vineyards the grapes came…
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The Tabor Hill Blueberry Demi-Sec is a mix of a White wine blend and blueberry wine from a winery in Southwest Michigan that has produced different types of wine for over 50 years. The White wine is Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec, a blend of Vidal, Vignoles, Riesling, Traminette, Seyval, and Gewürztraminer grapes. Demi-Sec translates to…
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Send us Fan Mail Le Grand Verre 2020 – Boutique Single Serving Bottle French Wines Single serving, double glass unbreakable 6.3-ounce bottles (a standard pour is 5 ounces) French Boutique Estate wines… organic Chardonnay and Rosé from a female winemaker in the Languedoc. Small estate Rosé from Bandol in Provence. Cru Bordeaux Red from the…
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The format for this review is going to be different, we typically give our attention to one wine, but the Le Grand Verre 2020 is not about one individual bottle of wine. Instead, the name translates to “the big glass” and is a hand-picked line of single-serve bottles of boutique, small-batch French Estate wines. The…
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The Evodia Garnacha 2018 is sourced from 40 to 100-year-old vines in vineyards located in the foothill of the Sierra Santa Cruz Mountains in the Calatayud region in northeast Spain. This is a wine that sells for around $10 and is a perennial 90+ point wine. It has been a bang-for-the-buck favorite for years. Here…
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Send us Fan Mail Los Vascos Cromas Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 – Why Chile ? This is the Domaines Barons De Rothschild (Lafite) property in the Colchagua Valley in Chile; they have been there since 1988. One of the Legends of Bordeaux making classic wines in Chile. This is a wine that should sell…
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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 Blue Shell Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southeast France. The label says the location is the “Southern French Coast,” which makes sense since the Languedoc runs along the Mediterranean Ocean. This is an IGP (Indication Geographique Protégée) classified wine; it is…
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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 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 The Blackbird Vineyards Dissonance Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is 87% Sauvignon Blanc and 13% Semillon. The Sauv Blanc sourced from the Hudson Vineyard, located on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA. The Semillion was taken from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in the Knights Valley AVA of northeast Sonoma County.The Sauvignon…
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The Blackbird Vineyards Dissonance Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is 87% Sauvignon Blanc and 13% Semillon. The Sauv Blanc is sourced from the Hudson Vineyard, located on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA. The Semillion was taken from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in the Knights Valley AVA of northeast Sonoma County. The Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend…
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Send us Fan Mail The Los Vascos Cromas Carménère Gran Reserva 2019 is sourced from Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards located in the foothills of the Coastal Mountains in the Colchagua Valley of Chile, twenty-five miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards and winery were founded in Chile in 1988.Carménère was once…
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The Los Vascos Cromas Carménère Gran Reserva 2019 is sourced from Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards located in the foothills of the Coastal Mountains in the Colchagua Valley of Chile, twenty-five miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards and winery were founded in Chile in 1988. Carménère was once one of the…
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Send us Fan Mail The Fior di Vino Chianti Classico Reserva 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's import wine sourced from the DOCG Chianti Classico district in Tuscany. The name Fior di Vino translates to Fine Wine. While this wine sells for $6.99 at TJ's, I found it selling at a wine shop in New…
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The Fior di Vino Chianti Classico Reserva 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from the DOCG Chianti Classico district in Tuscany. The name Fior di Vino translates to Fine Wine. While this wine sells for $6.99 at TJ’s, I found it selling at a wine shop in New York State for $13.99….
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Send us Fan Mail The Weed Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Weed Cellars website only mentions Paso Robles as the contributing region, but the label says Central Coast (Paso Robles AVA is inside the Central Coast AVA. I would imagine most of the grapes…
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The Weed Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Weed Cellars website only mentions Paso Robles as the contributing region, but the label says Central Coast (Paso Robles AVA is inside the Central Coast AVA. I would imagine most of the grapes came from Paso, but…
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Send us Fan Mail The Tenebres GSM 2019 is a $5.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from vineyards in France's Languedoc region. The name Tenebres translates to “Darkness.” A GSM Red blend is a wine that originated in the Southern Rhone Valley in France and is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre.The Languedoc is the…
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