The Aldi Specially Selected Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2022 is a $12.99 Aldi exclusive. This is another wine in Aldi’s ever-expanding Specially Selected series, in Europe there are dozens of different wines, here we have 10 or 15. The Specially Selected wines are sourced from upscale growing regions but are value-priced. This wine, according to…
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The Kirkland Champagne Brut-2022 is a $19.99 Costco exclusive produced for them by Manuel Janisson of the Verzenay region in Champagne, France. This Champagne House has roots dating back to the 1920s. This is real Champagne do not let the low price fool you. There are over 2,100 Champagne Houses making Bubbly in the Champagne…
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The Lustre American Sparkling Wine-Aldi is $13.99 Aldi Bubbly I can’t say that this Sparkling wine is exclusive to Aldi since it seems to be produced by Gruet, headquarter in New Mexico. In checking the California COLA registry database, they approve wine labels, I found that Precept-Wine/Gruet made the Lustre American Sparkling Wine-Aldi. Precept is…
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Trader Joe’s French Blanc de Blanc and Brut Rosé both Trader Joe’s exclusive $6.99 import Sparkling wines. The Fearless Flyer indicates that these are proprietary blends from the South of France near the Mediterranean Sea. These French Sparkling wines probably do not include Chardonnay or Pinot Noir the mainstays of Champagne Sparkling wines. It is…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Santa Barbara Syrah 2021 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive. This Syrah is produced by the Miller Family Wine Company they are a fifth-generation wine company that owns 1,500 acres of vineyards in Paso Robles. They are also part of Thornhill Companies which own the acclaimed Bien Nacido and French Camp…
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The Lindquist Family Bien Nacido Chardonnay 2020 is sourced from a single block (Block L) of the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard located inside the Santa Maria AVA which is part of the Santa Barbara AVA in California’s Central Coast AVA. Bien Nacido Vineyard has been called one of the best 5 vineyards in California, the…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Estate Single Vineyard Uco Valley Malbec 2019 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Belhara Estates, a small independent winery located in the Uco Valley region of the Mendoza Valley in Argentina. They own three vineyards and specialize in single-vineyard wines. Belhara Estates does not seem to…
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The Dancing Flame Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is a $7.99 Aldi wine made for them by Vina Luis Felipe Edwards the largest family-owned winery in Chile. The grapes are sourced from vineyards in the Leyda Valley, situated between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The Leyda Valley vineyards are located between 3,300 ft…
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The Mionetto Prosecco Treviso Brut is a Sparkling wine from a winery founded in 1887 in the Valdobbiadene region of Veneto which is now located inside the Prosecco DOC region of northern Italy. The winery changed to the Charmat Method in 1982. The Charmat Method is by far the main production technique used in Prosecco….
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The Sea Sun California Chardonnay 2021 is sourced from three AVAs, 52% Monterey, 3% San Benito County (inside the Central Coast AVA), and 45% Soldano County, (southeast of Napa inside the North Coast AVA). Sea Sun is one of the brands from the Wagner Family (Caymus) with a history in California dating back to the…
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The Big Churn Chardonnay 2021 is $6.99 at Trader Joe’s. I do not think it is a Trader Joe’s exclusive it looks like it is available at internet wine sellers for between $8 and $12. This Chardonnay is produced by Fior di Sole, a family-owned winery headquartered in Napa. They are the 10th largest winery…
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The Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is sourced from multiple vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley AVA, using both estate and contracted vineyards. Chateau Ste Michelle (founded in 1954) is the largest winery in Washington. Eight of the top ten best-selling labels of Washington wine are owned by them and almost 2/3rds of the grapes…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Sonoma County Brut Rosé is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by Rack and Riddle from Sonoma, California. Rack and Riddle is a custom Sparkling wine producer making Bubbly in the Traditional Method (Champagne-style). The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Sonoma County Brut Rosé is mostly Pinot Noir and…
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The Intermingle Red Blend 2020 is a $6.99 Aldi wine, a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from multiple vineyards in California. Aldi trademarks the Intermingle name, but the wine seems to be produced by Sutter Home wines which is part of Trinchero Family Estates and this is an award-winning wine. I don’t…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive non-vintage Sparkling wine produced for them by Rack and Riddle out of Healdsburg, California. Rack and Riddle is a large operation specializing in Traditional Method (Champagne-style) Sparkling wines. They make plenty of Bubbly that shows other wineries’ labels, you may not be…
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The Laurent Perrachon Beaujolais Villages 2020 is sourced from vineyards surrounding two small towns, La Chapelle de Guinchay (70%) and Lancié. One village has sandy soils and granite the other has clay and limestone. The villages are not far apart but offer very different soil. The grape is 100% Gamay. Beaujolais is located just south…
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The Gruet Blanc de Blanc Brut is 100% Chardonnay sourced from grapes grown in New Mexico, Washington, and California. Gilbert Gruet founded his first vineyard in the Bethon district of Champagne in 1952. By 1967 he started Gruet et Fils (and sons) a Champagne House specializing in Chardonnay Bubbly. In 1984 the younger Gruet family…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Monterey Pinot Noir 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive wine. The Petit in the name indicates a limited supply of this wine, though all Trader Joe’s Reserve wines are one-off wines. They may return the next vintage but not necessarily by the same producer. The Fearless Flyer does not…
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The Emma Reichart Dry Riesling 2021 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s imported wine from the Rheinhessen region of Germany. Both Trader Joe’s and Aldi are German companies that are famous for their European value wine selection. Trader Joe’s knows German wine. If you think that $4.99 is too cheap for a decent bottle of wine…
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The Burlwood Cellars Brut Rosé is a $4.99 Sparkling wine from Aldi. It is produced by a wine company from Modesto, California which would seem to strongly suggest that some entity of E & J Gallo was involved. This a five-buck Bubbly that sells for $10 to $12 in states without Aldi stores. I don’t…
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The Los Dos Brut Cava is a traditional blend of Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada sourced from independent family-owned vineyards in the Penedes DO in Northeast Spain. Penedes is located in the Catalonian region of Spain where the central city is Barcelona. Cava is produced in the same way as Champagne though its history in Spain…
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The Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petite Verdot, and 8% Merlot sourced from vineyards in the 58% Paso Robles AVA and 42% Lodi AVA. This is a Bordeaux blend. Cycles Gladiator is a project from winemaker Adam LaZarre started in 2005. The brand is part of the Wine Hooligans’ stable…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2020 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. To confuse things, there is also a Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2020 that sells for $12.99. Trader Joe’s seldom issued much information concerning their Reserve line of wines, so the differences between and Grand Reserve and a…
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The Zombie Zin is a non-vintage wine that is 95% Zinfandel and 5% Syrah sourced from vineyards in several locations in California. Zombie is a brand from Chateau Diana a family-owned and operated winery started in 1981 and is located in Sonoma. Zombie Zin may be a brand that was produced to take advantage of…
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The William Wright Monterey Pinot Noir 2020 is a $9.99 Aldi wine sourced from estate vineyards in coastal Monterey County, California. The estate in question is the Scheid Family Vineyards a large sustainably farmed family-owned wine company founded in 1972. This wine is available in Demark for the equivalent of $18. Scheid owns 12 vineyards…
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