The Paxis Red Blend 2013 is a blend of Touriga Nacional (this THE red grape of Portugal), Tinta Roriz (also known as Tempranillo), and Touriga Franca (an indigenous grape that mixes well with Touriga Nacional) sourced from vineyards in the Lisboa region of Portugal. I found Paxis on sale for $6.99 and while this is the…
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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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In this podcast episode, we bring cheap to a whole other level with the Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2017 Listen in to see if real cheap is just too cheap.
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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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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Meritage Napa Valley Lot #176 2015 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, it’s a Red blend with Merlot as the main grape, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec sourced from vineyards in the Napa Valley of Northern California. The word Meritage is a combination of merit and heritage…
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The Claire Patelin Cotes de Gascogne Sauvignon Blanc 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Cotes de Gascogne area of southwest France. The Cotes de Gascogne shares a boundary with the Armagnac AOP which has been a premier Brandy region for 700 years. The Cotes de Gascogne is primarily a White…
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In this episode, we pop the top on some Mionetto Prosecco DOC made with organically grown grapes! Listen carefully – you can hear the cork POP!
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The Colossal Reserva Red 2015 is a blend of 30% Touriga Nacional (probably the #1 Red grape of Portugal), 30% Syrah, 30% Tinta Roriz (known as Tempranillo in Spain), and 10% Alicante Bouschet sourced from Casa Santos Lima estate vineyards in the Lisboa wine region of Portugal. The Colossal Reserva is something of a rare wine,…
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In this episode, we review the Poppy Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands 2014. Listen now to hear what we have to say about it!
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The Mionetto Rose’ Extra Dry is a proprietary blend of red grapes sourced from vineyards in both the Veneto and Trentino grape growing regions in northern Italy. Mionetto (founded in 1887) is well-known as a producer of Prosecco, but the Rose’ Extra Dry is not a Prosecco. A Prosecco is a very specific thing, it is…
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The Casteller Cava Brut is 40% Macabeo, 40% Xarel-lo, and 20% Parellada (the 3 traditional indigenous Catalonian grapes used in producing Cava) sourced from the Celler Vilafranca vineyards and winery, the largest vineyard owner in the Penedes area of the Catalunya region of Spain (near Barcelona). Brut indicates that this is a dry or not sweet Sparkling…
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The Ménage à Trois Lavish Merlot 2016 is 81% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petite Sirah, and 5% Petit Verdot (other than the Petite Sirah, it’s very Bordeaux, at least in grape selection) sourced from vineyards in Monterey, the Lodi Delta region, and the North Coast AVA, all in Northern California. Ménage à Trois is one of…
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The Villa Borghetti Pinot Grigio Rosé 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, it is one of Bronco Wine Company (2 Buck Chuck) extensive line of wine brands, this one is sourced from vineyards near the town of Verona in the Veneto region of northeast Italy, Prosecco is in the same general area. This is…
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The Ménage à Trois Luscious Pinot Noir 2017 is 76% Pinot Noir, 13% Petite Sirah, 6% Syrah, and 5% Zinfandel sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, the North Coast AVA, and the Lodi AVA in California. This is a Pinot Noir produced in a very modern California style that has become popular in the…
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The Hedges CMS Red 2014 is sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington, it is Hedges Family Estates iconic Red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, with the blend changing from year to rear. The blend also seems to change during the year, the Hedges website gives the 2014 blend as 40%…
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The 9 Lives Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the Central Valley of Chile. 9 Lives is one of San Pedro winery (founded in 1865) wine brands, others you may be familiar with are Epica and GatoNegro (translates to black cat) and since 9 Lives is also a cat reference I think the…
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The LaRue Cotes de Provence Rosé 2017 is a $7.19 ALDI import exclusive, a blend of unspecified Red grapes grown in the Cotes de Provence AOP, the largest growing region in Provence, in the south of France. This bottle looks very much like ALDI’s Exquisite Collection Provence Rosé ($7.99) from about a year ago that got…
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The William Wright Monterey County Pinot Noir 2016 is a $8.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Salinas Valley of Monterey, California. William Wright is one of Scheid Vineyards (founded in the early 1970s) 40+ wine labels, Scheid owns 11 estate vineyards with 4,000 acres of vines. The back label says William Wright “produced and…
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The VINTJS Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from a vineyard or vineyards in Napa Valley, California. Trader Joe’s says this Sauv Blanc came from a well-known Napa winery/vineyard with whom they have had a 10 year relationship. I think I know who that is, but I can’t be certain,…
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The Ritual Pinot Noir 2015 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from a Veramonte estate vineyard (Ritual is a Veramonte brand) about 18 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Casablanca Valley growing region inside the Central Valley of Chile. A quick check of the web showed this Pinot Noir selling for $15 to $20, with it…
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The Edna Valley Vineyard Central Coast Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from vineyards in both the Edna Valley AVA (inside San Luis Obispo County, about 1/2 between L.A and S.F.) and the Monterey County AVA, both inside the Central Coast AVA. Edna Valley Vineyards were one of the pioneers of the Edna Valley AVA (founded in 1982)…
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The Luzada Albarino 2017 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive (though it seems to available in other countries), it is estate grown and bottled in the Val do Saines DO (a DO in Spain is the same as an AVA in California, a specific boundary) located in Rias Baixas in the northwest corner of Spain,…
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The MoonX Black Pinot Noir 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for TJ’s by a well-respected family owned vineyards and winery located in Lodi, California that has been in business since 1924. As a Trader Joe’s exclusive wine there isn’t a great deal of information available concerning the making of the wine and that…
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The Santa Julia Malbec Bonarda Tintillo 2017 is 50% Malbec and 50% Bonarda, the Malbec came from vineyards in the Uco Valley and the Bonarda came from estate vineyards near the town of Santa Rosa in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The Bonarda grape originated in France, it never became particularly popular there, but does quite…
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The El Terrano Rosado 2017 is a Garnacha Rose’ sold exclusively by Whole Foods ($9.99) sourced from 4 vineyards located near the town of Longares in the Carinena DO in the Aragon province of northeast Spain. This area has been producing wine since Roman times and Aragon is thought to be where the Garnacha grape originated….
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