The Story The Capela Santa Margarida Red 2016 is a blend of 40% Aragonez (Tempranillo), 40% Trincadeira (a local varietal) and 20% Alicante Bouschet (a hybrid grape mostly used in blends) farmed in vineyards in the Alentejano region of southern Portugal. Capa Santa Margarida is an ancient 15th-century chapel and the vineyards located on what was…
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The Story The Federalist Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Zinfandel, and 2% Petite Sirah, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc farmed in vineyards in the Lodi AVA in California. Lodi is located in California’s Central Valley, in the delta region of the San Pablo Bay, which is the northernmost inland region of the San…
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The Story Quake & Dave talk about the Band of Roses Rose’ 2018, a Rose’ that is made from a White grape, Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris can have red grape skins, so, therefore, it can be turned into a Rose’ wine. I love Charles Smith Wines online tasting notes, these are value-priced wines, the Band…
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The Story The Simpler Wines Too Canny Rose’ is a $2.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes from Australia. That is about all I know about the juice that is in the can, so this will be a story about canned wine. The can 375 ml. which is about 12 1/2 oz. in American, so…
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The Podcast Story Quake and Dave drink canned wine, actually not just any can of wine, but Underwood Oregon Bubbly In A Can, “The Bubbles”. The grapes come from 78% Willamette Valley and 22% Applegate Valley of Oregon. I imagine you have heard of the Willamette Valley, but the Applegate Valley is located inside the Rogue…
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The Story The Susana Balbo Crios Torrontés 2017 is sourced from vineyards in 2 regions of Argentina, the Uco Valley in Mendoza (the middle of Argentina) and Cafayate in Salta (Northwest Argentina). Both regions are high up in the foothills (1,700 meters or almost 5,600 feet above sea level). The high altitude is inhospitable to almost all…
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The Story The Overlake Sauvignon Blanc 2018 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, produced by the Nice Wine Company from vineyards in the Lake County AVA of Northern California. There actually was a Nice Wine Company, it was located in the town of Nice and they had been making wine for Trader Joe’s since at…
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The Story The Maison de Joie Brut Sparkling Wine is a non-vintage $11.49 ALDI wine produced in New Mexico from mostly New Mexico vineyards, but also grapes from California and Washington. The name translates to “House of Joy“. The label says American Sparkling wine because grapes come from more than one State. Before you say,…
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The Story The Angeline Reserve Pinot Noir 2017 is produced from vineyards in coastal Mendocino County, along with a smaller portion of grapes from the Russian River AVA and the Carneros AVA. Angelina is a family owned and operated winery and vineyards headquartered in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma. They produce another Pinot Noir, the…
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The Story The 90+ Cellars Languedoc Rose’ Lot 33 2018 is an AOC designated wine sourced from grapes from several vineyards located in the foothills of the Cevennes Mountains in the Languedoc region of south central France. The grapes used in the blend are Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Cinsault, which are some of the best Red…
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The Story The Exquisite Collection Single Vineyard Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2018 is an $8.49 ALDI import exclusive. Marlborough is located on the Northwest tip of New Zealand’s South Island, most of the nationally distributed NZ Sauvignon Blanc comes from this region. There is a pecking order for the pricing of New Zealand Sauv Blancs. The…
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The Story The Cachai Chardonnay 2018 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards in Chile. Normally when you see wine from Chile the label will show the Central Valley or some smaller valley as place of origin, but the Chacai (translates to “catch”) just says Chile. That would lead you to believe that…
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The Story The TJ’s Grand Reserve Sonoma Meritage 2013-Lot 92 is a Trader Joe’s limited edition $12.99 Bordeaux Blend comprised of Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. A 12.99 Sonoma Meritage Red Blend isn’t all that unusual, but where the Tj’s Grand Reserve separates itself from the other $12.99 wines, is this blend is aged…
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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 Podcast The Prayers of Sinners Red is a blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Merlot sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington. This Red Blend is a companion wine to Prayers of Saints Chardonnay. They share a label concept. Chardonnay equals Saints, Red blend equals Sinners. But in the end everyone ends up the…
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The Story The Moonlight & Roses Coteau d’Aix en Provence Rosé 2018 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from the Aix region of Provence in the south of France. The Coteau d’Aix AOC is located in the northwest side of Provence and is 2nd in wine production to Côtes de Provence. Not only is this region…
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The Story The Jezebel Oregon Pinot Noir 2017 is a blend of 52% Willamette Valley and 48% Southern Oregon grapes. There are 5 AVAs due south of Willamette Valley. While most of these areas tend to be warmer and dry, there are still plenty of cool locations to grow Pinot Noir. Jezebel is the 2nd label…
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The Podcast The Matanzas Creek Alexander Valley Chardonnay 2018 is one of the Jackson Family Wines stable of labels. Matanzas Creek Winery has produced wine for over 4 decades. The grapes are sourced from Estate vines using Clone 4, Clone 76, 72, Wente, and Upper Barn. With most Chardonnay in the value price range, the winemaker…
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The Story The Giretto Pinot Grigio 2018 is a $5.49 ALDI exclusive sourced from the Dell Venezie region of Northeast Italy. The 2018 version of the Giretto seems to be something of an upgrade. Past vintages of this Pinot Grigio were designated IGP wines, while the 2018 is a DOC wine. An IGP wine in…
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The Story The Grifone 1967 Toscana 2014 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s wine, sourced from grapes from the Tuscany region of Italy. This wine is also known as a “Super Tuscan“, which is Sangiovese blended with French varietal grapes, in this case 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah. There is a story about how these IGP…
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The Story The M.Chevallier Brut Cava is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards near Barcelona in northeast Spain. The trademark for this Cava is owned by the oldest and 2nd largest Cava producer in Spain. It is also imported by their own wine importation company, so they are not hiding anything. Trader Joe’s does…
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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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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 King Rabbit Rose’ 2018 seems to be a Whole Foods $9.99 exclusive sourced from the Languedoc in southwestern France. The King Rabbit Rose’ is made with the Cinsault grape, which is one of the main blending grapes of the region. Cinsault is also one of the grapes featured in the Rose’ wines…
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