The Bouchaine Carneros Pinot Noir 2011 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive, just the 2011 vintage, the other vintages are available elsewhere at the regular price (list price is $35). The 2011 Bouchaine Pinot Noir comes from their Estate vineyard (and 3 other Carneros growers) on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA (Carneros is…
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The Cotillion Pinot Noir 2013 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in 60% Monterey County, 24% Sonoma County and 16% Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County is about an hour north of Los Angles, Monterey County is north of Paso Robles and both are part of the Central Coast AVA. Sonoma County…
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The Seadrift Pinot Noir 2014 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from more than one grape growing AVA in California. ALDI never gives out much information about their wines, a quick check of the internet showed that the Seadrift is produced by a custom winery located in the Central Coast AVA, but anything more than…
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The Jargon Pinot Noir 2012 is 76% Pinot Noir, 18% Syrah and 6% Petite Sirah, the Syrah is sourced from the Monterey AVA, the Pinot and the Petite Sirah are sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA. Jargon is one of Trinchero Family Estates (founded in 1974) line of wines, other brands include…
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The Emma Pearl Pinot Noir 2013 is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. The Emma Pearl Pinot is 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Petite Sirah. Now, California Pinot Noir does not usually sell for under 4 bucks, there is a story to tell here. Treasury…
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The 2013 Woodwork Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in coastal regions of the Central Coast AVA of California. Woodwork is one of The Wine Bars brands of wine that include Snap Dragon, Ensemble, Uppercut and many others. The key to the Woodwork line of wines is their use of oak staves, instead of oak…
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The Old Soul Pinot Noir 2014 is Pinot Noir with Zinfandel and Merlot blended in, sourced from vineyards in the Lodi AVA at the northern end of the Central Valley Region of Northern California. Lodi is located east of the San Francisco Bay, south and east of Napa. The temperature can be very warm during…
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The Belcreme de Lys Pinot Noir 2013 is Pinot Noir, with a little bit of Syrah added in, sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. Belcreme de Lys is one of Diageo Chateau & Estate Wine many wine brands. Their portfolio runs from Moet & Chandon to Blossom Hill White Zinfandel….
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The Natura Pinot Noir 2013 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from certified organic vineyards in the Colchagua Valley in the southern half of the Rapel Valley inside Chile’s Central Valley. The Colchagua Valley is a little cooler than the rest of the Rapel Valley and the western side of the valley sees climate influence from…
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The Fort Ross Sea Slopes Pinot Noir 2012 is sourced from the Fort Ross Vineyard in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA located about an hour and half north and west of San Francisco on the Sonoma Coast of California. Fort Ross-Seaview received AVA designation in 2011 and is situated on coastal ridges near the Pacific Ocean,…
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The Hob Nob Pinot Noir 2012 is sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southwest France. This is a Vin de Pays d”Oc wine also known as an IGP wine, that rating shows that the wine has the characteristics of the wines of the region, but do not follow the rules and standards of the…
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The Bird Big Barrel Pinot Noir 2012 is sourced from the Dayvinleigh Vineyard on the Wairau River in Marlborough on New Zealand’s South Island. Steve Bird is the winemaker and he is the first to produce Pinot Noir with Vernou roll fermentation. He uses huge 238 gallon oak barrels (Tonnellerie Vernou is a French cooperage who make the…
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The Fire Road Pinot Noir 2013 is sourced from several vineyards located in the Marlborough region, which is in the northeast corner of New Zealand’s South Island. Marlborough is best known for Sauvignon Blanc, just check the NZ Sauv Blanc section of your local wine shop and you will see Marlborough on virtually every bottle. Marlborough…
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The 2012 Garnet Monterey County Pinot Noir is sourced from Garnet Vineyards estate vineyards near the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA in Monterey County, California. This Pinot Noir lists for $14.99, but its tech sheet reads like a far more expensive Pinot. First, Garnet grew the grapes themselves, then they aged the Pinot Noir in 100% French…
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The 2012 Gnarly Head Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in Monterey, the North Coast AVA (includes Mendocino, Napa Valley, Sonoma And Lake County) as well as vines from Lodi. Delicato Family Vineyards, the makers of Gnarly Head as well as BraZin, Bota Box and others is located in Lodi, California. The name Gnarly…
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The flipflop Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes that are, according to the front label, from the Left Coast of Chile. The last time we tried a flipflop Pinot Noir is was a vintage designated (2010) California wine, this time around it is a non-vintage wine from Chile. As a California wine it was $7…
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The 2012 Belle Ambiance Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes grown in more than one California grape growing AVA. Belle Ambiance is a new label, suggested list price $9.99, from Delicato Family Vineyards, who have been in business for over 80 years. DFV also produce Gnarly Head, Brazin, HandCraft and Bota Box, along with…
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The 2012 Magnolia Court Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards located inside several Central Coast grape growing AVA’s. Magnolia Court is part of the Thornhill Company who own some of the best vineyards in the Central Coast AVA, though they do not say if any of those vineyards are used for the Magnolia Court. This…
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The 2012 Lindeman’s Bin 99 Pinot Noir is sourced from multiple vineyards in South Eastern Australia. Lindeman’s winery was founded in 1843 and is currently owned by Treasury Wine Estates, who also produce Penfold’s, Stag’s Leap and Beringer Vineyards, along with 49 others. The 2012 grape vintage in Australia was the best in decades. The Bin…
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