The Oyster Bay Rosé 2022 is made from Pinot Noir grapes from grapes farmed in the Wairau Valley of the Marlborough region on the South Island of New Zealand. This is a wine found on sale in Chicago for $10.99 while the average price on the internet is $14. When New Zealand wine first broke…
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The Dreaming Tree Pinot Noir 2020 is a collaboration between Dave Matthews (yeah, that Dave Matthews) and New Zealand winemaker Sean McKenzie. This is Pinot Noir sourced from multiple locations in France. French wines are typically sourced from one appellation or a sub-appellation, such as Bordeaux or the Médoc. The vineyards used for a particular…
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The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2020 Lot 229 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The Sta. Rita Hills AVA (pronounced Santa Rita Hills) is located inside the Santa Ynez Valley AVA which is inside the Santa Barbara County AVA which is part of the Central Coast AVA. It is called the…
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The Wonderwall Edna Valley Pinot Noir 2019 is sourced from three vineyards, Morro View, Greengate, and Jesperson, in the Edna Valley AVA just north of the town of Arroyo Grande, a few miles away from the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast AVA. Wonderwall is a brand from Andrew Jones of the Field Recordings WInery….
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The Westmount Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2020 is one of the brands from NW Wine Company, a custom crush wine company, that also produces its estate wines. The website mentions that it has over 800 acres of vines, while the Westmount website says they have over 100 acres of vines. The back label says that…
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The Rodney Strong Russian River Pinot Noir 2018 is an estate-grown 100% Pinot Noir. For a little bit of background, Rodney Strong was a dancer on Broadway who came to Sonoma in 1959 and became a modern pioneer of California wine. He was one of the first to plant Pinot Noir in the Russian River…
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The Don Rodolfo Mendoza Pinot Noir 2019 is a wine sourced mainly from the Lujan de Cuyo Valley inside the greater Mendoza region of Argentina. The Don Rodolfo Winery was founded in 1870. The Lujan de Cuyo Valley is located in western-central Mendoza and the vineyards are situated 3,300 to 5,000 feet. Lujan de Cuyo…
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The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2020 s a $12.99 TJ’s exclusive. The 2020 vintage is the 12th edition of this Pinot Noir, here is a link to a CWF review of the 1st edition, it was ten bucks then. Every Carneros Grand Reserve is Lot #23, so it seems all 12 vintages…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2020 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. I am not sure about the difference between a Platinum Reserve, a Diamond Reserve, and the good old Grand Reserve Trader Joe’s wines. But they do have a track record of being solid bang-for-the-buck wine. The Santa Lucia…
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The Meiomi California Pinot Noir NV is a very popular wine. In 2015, Constellation Brands purchased the Meiomi brand from Joe Wagner of the Wagner family of Caymus fame for $315,000,000. At the time, Meiomi was selling 600,000 cases of Pinot Noir per year, that is, over 7 million bottles. From what I have read,…
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The Hwy 5 Pinot Noir 2020 is a $5 Aldi exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. Aldi owns the trademark for the brand name, but E & J Gallo made the wine. Neither Aldi nor Gallo offers any production information concerning this wine. I suspect if they told us the production details, we would not…
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The Mud House Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019 is a reasonably priced Pinot Noir from New Zealand. Central Otago is located in the southern part of New Zealand’s South Island. Marlborough, where most of the Sauvignon Blanc is produced, is on the northern tip of South Island. This Pinot Noir is sourced from a single…
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The Upper Eden Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2019 is a $12.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive wine made for them by an independent specialty wine brand producer located in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA of Monterey County in California’s Central Coast. The vineyards sit in the highlands or benchlands of the Santa Lucia Mountains with elevations…
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The Moon X Black Pinot Noir 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, though, in New York, where grocery stores are not permitted to sell wine (beer only), it sells for $10.99 (on sale from $13.99). If you think that $6.99 is too cheap for a decent bottle of wine, you have to remember store…
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The Butler Pond Pinot Noir 2018 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. There is an exception to this being an exclusive wine. In New York, grocery stores can only sell beer; wine must be sold at liquor stores. An online wine retailer in New York sells the Butler Pond Pinot…
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