sonoma county

VINTJS Sonoma County Chardonnay 2021

The VINTJS Sonoma County Chardonnay 2021 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive if you wish to know which winery produced this wine head to the TTBGov California Cola Registry and type VINTJS into the search box. I usually hesitate to name the producer since they are producing wine to Trader Joe’s specifications and not always…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
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VINTJS Sonoma County Chardonnay 2021
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Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

The Trader Joe’s Reserve Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, Cabernet Sauvignon blended with smaller amounts of Petit Verdot and Syrah sourced from vineyards (or vineyard?) in Sonoma County in Northern California. I was going to do my usual “what is this wine” thing and deduce what this wine is…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Trader Joe's Reserve Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
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Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Russian River Pinot Noir 2020

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Russian River Pinot Noir 2020 is an exclusive wine of $12.99 Trader Joe’s. This Pinot was produced for Trader Joe’s by MWK Wine Consulting, a private label winemaker. This wine is 100% Pinot Noir, which is nice to see when Petite Sirah and Syrah are added to give Pinot Noir some…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Russian River Pinot Noir 2020
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Trader Joe’s Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020

The Trader Joe’s Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s wine made for them by Owl Creek Wine Services, a custom wine company operating in the Russian River AVA for the last 12 years. The Russian River AVA is located near the Pacific Ocean. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west and closer…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Trader Joe's Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2020
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Ashokawna Russian River Chardonnay 2018

The Ashokawna Russian River Chardonnay 2018 is an $8.99 Aldi exclusive. The Russian River Valley AVA is in western Coastal Sonoma County. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west of the Russian River Valley AVA. The Russian River Valley runs north/south parallel to the coast. The river originally flowed east/ west until a cataclysmic event thousands…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Ashokawna Russian River Chardonnay 2018
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Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016

The Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016 is not your usual CheapWineFinder wine. It is not cheap, this is a splurge, special occasion wine for most folks who follow CWF. It is a Red Blend, 50% Zinfandel, and 50% Syrah and the list price is $49.99. A quick check of the web showed online prices…

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Taymar Russian River Chardonnay 2019

The Taymar Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive produced for them by DNA Vineyards who have made some of the best TJ’s wines over the years. DNA Vineyards is Dennis Patton and Andrea Silverstein. Dennis has been a leader in the Mendocino wine industry for forty years and Andrea has been…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Taymar Russian River Chardonnay 2019
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Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Russian River Sauvignon Blanc 2019

The Story The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Russian River Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Russian River AVA of western Sonoma County. This Sauvignon Blanc is produced for TJs by Owl Ridge Wine Services. Owl Ridge is a custom crush and private label facility located in…

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Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

The Story The Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Petite Sirah, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Merlot. All but the Petite Sirah are grapes approved to be included in the Red wine blends of Bordeaux. Petite Sirah is also a French grape, not Bordeaux, and never was widely…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
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Parasphere Sonoma Zinfandel 2014

The Story The Parasphere Sonoma Zinfandel 2014 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s mystery wine. There are several things here that do not add up to an aged Sonoma County Zinfandel for under eight bucks. The first point is obvious, Sonoma Zinfandel at 6 years of age selling for $7.99 does not exist in the wild….

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Parasphere Sonoma Zinfandel 2014
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Cotillion Pinot Noir 2017

The Story The Cotillion Pinot Noir 2017 is a Trader Joe’s $9.99 exclusive brand sourced from vineyards in 56% Monterey County, 33% Sonoma County, and 11% Santa Barbara County in California. Under usual circumstances, this is a wine that would show ‘California‘ on the front label as a place of origin since 67% of the…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Cotillion Pinot Noir 2017
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Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The Story The Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, actually the complete name includes Lot 96 and it is a Trader Joe’s $12.99 exclusive wine. This wine is featured in Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, but there is no mention of any technical details, is it 100% Cabernet Sauvignon? What are the rough details…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Source and Sink Red Field Blend 2018

The Story The Source and Sink Red Field Blend 2018 is a blend of 65% Petite Sirah, 25% Alicante Bouschet, and 10% Carignan sourced from the Dunbar Ranch vineyard located near Glen Ellen in the Sonoma Valley region of California. Source and Sink is a new wine company, I think this is their first vintage. The…

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Technique Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The Story The Technique Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a wine that sells for $6.99 at Trader Joe’s. Is it a Trader Joe’s exclusive? I don’t know since this wine does not conform to the typical Trader Joe’s exclusive wine brands. The Technique label is owned by the Precision Wine Company which has 9 different…

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CheapWineFinder Podcast
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Technique Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Federalist Honest Red Blend 2016

The Story The Federalist Honest Red Blend 2016 is 46.4% Merlot, 24% Zinfandel, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7.6% Malbec from grapes sourced in 76% Mendocino, 16.4% Napa, and 7.6% Sonoma. If my math is correct, the Malbec came from Sonoma, and part of the Merlot came from Napa and the rest came from Mendocino. A…

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