The 2011 Coppola Diamond Collection Black Label Claret (Claret is the term used in England for Red wine blends from Bordeaux, France) is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc sourced from Coppola Estate vineyards in Sonoma as well a long term contracted vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and El Dorado AVA’s…
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The 2010 Kenwood Vineyards Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 3% Syrah sourced mainly from vineyards in Alexander Valley, Dry Creek and Sonoma Valley in the Sonoma AVA of Northern California. The grapes from each individual vineyards were fermented and aged separately and then blended to taste just before bottling….
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The 2010 Red Rock Reserve Merlot is sourced from vineyards in several California grape growing AVA’s, but mainly from Sonoma, with Monterey and Napa providing most of the rest. Red Rock is one of E & J Gallo’s 60 brands of wines and spirits. Gallo has extensive vineyard holdings in Sonoma as well as other…
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The 2008 Kenwood Sonoma County Zinfandel is 87% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah, 2% Sangiovese and 1% Barbera sourced from vineyards in Sonoma, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek. Kenwood has been in business since 1970 and are currently owned by F. Korbel, the California Sparkling wine company. The different lots of grapes from each vineyard were…
Read MoreThe Ferrari-Carano Bella Luce (translates to beautiful light) Sonoma County White is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Canelli, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Semillon and Muscat Giallo grown in several Ferrari-Carano vineyards in Sonoma County, California. The individual grape varietals are fermented separately in stainless tanks and then blended to get the proper mix. This…
Read MoreThe Coppola Director’s Sonoma County Chardonnay 2010 is sourced from multiple vineyards located thru out Sonoma County, sort of the best of Sonoma. Coppola also produces the Director’s Cut Chardonnay and that bottling focuses on two sections of the Russian River Valley which is located inside Sonoma County. Together they are a micro and macro…
Read MoreThe entire name of this wine is Oak Valley River Canyon Ridge by Glenn Meadows Creek Russian River Valley Chardonnay, it is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Russian River AVA which is located inside the Sonoma grape growing AVA in Northern California. This Chardonnay is produced for Trader Joe’s…
Read MoreThe 2008 St. Francis Red Splash is a blend of 27% Merlot, 19% Petite Sirah, 17% Syrah, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Zinfandel and the other 14% made up of Cabernet Franc, Alicante Bouschet and mixed blacks (various red grapes, I don’t know why the accounting is so impercise). Some of the 2008 vintage labels say…
Read MoreThe 2010 Coppola Diamond Collection Claret is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc sourced from Coppola Estate vineyards, other Napa vineyards, Sonoma and El Dorado AVA (located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains). The word Claret is a British term used to identify Bordeaux…
Read MoreThe 2010 Coppola Diamond Collection Merlot is 80% Merlot, 19% Petite Sirah and 1% Syrah sourced from vineyards all over California (they mention Paso Robles, Sonoma and Monterey as some of the vineyard locations), though the core of the vineyards used has been the same since 1996. This Merlot was aged in French oak barrels…
Read MoreThe 2010 Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chardonnay is sourced from Rodney Strong’s estate grown vineyards as well as contracted vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and the Sonoma Coastal region. 60% of the Chardonnay was fermented and then aged for 5 months in French and American oak barrels and this portion also underwent…
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The 2010 Mirassou Pinot Noir is sourced from grapes grown in several California grape growing AVA’s, with some of the grapes coming from Sonoma and Monterey. The Mirassou family have been growing grapes and producing wine since 1854, they are the first to introduce Pinot Noir grapes to California and were among the first to…
Read MoreThe 2010 Trader Joe’s Reserve Knights Valley Meritage is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Knights Valley is an AVA located in the far eastern edge of Sonoma County, California, it is the warmest AVA in Sonoma and features volcanic soil and is well known for producing Red grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. The…
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The 2010 Garnet Carneros Pinot Noir is sourced from Estate vineyards, (the Stanly Ranch, the Diamond Vineyards and the Rodgers Creek Vineyard) in the Carneros AVA, Northern California. The Carneros AVA sits inside both the Sonoma AVA and the Napa AVA. For serious Pinot drinkers, Pinot Noir is all about the “clone” (a clone is a…
Read MoreThe 2010 Tribunal Sonoma County Red is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive in the US, it is available in Canada and sells for $25 to $28 Canadian. This is a “kitchen sink” blend with the grapes and the percentages changing with each vintage, so if you loved or hated the 2008 or 2009, the 2010…
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The 2010 friends.red is a blend of Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese sourced from vineyards located in Sonoma County, California. This wine is produced by Pedroncelli Winery, a family owned and operated facility dating back to 1927. The grapes used in the blend seem to change from vintage to vintage, so don’t expect it to be…
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The 2011 Acre Russian River Valley Chardonnay is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. There is or at least was an Acre Wine Company that produce wines sourced from the Central Coast (the wines they make list for 3 times as much), and this bottle shares their bottle graphics, a silk screened grape vine, but this…
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The 2010 Picket Fence Pinot Noir is sourced from 2 vineyards, the Green Valley vineyard and the Riverside Vineyard in the Russian River Valley AVA inside of Sonoma, California. The winemaker, Alison Crowe, worked at Chalone and Boony Doon before taking over the winemaking chores at Picket Fence. Picket Fence is owned by Bronco Wines…
Read MoreThe 2010 Earth and Vine Chardonnay is a Trader Joe’s exclusive ($7.99) sourced from sustainably farmed grapevines in Sonoma County, California. The wine was produced for Trader Joe’s by Kunde Family Estates, a family owned and operated winery purchased by them in 1904, the original winery on the site, the Wildwood Vineyards dates back to…
Read MoreThe 2010 Buena Vista Zinfandel is 100% Zinfandel sourced from vineyards in Sonoma, California. Buena Vista Winery is owned by Boisset Family Estates and is located on the site of the original Buena Vista Winery that was founded in 1857. This Zinfandel was aged for 14 months in French, Hungarian and American oak barrels, 10%…
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The 2010 Hook and Ladder Russian River Chardonnay is sourced from their Estate vineyards in the Russian River sub AVA of Sonoma, California. This is not a “brand” wine or a virtual winery, Hook and Ladder grow the grapes in their own vineyards and produce, age and bottle the wine in their own winery. Hook…
Read MoreThe 2008 Gloria Ferrer Carneros Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from their Estate vineyards on the Sonoma side of the Carneros grape growing AVA. Gloria Ferrer is known for Champagne style Sparkling wines and the Pinot Noir grapes used for the Sparkling wines have different characteristics and are grown in a different section of…
Read MoreThe The County Fair The One Man Band Sonoma County Zinfandel 2010 is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Made from 80% Zinfandel and 15% Petite Sirah and 5% “other” (if you can find out what the 5% is, you can figure out who made the wine). The wine is produced by HDD LLC and wine…
Read MoreThe 2009 Three Knights Los Carneros Pinot Noir is a Trader Joe’s exclusive ($8.99), produced by Bronco Wine Company, the makers of 2 Buck Chuck and many other Trader Joe’s labels.There is no actual Three Knights Winery and Bronco Wines makes their wines as inexpensively as possible, so they don’t spend money on information on…
Read MoreThe 2009 Wine Guerrilla Zinfandel is 85% Zinfandel and 15% Petit Sirah sourced from vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley AVA’s of Sonoma County, California. The seems to be 2 bottlings of the Sonoma County Zinfandel, there is another bottle that also has Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan blended in, 1,100 cases…
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