The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2021 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. There was a 2020 Vintage TJ’s Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot which also sold for $14.99. This seems to be a reoccurring Thanksgiving wine. The Carneros AVA is located on the San Pablo Bay, east of Oakland, and about half of…
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The Red Cloak Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir 2021 is an $11.99 Aldi exclusive made for them by a winery located in Greenfield, California (Monterey County). Arroyo Seco translates to dry creek, (there is also a Dry Creek AVA in Sonoma). It is part of the Salinas River Valley which runs north/south along the Pacific Coast….
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The Laurent Perrachon Beaujolais Villages 2020 is sourced from vineyards surrounding two small towns, La Chapelle de Guinchay (70%) and Lancié. One village has sandy soils and granite the other has clay and limestone. The villages are not far apart but offer very different soil. The grape is 100% Gamay. Beaujolais is located just south…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Monterey Pinot Noir 2020 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive wine. The Petit in the name indicates a limited supply of this wine, though all Trader Joe’s Reserve wines are one-off wines. They may return the next vintage but not necessarily by the same producer. The Fearless Flyer does not…
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The Emma Reichart Dry Riesling 2021 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s imported wine from the Rheinhessen region of Germany. Both Trader Joe’s and Aldi are German companies that are famous for their European value wine selection. Trader Joe’s knows German wine. If you think that $4.99 is too cheap for a decent bottle of wine…
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The Legende Saint-Emilion Bordeaux 2016 is a blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from contract vineyards in the Saint-Emilion region of the Right Bank of Bordeaux in western France. The Legende brand is the Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) line of Bordeaux regional wines. The wines (except for one) are not sourcing grapes…
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The Liberte Pinot Noir 2017 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in San Luis Obispo County inside the Paso Robles AVA which is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Liberte has been a Trader Joe’s brand for some time, I think we first reviewed these wines with the 2009 vintage. The…
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The Story The Flora and Stone Gewürztraminer is a non-vintage dated $4.99 ALDI exclusive wine sourced from vineyards in Monterey County AVA in the Central Coast AVA of California. Normally, $4.99, non-vintage, and a store brand would be a cause for concern, but I did a little digging and there is more to this wine than…
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