The 2010 Fadeway Pinot Noir is a $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, sourced from vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley AVA in California’s Central Coast. The Santa Maria Valley AVA spans parts of both Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County, the climate is cool and Pinot Noir does well there, they have been growing…
Read MoreThe 2010 Honey Bunch Chardonnay is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in California’s North Coast, which encompass 6 Northern California Counties and 46 grape growing AVA’s including Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. The back labels says this wine was produced by Sugar Pie Honey Bunch Cellars, which tells you more about what song…
Read MoreThe Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Refosco (an ancient grape indigenous to Northern Italy, the wine is mentioned in 1st century Roman texts) $7.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Trade Joe’s “Petit Reserve” designation indicates that this is a one-off bottling, a one time only deal that was too good to pass up. There…
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 2010 Grifone Primitivo is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Sourced from vineyards in the Manduria district (they have been specializing in Primitivo in this area for centuries), which is located inside Puglia in the boot-heel of Italy. This is designated an IGT wine, which indicates the wine is of high quality, but does not…
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The 2007 Walker Napa Valley Red Blend is a $7.99 Aldi’s exclusive (don’t be scared, Aldi’s is the parent company of Trader Joe’s). If you see Napa Valley on the label, then at least 75% of the grapes were grown in Napa Valley. This wine was cellared and bottled (that means they didn’t grow the…
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The 2010 Comique Révolution Blanc is a Trader Joe’s ($4.99) exclusive sourced from grapes grown in California’s Central Coast. Produced by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse, they produce several dozen wine labels, along with custom wines (and a steady stream of Trader Joe’s wines) and they own some of the best vineyards in the Central…
Read MoreThe Long Arm Lot 81 Paso Robles Red Blend is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. The wine is made by Familia Nueva, which is a label owned by Ancient Peaks Winery and used for their Trader Joe’s wines, which tend to be some of the better TJ’s California wines. This is a non vintage wine…
Read MoreThe 2010 Green Barn Mendocino County Organic Chardonnay is produced by Mendocino Wine Company for Trader Joe’s ($7.99). Mendocino Wine Company also produce Parducci Wine Cellars (the oldest winery in Mendocino) and Paul Dolan Vineyards (a leader in sustainable and organic wines since 1987). The Chardonnay grapes are grown to certified organic standards. The wine…
Read MoreThe 2010 Darien Rioja Tempranillo is available (not a TJ’s exclusive) at Trader Joe’s for $5.99. 100% Tempranillo and sourced from Darien’s estate vineyards in Rioja, Spain. This is a young wine, produced with just a little manipulation, the grapes are harvested in fall, crushed and then fermented in stainless steel tanks, left in the…
Read MoreThe 2010 Cocobon Red is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. We reviewed the 2009 Cocobon Red and we thought it was a good bargain. All wines vary from vintage to vintage, even wines sourced from the same vineyards and made by the same winemaker, with Trader Joe’s under $10 wines, since they are buying grapes on the…
Read MoreThe 2010 St. Donatus Estate Balatonboglari Semi-Sweet Merlot is a Trader Joe’s ($5.49) exclusive. Balatonboglari is a resort town on a lake in western Hungary, which is right in the middle of one of Hungary’s leading wine districts. The Hungarians have been making wine for at least 1,500 years and they tend to like their…
Read MoreThe 2010 Trentatre (translates to “33”) Rosso Salento is a Trader Joe’s U.S. exclusive ($5.99), sourced from multiple vineyards in the Puglia region of Italy (the Bootheel) and is a blend of 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 33% Montepulciano (a grape indigenous to southern Italy). The wine is aged in both large and small…
Read MoreThe Stonehedge Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon seems to be a Trader Joe’s ($7.99) exclusive bottling produced by Stonehedge Winery of Napa Valley. Stonehedge is a family owned winery that has been making wine for 30 years, this Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is not listed on their website. Paso Robles is located roughy half way between…
Read MoreThe 2010 Found Object Syrah is a Trader Joe’s ($7.99) exclusive, sourced from the Colchagua Valley, in the Rapel Valley region of Chile. The Colchagua Valley is the sweet spot for Chilean wine, they have a Mediterranean climate and receive cool morning breezes off the Pacific Ocean, just like Napa Valley, only with no smog…
Read MoreThe 2010 Sugar Pie Red Wine is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive, sourced from grapes grown in the North Coast of California, which encompasses 48 wine growing AVA’s, including Napa Valley, Sonoma and Mendocino. The label says this wine was produced by Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch Cellars. Trader Joe’s does not give out much information on…
Read MoreThe Pierre Sparr Cremant Brut Rose’ is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from vineyards near the villages of Molsheim, Kintzheim and Sigolsheim in the Alsace Region of France. First fermentation takes place in steel tanks for 6 months, then second fermentation (adding bubbles) takes place inside each individual bottle, Methode Champagne, for 18 months. Wine and…
Read MoreThe 2010 Sebastopol Hills Pinot Noir is a Trader Joe’s ($9.99) exclusive, is a label produced by Owl Ridge Wine Services, a custom wine making facility, who are also related to Owl Ridge Winery, a top notch Russian River Pinot Noir producer. The label indicates only that the grapes are sourced from the Sonoma Coast…
Read MoreThe Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut Sparkling Wine ($9.99) is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir (a Blanc de Noir) sourced from grapes grown in California’s North Coast. The North Coast encompasses 50 different AVA’s, with the main growing areas being Sonoma, Napa Valley and Mendocino. Made by Rack and Riddle, the only custom…
Read MoreThe Blackburn & James Paso Robles Red Blend, a Trader Joe’s $6.99 exclusive, is a blend of 45% Zinfandel, 25% Petite Sirah, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Sangiovese sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles, California. The blend is mostly aged in used oak barrels, with 5% of the wine aged…
Read MoreThe 2010 The County Fair “I have Seen The Elephant” Mendocino County Chardonnay is a Trader Joe’s ($6.99) exclusive. The wine is produced by the HHD, LLC, which has been buying up vineyards and wineries in California and they control or have ties with some first class vineyards and wineries. Like most Trader Joe’s wines…
Read MoreThe 2009 Liberte‘ Cabernet Sauvignon is a Trader Joe’s ($9.99) exclusive made by Familia Nueva from grapes grown in Paso Robles, California. Familia Nueva is a label owned by Ancient Peaks Winery and the packaging here is a step or two up from the usual ten dollars wines. The bottle is a heavy Cabernet bottle…
Read MoreThe 2010 Panilonco Chardonnay Viognier (80% Chardonnay, 20% Viognier) is a Trader Joe’s ($4.99) exclusive sourced from grapes grown in the Colchagua Valley by Vinedos Errazuriz Ovalle, the largest family owned winery in Chile. The wine is aged in stainless steel vats and the alcohol content is 13.5%. The color is a pale butter yellow….
Read MoreThe 2010 Dr Jebediah Drinkwell’s Meritage is a Trader Joe’s ($6.99) exclusive label made for them by the Central Coast Wine Warehouse (a custom wine producer) from grapes grown in Paso Robles, California. They have been making this wine for several years and the blend from 2010 is 44% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec,…
Read More2009 Chateau Moulin de Beausejour Bordeaux Red is 100% Merlot classified Bordeaux Superieur, estate grown and Chateau bottled in the Saint-Emilion AOC (Right Bank) of Bordeaux, France. That is a big introduction for a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive wine. The thing to know about Bordeaux wine is that vintage is everything, with all their rules…
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