The 2009 Green Barn Red Field Blend is a Trader Joe’s ($7.99) exclusive sourced from certified organic grapes grown in Mendocino County, California. It is made by the Mendocino Wine Company, who produce Parducci Wine Cellars, Paul Dolan Vineyards and other notable wines. They have been producing organic, sustainable and bio-dynamic wines for some time…
Read MoreThe Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Edna Valley Pinot Reserve is 100% Pinot Noir, cellared and bottled by DNA Vineyards. DNA Vineyards is a project by winemaker Dennis Patton and they are responsible for some of Trader Joe’s best exclusive wines. The term “cellared and bottled” legally indicates that the listed winery aged the wine before…
Read MoreThe Dearly Beloved Forever Red is a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and Carignane sourced from vineyards in Mendocino County. A Trader Joe’s exclusive ($6.99), made by Mendocino Wine Group, who own a number of properties, most notably Parducci and Paul Dolan. There is not much information available, other than TJ’s little…
Read MoreWe reviewed the 2009 LaGranja 360 Tempranillo and thought that this was the REAL bargain wine at Trader Joe’s, pass up those stacks of cases of Charles Shaw wines and grab the LaGranja 360. When folks talk about 2 Buck Chuck, they say things like, “ It was more drinkable than I thought” or “it was…
Read MoreTrader Joe’s +Cabernet Sauvignon+Napa Valley=$4.99. Spiral Wines is a custom label produced by Fior di Sole, a custom and private label winemaker. The back label says Spiral Wines vinted and bottled this Cabernet and legally that indicates that Spiral Wines fermented a minimum of 10% of the wine. The term “Reserve” on the bottle has…
Read MoreThe 2010 Dynamic White Table Wine is 51% Sauvignon Blanc and 49% Chardonnay in certified organic and bio-dynamic Estate vineyards in Lake County, California. Dynamic Vineyards are part of the Ceago VineGarden Group, which is in turn owned by Jim Fetzer of Fetzer Vineyard fame. The Lake County AVA is north of Napa Valley, east…
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 Chateau Auguste Merlot is something of a rarity for Bordeaux Red wines, it is a 100% single varietal Merlot and most Bordeaux wines are blends. Chateau Auguste is located south of St.-Emilion (Right Bank), which is primarily a Merlot and a little Cabernet Franc growing area. The Chateau Auguste vineyards are certified organic…
Read MoreThe Albero Cava Brut is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, sourced from certified organic grapes (CCPAE SPAIN) grown on the Estate vineyards of Bogedas Iranzo (Spain’s oldest Estate vineyards, founded 1335) which is located in the Penedes DO near Barcelona by the Mediterranean Sea. The grapes used, Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo are the traditional grapes…
Read MoreThe Benefactor Cellars South Eastern Australia Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 is one of Trader Joe’s $4.99 special wines. All Trader Joe’s says about the making of this wine is that they were able to purchase several lots of finished Cabernet Sauvignon and they blended the various lots together. I don’t know if that means Cabernet from…
Read MoreThe 2009 Trader Joe’s Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir sells for $9.99, at least 85% of the grapes are grown in the Carneros AVA of California and the alcohol content is 13.9%, is about all I know for sure about this wine. This is a Trader Joe’s negociant wine, so who grew the grapes and who…
Read MoreThe 2010 Benefactor Cellars South Eastern Australia Chardonnay is a Trader Joe’s exclusive selling for $4.99. This is a Negociant wine, which means this is an unnamed Wineries excess wine is purchased and re-labeled by a 3rd party. That is a very common practice through out the wine world and if the Negociant has ties with…
Read MoreWe reviewed the 2010 vintage of the Trader Joe’s Vinas Chilenas Sauvignon Blanc Reserva and thought it was a steal at $3.99. At that price, the winemaker can’t spend too much money on the wine making process, so these Trader Joe’s 4 buck specials are only as good as the grapes that are used and…
Read MoreThe Villa Cerrina Montepulciano D’Abruzzo is another of Trader Joe’s $4.99 specials. Montepulciano is the grape, it is indigenous to Italy and is the second most widely planted indigenous grape, Sangiovese is #1. It is grown in the D’Abruzzo DOC of central Italy and according to regulations a minimum of 85% of the wine must…
Read MoreA Trader Joe’s exclusive, a $4.49, Sparkling Wine imported from somewhere in France. The term Blanc de Blancs normally indicates that the Bubbly was made from Chardonnay grapes, but the back label only mentions “white grapes,” which in France could also mean Chenin Blanc (Cremant de Loire) or Mauzac (Blanquette de Limoux) grapes. A Brut…
Read MoreThe 2008 Nerelo Del Bastardo is imported for Trader Joe’s and sells for $7.99. The Bastardo is the Italian equivalent of the French negotiant wines. The wine makers in the Italian DOCG’s are allowed to produce only a certain amount of their top wines and the wines that don’t make the cut cannot be labeled…
Read MoreRene Barbier Mediterranean Red is a non-vintage blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Tempranillo sourced from the Catalunya D.O. located in Northeastern Spain (near Barcelona). It is available at World Market and several other retailer and sells at Trader Joe’s for $4.99. The alcohol content is 12.5%. The color is clear, shiny cherry red. The…
Read MoreFirst thing you need to know about Trader Joe’s Pancake Cellars Big Day White is that there is no Pancake Cellars. Pancake Cellars is one of the many labels produced by Central Coast Wine Warehouse a contract wine producer, they make 50+ labels, many of which are first class wines. We reviewed the 2009 Pancake…
Read MoreThe 2009 Armand Roux Verdillac Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc– Trader Joe’s $7.99. In Bordeaux, the blanc or white wine is primarily Sauvignon Blanc blended with Semillon, in past vintages the Verdillac Sauvignon Blanc was a mostly Sauvignon Blanc with a smaller percentage of Semillon. This is a negociant wine, which Bordeaux Estate grew the grapes or produced…
Read MoreVouvray is the name for Chenin Blanc grown in the Vouvray growing region near the town of Tours in the Loire Valley, France. The Lacheteau Vouvray is exclusively imported for Trader Joe’s and sells for $6.99. Lacheteau is one of the largest negociant’s in the Loire Valley, which means they do not grow the grapes,…
Read MoreThe 2010 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Napa Valley Rose’ is a complete mystery wine, the label does not tell which grape was used to produce this Rose’. They did think it was important to tell you that the grapes were grown in Napa Valley. The only reason I can think of for withholding the type…
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