The Cocobon Roasted Oak Red Blend is a non-vintage blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah sourced from vineyards in several California grape-growing AVAs. This wine is available at Trader Joe’s for $6.99, and it is also available at retail wine shops for a similar price. Cocobon is a brand from The Wine Group, which…
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The Slim Vine Light Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine, and it seems to be related to the ALDI $7.99 Don’t Mind If I Do Sauvignon Blanc 2020. Both wines are from a producer based in Greenfield, California (Monterey AVA). They also have a few details in common, such as 85 calories,…
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The Rosé-Vous? 2020 is a $5.99 ALDI import exclusive, a blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah sourced from grapes farmed in the Languedoc region of France. This is rated an IGP wine or a Vin d’Pays D’Oc wine. These wines are a step below the AOC-rated wines. IGP is subject to few rules and…
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The Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. This is one of Charles Smith’s wines, now called House of Smith. They have some of the best technical notes for wines at any price point. They tell you which vineyards the grapes came…
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The Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 subtitled Francine’s Selection is sourced from long-term contracts with family-owned vineyards in Mendocino County AVA in Northern California. Toad Hollow winery was founded in 1993 by Todd Williams and Rodney Strong. Rodney Strong had been a Broadway choreographer and owned a winery bearing his name. Todd Williams passed away…
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The Tabor Hill Blueberry Demi-Sec is a mix of a White wine blend and blueberry wine from a winery in Southwest Michigan that has produced different types of wine for over 50 years. The White wine is Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec, a blend of Vidal, Vignoles, Riesling, Traminette, Seyval, and Gewürztraminer grapes. Demi-Sec translates to…
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The Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2019 is a taste of Oregon Pinot, sourced from several AVAs inside the state. The Oregon version of wine from California simply California on the label as the place of origin. When folks think of Oregon Pinot Noir, they usually think of Willamette Valley, but there is more to Oregon…
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The Bear Bros Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive made for them by a large family-owned winery based in Monterey, California. The origin of the grapes on the label says California, which means the Central Coast AVA and/or the North Coast AVA or Central Valley AVA. ALDI sells several wines made by this…
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The format for this review is going to be different, we typically give our attention to one wine, but the Le Grand Verre 2020 is not about one individual bottle of wine. Instead, the name translates to “the big glass” and is a hand-picked line of single-serve bottles of boutique, small-batch French Estate wines. The…
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The Decoy Brut Cuvée is a blend of 49% Pinot Noir, 47% Chardonnay, and 4% Pinot Meunier sourced from vineyards in several locations in California. Decoy is one of Duckhorn Vineyards’ wines; they are a high-end winery founded by Dan and Margret Duckhorn in 1976. The Decoy line of wines started as Duckhorn’s second line…
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The High Guard Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards located in several California AVA’s. This is a wine produced for Trader Joe’s by a custom wine company making wine for TJ’s for several years. I read that half of the wineries in California are faux-wineries, meaning that they do not…
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The African Hills Cape Town Sauvignon Rosé 2020 is a $6.99 ALDI import wine from the Cape Town growing region of South Africa. The Rosé is a blend of 93% Sauvignon Blanc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fun Wine Fact: Sauvignon Blanc is the genetic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. Ok, here is a Rosé refresher. Rosé…
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The Evodia Garnacha 2018 is sourced from 40 to 100-year-old vines in vineyards located in the foothill of the Sierra Santa Cruz Mountains in the Calatayud region in northeast Spain. This is a wine that sells for around $10 and is a perennial 90+ point wine. It has been a bang-for-the-buck favorite for years. Here…
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The Studio By Miraval Rosé 2020 is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Rolle, and Tibouren grapes sourced from various vineyards in the French Riviera in the south of France. The French Riviera includes the Cote d’Azur and the well-known Cotes d Provence wine regions. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie own Miraval; even after the divorce,…
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The Villa Borghetti Grigio Luna Pinot Grigio 2020 is a $5.99 import Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Delle Venzie DOC of Northeast Italy. The Delle Venzie region specializes in White wine grapes and grows German grape varietals and Italian, but is best known for Pinot Grigio. The Villa Borghetti Grigio Luna Pinot…
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The Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Diamond Mountain District Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is a $14.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive; this is also Lot #92, which may be important in this series of wines. For the last six months, TraderJoe’s has offered a line of small-batch wines featuring grapes from premier Napa Valley sub-AVA’s. Are these wines…
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The Antoine Delaune Beaujolais Rosé 2020 is a $7.99 ALDI import exclusive. Beaujolais is a growing region in France that is located just south of Burgundy. The Champagne wine region is on the North end of Burgundy. The main grapes of Burgundy and Champagne are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; the main grape of Beaujolais is…
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The Domaine Jean Bousquet Brut Rose is a non-vintage Sparkling wine, 95% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay sourced from Estate vineyards in the foothills of the Tupungato Mountain in the Uco Valley of Mendoza in Argentina. Tupungato is one of the tallest mountains in the Americas, and the vineyards are situated at 4,000 feet. Domaine…
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The Los Vascos Cromas Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, and 5% Carménère sourced from Estate vineyards of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Colchagua Valley vineyard and winery in central Chile. This Estate was founded in 1988 and was the first French wine project in modern Chile. Barons de Rothschild…
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The Vin Seven Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 is a $4.99 wine that I found at Trader Joe’s, but the 7 in the Vin Seven name stands for 7/Eleven. At one time, the Vin Seven Unoaked Chardonnay 2019 was a 7/Eleven exclusive wine. Sonoma Bespoke makes custom private-label wines for Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, grocery store chains,…
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The Espiral Vinho Verde – Trader Joe’s is a $4.45 Trader Joe’s exclusive. Vinho Verde is a region in Northern Portugal and not a particular grape. These wines are typically inexpensive wines with bright acidity and bracing citrus flavors. They are also a little fizzy. Vinho Verde wines were originally slightly carbonated because the winemakers…
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The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2017 is sourced from Poppy’s Highland vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands sub-AVA inside the Monterey AVA, which is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. The Santa Lucia Highlands is exactly what the name suggests; it is located in the foothills of the Santa Lucia coastal mountains. This…
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The Boneshaker Old Vine Zinfandel 2019 is sourced from two vineyards in the Mokelumne River AVA inside the Lodi AVA in the Central Valley of California. Boneshaker is one of the Hahn Family Vineyards wine brands. They purchased the Smith and Hook vineyard in 1979 and soon had a winery located in the Santa Lucia…
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The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz (Syrah) sourced from vineyards in the Barossa district of Southeast Australia. This a brand from Calabria Family Wines, a winery founded in 1945. I found this wine selling at Trader Joe’s for $8.99; while the Kings of Prohibition…
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The Blue Shell Sauvignon Blanc 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import wine sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southeast France. The label says the location is the “Southern French Coast,” which makes sense since the Languedoc runs along the Mediterranean Ocean. This is an IGP (Indication Geographique Protégée) classified wine; it is…
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