Red Truck Pinot Noir 2006

The nose has a little cherry and spice but not much else. The aromas were very faint.

I had to taste it a couple times before I could really nail down what I was getting. I started out thinking it was tart cherry with a little plum. Later I realized nope, its just cranberry. Just cranberry. Nothing else really going on with this wine. There is no finish.

I won’t ever be buying this wine again. Its drinkable as long as you don’t mind the cranberry taste, but who ever buys a wine because they hope it tastes like cranberry juice? Not me.

Price: $9
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Country: USA – CA
Cheap Wine Rating:78

Buy it here: Stirling Fine Wines

Two Brothers Cabernet 2005

Just took this wine over to a friends house for a Friday night wine party. Its just a nice cheap old cabernet from my favorite cabernet region, Chile. As we’ve said before, 2005 was a great year for Chile and their grapes. This wine holds up well to the reputation.

There wasn’t a hole lot going on with this wine. When we first opened it up it was very closed and need some time to open up. Once it breathed for a while I picked up some very nice aromas of red fruit. On the taste I mostly picked up blackberry and strawberry which followed through on the finish. This was a pretty good wine for the price. It was well balanced with good fruit. Screw top.

Price: $11
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
County: Chile
Cheap Wine Rating: 89

Buy it here: Wine Library

Cheap Chardonnay

90+ Chardonnay for less than $20 a bottle.






  Angoves Red Belly Black Chardonnay 2006
  Rating: JH 92
   Price: $7.99



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  Vasse Felix Chardonnay 2006
  Rating: JH 94
   Price: $15.49



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  Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2007
  Rating: RP 90
   Price: $12.79



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  Yalumba Eden Valley Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2007
  Rating: JH 91
   Price: $12.99



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  Cousino Macul Antiguas Reservas Chardonnay 2006
  Rating: RP 90
   Price: $13.79



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  Chateau Souverain Alexander Valley Chardonnay 2007

  Rating: WS 90
   Price: $14.79

Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The Kenwood wines are a great value. The 2005 Vintage was a great year for their vineyard and their wines show it. I like the 05 Zinfandel more than the Cabernet, but the Cab still passes the test.

On the nose I picked up aromas of raspberry, cherry and some herbs. The wine was pretty dry but also very light and resembled simple red fruit. The finish of the wine was pretty closed off and I didn’t really pick anything up.

This is just a nice everyday wine to keep around the house. Not the best cab and not worthy of my favorite red wines for the cheap wine list, but still a nice value.

Price: $13
Vintage: 2005
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Country: USA – CA
Cheap Wine Rating: 86

Buy it here: Wine Library

La Crema Pinot Noir 2006

Looking for the perfect every day Pinot? This is it. Read more

La Crema Chardonnay 2006

Just as I had hoped this 06 Chardonnay was a delight. La Crema is producing some amazing wines around the $20 price range. When you look around you will be able to find their wines for under $20. Of course, you can always count on me to provide a link to the wine shops where it is the cheapest.

The nose was not overpowering but still had some very interesting aromatics. I picked up nutmeg, creamy orange peel and butterscotch. Pretty cool nose. In the mouth I tasted more of that creamy orange peel with a little honey. It was very fresh and clean with great acidity. The finish was long and a little dry with more butterscotch and honeysuckle. Fantastic wine for under $20.

Price: $16
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Chardonnay
Country: USA – CA
Cheap Wine Rating: 94

Buy it Here: KLwines.com

Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

I bought this wine from Safeway this weekend for $4.40. And if I knew what it tasted like before I bought it I wouldn’t have paid $1 for it. This wine stinks and I plan on pouring out the rest of the bottle later tonight. A couple of us tasted this wine on two different days and we though the same thing – no way. I’m only writing a post about it to hopefully steer people away from it.

I picked up aromas of cheap cherry candy, green pepper and red syrup. The taste of this wine was very closed and there wasn’t much to it, just more light cherry candy. Then the finish revealed everything that I was experiencing before… it was cherry cough syrup. If I want to drink cherry cough syrup I’d just go buy the real thing.

Cheap Sparkling Wine

Its all about the bubbles. Sparkling Wine is becoming more popular everyday so I put together a short list of highly rated cheap sparkling wine you can buy online. Every bottle listed here can be bought for less than $20. Enjoy!

 Cristalino Brut Cava – Champagne & Sparkling
 Cava, Spain
 Rating: W&S 91, WE 88
 Price: $7.99

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