The La Granja 360 Cava Brut is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, 70% Xarel-lo and 30% Parellada (these, along with Macabeo, are the grapes traditionally used in Cava) sourced from vineyards in the Penedes district of Catalonia (near Barcelona) in northeast Spain. The La Granja 360 Cava is made by Parxet, who have produced…
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The 2014 La Granja 360 Verdejo Viura is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive, 70% Verdejo and 30% Viura grown in the vineyards of Bodegas Avelino Vegas around the town of Santiuste in the Castilla y Leon region in northeast Spain. Verdejo is a grape that has been farmed in Spain for over a thousand…
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The JOYA Sangria White is 100% Airén grape with “all natural essences of fresh Mediterranean fruit” sourced from vineyards in the Castilla-LaMancha region of Spain. Airén is a grape that is almost exclusively grown in Spain and not too long ago was the most planted grape in world, today it is the 3rd most planted…
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The Segura Viudas Gran Cuvée Reserva Brut is a blend of 85% Macebeo and Parellada (these, along with Xarel.lo, are the grapes traditionally used in the production of Cava), plus 15% of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grown in the Penedès region of Spain. The Segura Viudas property has been an estate since the 1000’s and…
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The Bel Lago Auxerrois 2013 is an estate grown White wine sourced from grapes grown on the Leelanau Peninsula surrounded by Lake Michigan in upstate western Michigan. The Auxerrois grape is common to the Alsace region of France near the border with Germany. It is a close relative of the Chardonnay grape and does well…
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The Cantina di Soave Rocca Sveva Classico 2012 is 100% Garganega grape grown in DOC vineyards near the towns of Soave and Monteforte in Veneto, Italy. Cantina di Soave was founded in 1898 and is a co-op of over 2,600 vineyards comprising 8,600 acres of vines. Garganega is the main grape of Soave White wine…
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The Celler del Roure Cullerot Blanco 2012 is an unusual blend of Verdil, Pedro Ximenez, Macabeo and Chardonnay sourced from an estate vineyard located near the town of Moixent in Valencia, Spain. Verdil is a grape indigenous to the region that was nearly extinct, there are only a little over 100 acres of these vines…
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The Herencia Altes Garnacha Blanca 2014 is sourced from estate vineyards near the village of Batea in the Terra Alta DO of southeast Catalonia in Spain. Garnacha Blanc is a White grape that is related to the Red Grenache/Garnacha grape, it is possibly a mutation of the Red grape. Terra Alta (translates to High Land)…
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The il Palagione Hydra 2013 DOCG is 100% Vernaccia di San Gimignano grown in hillside vineyards outside the town of San Gimignano in Tuscany, Italy. There has been a farm on this site since the 1500s and they have grown the Vernaccia di San Gimignano grape here since the 1200s. There are other grapes named…
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The Mavam Gold Fushion Vulcano 2014 is a Sparkling wine using the Macabeo grape (one of the 3 grapes traditionally used in the production of Cava Sparkling wines) and is produced by Bodegas Vidal Del Saz in the La Mancha DO of central Spain. There are 3 varieties, Gold Fushion, which is pink/orange in…
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The Bedell Cellars Taste White 2013 is a blend of 50% Albariño, 30% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Viognier and 5% Chardonnay sourced from sustainably farmed estate vineyards near the town of North Fork in Long Island, New York. Long Island has a maritime climate that cools the vineyards during the heat of summer and protects the…
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The Cavalchina Bianco di Custoza DOC 2013 is a blend of 40% Garganega, 30% Fernanda, 15% Trebbianello and 15% Trebbiano grown in the Custoza district, southeast of Lake Garda in Veneto, Italy. Bianco di Custoza is a traditional blend of 9 approved grapes, the blend must contain specified percentages of 3 grapes and the other 6…
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The Astoria Valdobbiadene DOCG Extra Dry Prosecco Millesimato 2012 is sourced from Glera grapes grown on estate vineyards on the hillsides overlooking the Crevada river near the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene in the Treviso province of Veneto, Italy. This is the heart of the Prosecco district and the wines grown here are rated DOCG,…
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The Villa Sandi Il Fresco Brut Prosecco is produced from Glera grapes grown in estate vineyards near the town of Treviso in Veneto, Italy. The Villa Sandi estate was built in 1622 and the family has produced wine for generations. Il Fresco Brut Prosecco is Villa Sandi’s everyday Bubbly and is produced in the Charmat…
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The Parxet Cuvée 21 Cava Brut is 33% Macabeo, 33% Parellada and 33% Pansa Blanca (a cousin and similar to the Xarello grape traditionally used in Cava) grapes grown in certified organic vineyards near the town of Alella, just outside Barcelona, Spain. The Parxet winery was built in 1920 and the parent company had been…
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The Wollersheim Winery Prairie Fume’ 2013 is 100% Seyval Blanc grape sourced from contract vineyards in New York. The Wollersheim Winery is located west of Madison, Wisconsin near the Wisconsin River. It was founded in the 1840s, but after a particularly brutal winter in 1899 the vineyards froze and the property was converted to a…
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The Ca’ di Rajo Prosecco Millesimato Extra Dry DOCG is a Sparkling wine produced from the Glera grape grown in an estate vineyard in the Valdobbiadene region near the town of Treviso in the Veneto region of Italy. Valdobbiadene Prosecco and DOCG Prosecco are the highest quality area and rating for Prosecco wine. Millesimato indicates that this…
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The Ca’ Di Rajo Prosecco Brut is a Sparkling wine produced from the Glera grape near the town of Treviso (DOC), along the Piave River in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. The winery is located on the site of an ancient convent ( founded 1507) and the property was converted to vineyards in 1960. This Prosecco…
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The Murrieta’s Well The Whip 2013 is a blend of 28% Semillion, 24% Chardonnay, 14% Sauvignon Blanc, 11% Orange Muscat, 11% Viognier, 11% Gewürztraminer and 1% White Riesling all grown on Murrieta’s Well estate vineyards located in the Livermore Valley AVA near the San Francisco Bay. Murrieta’s Well was originally planted in 1884 and was…
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The Birthday Cake Vineyards Cheesecake Wine is a flavored wine from France that tastes, well, like New York cheesecake. Birthday Cake Vineyards, along with Ice Cream Cellars is a joint project from the man behind Hpnotiq and the co-creator of Skinnygirl. The Birthday Cake flavors are Cake Batter and Strawberry Shortcake (along with Cheesecake) for White wine and…
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Antxiola (pronounced ahn-cho-la) comes to us from the Errasti brothers, owners of Bodegas Zudugarai in Spain. It’s a Txakoli, a very dry, slightly-sparkling, hard-to-pronounce white wine (it’s pronounced chock-o-lee) made with the Hondarrabi grape. Antxiola Hondarrabi 2012 is made with both types of Hondarrabi – 90% Zuri (Basque for white) and 10% Beltza (Basque for…
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I had a meeting at one of my favorite Chicago wine bars recently – BIN36 – and I wanted something “outside the box” – not my usual reds or whites or sparklings or rosés. I said “bring me something weird”! Enoch Shully, BIN36’s beverage guru, did not disappoint. He brought me something from his native…
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The Fortant Hills Reserve Viognier 2012 is sourced from hillside vineyards in the Languedoc comprising three different soil conditions. The Languedoc is located in Southwest France and is the leading wine-producing region in the world, in terms of production. The temperature is hot during the day in the summer, but cool at night. The grape lots…
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The Torres Verdeo 2013 is 100% Verdejo sourced from vineyards in the Rueda DO of Castilla-La Mancha on the west side of central Spain. The brand is Verdeo and the grape is Verdejo which is slightly confusing. Verdejo is the indigenous grape of the Rueda region, they have had Verdejo vineyards in Rueda for 1,000 years….
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The 2013 Legaris Verdejo is 100% Verdejo sourced from vineyards in the Province of Valladolid inside the Rueda DO in northwest central Spain near Portugal. Verdejo is THE grape of Rueda and has been grown in the region for over 1,000 years. This Verdejo was fermented in stainless steel vats, then racked (racking is transferring…
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