The Trader Joe's Cotillion Pinot Noir 2016 is a $9.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from vineyards in 56% Monterey County, 33% Sonoma County, and 11% Santa Barbara County. These 3 counties are very solid Pinot Noir growing region and the bottle could have indicated California as the grape origin, since 2 of the AVA's are in the Central Coast AVA and 1 in the North Coast AVA, … [Read more...]
Duckhorn Decoy Red Blend 2016
Quake & Dave Drink Duckhorn Decoy Red Blend 2016 and talk about Chinese science beakers, bacon fat, and ducks … [Read more...]
90+ Cellars NZ Sauvignon Blanc Lot 2 2018
The 90+ Cellars NZ Sauvignon Blanc Lot 2 2018 is sourced from vines grown in the Awatere Valley of the Marlborough region on the South Island of New Zealand. 90+ Cellars are Negociantes, that means they purchase left-over or surplus wine from Wineries all over the world. This is a centuries old French tradition and it works because negociantes buy surplus wine (an excellent … [Read more...]
Charles Smith Eve Chardonnay 2016
The Charles Smith Eve Chardonnay 2016 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from Washington State. Yes, I know that is a vague description for grape sourcing, but some of my confusion comes from the label. Typically with Washington State wine in this price range (I found it on sale for $8.99) the label shows Columbia Valley as the place of origin. There are 14 AVA's in Washington and 12 … [Read more...]
Chiare’ Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine 2017
The Chiare' Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine (Chiare' is Italian for clear) is a $7.99 ALDI's vintage dated Bubbly sourced from vineyards in Monterey, California. CWF reviewed the 2014 vintage (it was $6.99 then) and thought it was worth twice the price. ALDI must have showcased the 2014 in its advertisements, because we learned that vintage was produced from Pinot Blanc, Riesling … [Read more...]