The Ménage à Trois Lavish Merlot 2016 is 81% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petite Sirah, and 5% Petit Verdot (other than the Petite Sirah, it’s very Bordeaux, at least in grape selection) sourced from vineyards in Monterey, the Lodi Delta region, and the North Coast AVA, all in Northern California. Ménage à Trois is one of…
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The Velvet Devil Merlot 2015 is 84% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% “other” sourced from 7 sustainable farmed vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. To be technical, this could be called a Bordeaux blend or in the US a Meritage blend since it uses 4 of…
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The Fort Cellars North Coast Merlot 2012 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, produced by DNA Vineyards who also make Babble and Benefactor wines for TJ’s. The North Coast AVA consists of Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Mendocino County, Lake County, Marin County and Solano County, this AVA runs for 100 miles up the Pacific Coast and…
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The Tin Roof Merlot 2012 is a taste of California Merlot with grapes sourced from the Central Coast, the North Coast and Lodi AVA’s. Tin Roof’s website has not been updated in a while (the last Merlot vintage shown is 2009), but they have made wine for over 30 years and have a pretty good…
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The Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Monterey Merlot 2012 is a $5.99 TJ’s exclusive and believe it or not, it is estate grown, produced and bottled by someone. The back of the bottle says Blue Canyon Wine Company, Greenfield, Ca., they are a front company and not an actual winery. There are 175 vineyards in Monterey,…
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The 2011 Hyatt Vineyards Rattlesnake Hills Merlot is 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Hyatt’s Rattlesnake Hills vineyards. Hyatt Vineyards is a family owned vineyard and winery, founded in 1983. Rattlesnake Hills is a relatively new grape growing area, it didn’t become an AVA until 2006 and it is located inside the Yakima…
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The 2012 FishEye Merlot is sourced from vineyards in South Eastern Australia. FishEye is one of The Wine Group’s (the 3rd largest wine producer in the world) family of labels, other brands include Franzia, Mogen David, Big House, Concannon, flipflop and Cupcake, along with several others. The FishEye winery is located in New South Wales,…
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The 2012 Burlwood Cellars Merlot is a $4.99 ALDI US exclusive wine. Burlwood Cellars is one of E & J Gallo’s many labels and has been around for several years, but is now an ALDI wine, though you can find it in Canada for about $11. There is not much technical information available for the Burlwood…
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The 2012 Lindeman’s Bin 40 Merlot is sourced from vineyards located in South East Australia, which is a hugh grape growing area that covers 18 different sub regions. Lindeman’s has been producing wine for over 170 years and is currently part of the Treasury Wine Estates group that also includes Rosemont Estate and Penfolds, along…
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The 2012 Smoking Loon Merlot is sourced from grapes grown in vineyards located inside the Central Valley of Chile. Smoking Loon is one of Don Sebastiani and Sons labels, they are negociants, they find the best deals on excess wine from around the world and sell them under their own label. The 2010 and 2011…
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The 2011 Redwood Creek Merlot is sourced from vineyards in more than one California grape growing AVA. In California, if less than 85% of the grapes are sourced from a single AVA, say for instance Paso Robles or Napa, the label must read California and not the more specific AVA. Red Wood Creek is one of…
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The Four Sisters Merlot is sourced from the 4 vineyards in the Central Victoria grape growing region in Southeast Australia. Four Sisters Wines was started in the 90’s when winemaker, Trevor Mast, decided to produce wines that would appeal to his four daughters (the eldest daughter designed the label), soft, supple, fruit forward wines made…
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The 14 Hands Vineyards Columbia Valley Merlot is 78% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Syrah, 1% Grenache and 1% Cabernet Franc sourced from several vineyards in the Columbia Valley of Washington State. 14 Hands refers to the height of the wild mustangs that used to roam the Columbia Valley, the average regular horse is 15…
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The 2010 Red Rock Reserve Merlot is sourced from vineyards in several California grape growing AVA’s, but mainly from Sonoma, with Monterey and Napa providing most of the rest. Red Rock is one of E & J Gallo’s 60 brands of wines and spirits. Gallo has extensive vineyard holdings in Sonoma as well as other…
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