Fast facts: 2020 Trader Joe’s Reserve Merlot Lot #227, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California ($9.99 @ Trader Joe’s, California) We hope our subject line extrapolating the price per gallon (there are five standard 750ml bottles in a gallon FWIW) for this wine makes you feel better about the last time you filled up your … Read moreGreat Mmmerlot for Just $50 per Gallon!
Fast facts: 2019 Kirkland Signature Red Blend, Napa Valley, CA ($10.99 @ Costco, California – Item #333110) Tasting Notes: Start with nice aromas of cherry, spice, vanilla, cola, black pepper and a hint of sandalwood. Smooth and silky in the mouth with flavors of black cherry, red berries, vanilla, and eucalyptus. which linger … Read moreOne of our Perennial Favorite Red Wines from Costco
Fast facts: 2018 Juan Gil Monastrell, Jumilla, Spain ($11.99 @ Costco, California – Item #967359) There is a lot to like about this wine. For starters, it is made of 100% Certified Organic Monastrell (Mourvèdre) grapes. Then there is the 93 point rating bestowed by none other than Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. All this … Read more93 Points for $11.99 Makes it a Good Time Get to Know Monastrell
Fast facts: 2019 Levesque Estates Reserve Vidal Ice Wine, VQA Niagara On the Lake, Canada $14.99 (@Trader Joe’s; California) Before my wife and I relocated to California, we lived in Bolton, Massachusetts. You’d be forgiven for not knowing where this town is located. Carved out of the woods in Central Massachusetts, most people in … Read moreIce is for Skating – and Winemaking?
Fast facts: NV Graham’s 10 Year Tawny Port, Porto, Portugal ($22.99 @ Costco, California – Item #185916) In past years, we have counted down the weeks to the big Thanksgiving holiday meal with a progression of wines culminating in a dessert wine. This is what the Aussies refer to as “stickies” due to their … Read moreDrinking Backwards this Thanksgiving
Fast facts: 2018 Trader Joe’s Reserve Shiraz, Lot 214, Barossa, Australia ($9.99 @Trader Joe’s, California) 2018 Trader Joe’s Reserve Syrah, , Lot 209, Paso Robles, California ($9.99 @Trader Joe’s, California) A Little Preamble: The Syrah grape is responsible for some of the most sought after bottlings in the world. In the Rhone Valley of … Read moreTwo Stunning Syrah/Shiraz from Trader Joe’s
Fast Facts: 2018 Kirkland Signature Bordeaux Supérieur, Bordeaux, France ($7.99 @Costco in California – Item #1184548) 2017 Gérard Bertrand Tautavel, Côtes du Rousillon Villages, France ($9.99 @Costco in California – Item #637442) I think that it’s fair to say that most American wine consumers don’t understand French wine nearly as well as they do the wines … Read moreFrench (Wine) Lessons from Costco – Très Bien at Under Ten!
Fast facts: 2019 Alamos Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina ($7.99 @Trader Joe’s, California) 2019 Roustabout Meritage, Paso Robles, California ($7.99 @Trader Joe’s, California) Daylight saving time – check! Spring arrives – check! Temperatures moderate – check! As North America thaws, our food and wine preferences change with the temperatures, which have crept well up into the 80s … Read moreA Delicious Pair for Your Next BBQ – Each Just $7.99 at Trader Joe’s
Fast Facts: 2019 McClean Vineyards, Love Red Blend, Paso Robles, California ($11.49 @Costco in California – Item #1528847) So I admit that it was the “packaging” that stopped me in my tracks for this wine. I am so shallow sometimes. In lieu of a traditional paper label, this wine comes in a gorgeous silk-screened … Read moreAll You Need is Love – a groovy Costco wine that is perfect for BBQ
Fast facts: 2020 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc + Viognier (California) $11.99 (@Trader Joe’s; California) I have to admit that the first time I encountered this wine in the wilds of the Trader Joe’s wine section, I was puzzled. I knew Pine Ridge well, but exclusively as a producer of fine and expensive ($65 to … Read moreTJs Delivers Spring in a Wine Bottle