Category: wines under $25
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The Other White Wine – and a Perfect Pairing for your Bird Day
Fast Facts: 2022 N.D.P. Viognier, France ($6.99 @ Trader Joes, California) Made with grapes coming from vineyards in Southern France, where much of this grape is still grown, this is a surprisingly good renditon of Viognier. For most wine drinkers, the wine (pronounced Vee-Un-YAY) is a bit of a head scratcher. That is because…
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Is our WoW! Your Thanksgiving Secret Wine?
Fast Facts: 2021 Kirkland Signature Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France ($17.69 @Costco in California – Item #1494198) As a person that has spent the bulk of his career in the wine business, I often get asked to name my favorite wine. It is a bit like being asked to name your favorite child. But if pressed…
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The Other Bargain Brunello – Fire Up the Pasta Pot!
Fast Facts: 2019 Poggio Lontano Brunello di Montalcino, Italy ($21.99 @ Trader Joes, California) So fellow Costco wine bloggers on the east coast have been lighting up about the new 2019 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino but it has yet to land in our stores here on the West Coast. Maybe we are premature…
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A Costco Wine that Puts the Wow in our W.O.W!
Fast facts: 2019 Borreo Ranch Sangiovese, Napa Valley, CA ($16.99* @Costco, California, Item# 259607) *net price after a generous $13 discount I’ve been tempted by this bottle for months at my local Costco. The label suggested this wine had lots of potential. First off, a single vineyard wine from Napa? You know how we…
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A Crazy High QPR Chardonnay from Napa – More Craziness Coming!
Fast Facts: 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Chardonnay Lot #256, Yountville, Napa Valley, California ($9.99 @ Trader Joes, California) I have worked in the wine business long enough to appreciate that it, like most agricultural endeavors, is cyclical. As of this writing, the wine market is softening. Demand is down. Sounds grim? Well it is…
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Liquid Sunshine is as Close as Your Local Costco
Fast facts: 2021 Kirkland Signature Toscana IGT, Italy ($13.99 @Costco; California – Product #1181768) I’ve decided that the imports in the Kirkland Signature program are far better than the domestic wines. There. I’ve said it. Sure, there are exceptions. But on balance, the deck is stacked with wines like this Toscana, the Sancerre, Barolo,…
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TJ’s Has a Napa Cab for People that Don’t Like Napa Cab – for Under $20!
Fast facts: 2022 Trader Joe’s Diamond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa Valley, California ($19.99 @Trader Joe’s, California) Oakville is what you could think of as the heart of Napa Valley. It is arguably the most prestigiou$ wine region in America. It includes famous vineyards like ToKalon and Martha’s as well as “cult” and…
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The “Other Pinot” from Oregon You Need to Know
Fast facts: 2023 Trader Joe’s Reserve Pinot Gris Lot #258, Willamette Valley, Oregon $9.99 (@Trader Joe’s, California) Imagine you have ended up on a televised broadcast of Wheel…of…Fortune. Your friends are of course mortified that you didn’t make it on to Jeopardy. The clue is Oregon wine grapes. The first word is 5 letters…
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Love Seafood? Here is a wine you need to know.
Fast Facts: 2023 Bodegas Viña Cartín Ruta 49, Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain ($9.99 @ Trader Joe’s in California) I’ll be honest. The first thing that drew me to this wine was its uber cool label design. But once it “had me at hello” I noticed that the juice behind this label was Albariño…
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Barolo is Back, Baby!
Fast facts: 2020 Kirkland Signature Barolo, Italy ($19.99 @ Costco, California – Item #1355183) As we have alluded to in recent posts, we have been waiting for this wine to make its way here to the left coast. Hurrah, it’s here! And it was definitely worth waiting for. This one is a winner. Barolo…