Tag: best wines under $20
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Think of these two “wines” as bookends to your Thanksgiving holiday meal…
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in 10 Year Tawny Port, best trader joes wines, Porto Morgado, semi sweet, sparkling wines, sweet wines, Thanksgiving wines, Thanksgiving wines at Trader Joe’s, Villa Alena, Wine, wine blog, wine reviews, Wines of Italy, Wines of Portugal, wines under $10, Wines Under $15, Wines Under $20, wines under $25Fast Facts: Villa Alena Cranberry, Italy ($7.99 @ Trader Joes, California) Porto Morgado, 10 Years Tawny Port, Portugal ($11.99 @ Trader Joe’s, California) It’s difficult to belive, but here we are careening towards the end of another year. And the crush of Q4 holidays makes it a slippery slope into 2025. But I am…
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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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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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Old School Pinot from Costco – Is this a Good Thing?
Fast facts: 2020 Acacia Pinot Noir, Carneros, California ($14.99 @ Costco, California – Item #58889) In their review of this wine, the critics at Wine Enthusiast called this a “1980’s style Pinot”. One could take this as a compliment, or a dismissal of the juice. But since they also gave it 93 points, it…
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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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QPR, CdP, M-O-U-S-E
Fast facts: 2022 Kirkland Signature Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($19.69 @ Costco, California – Item #777662) Missed me? I am just back from a two week vacation in New England with four – count ’em! – four generations of wine loving family members (well, maybe three when you omit all of those stinking cute grandkids!) enjoying summer…