CheapWineFinder Podcast

Send us Fan Mail No sugar, no fat, low carbs, 9% alcohol usually means the wine will taste like something is missing—usually flavor and mouthfeel. But not with is $7.99 ALDI Sauv Blanc from California. It isn't big and bold, more leaner and balanced.  But the flavor is still there. The winery that possibly produced this Sauvignon Blanc also makes a bottle of wine with similar details under on...

Send us Fan Mail Barons  Domaines de Rothschild (Lafite) sure sounds expensive, but the Los Vascos Chardonnay 2020 sells for $10 or less. It is an estate wine from their project in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. No oak barrels, no malolactic fermentation, just on lees aging. Is that enough to make this Chardonnay taste great? Oh yeah! This is one of those better buy-a-case wines. Check out www. ch...

Send us Fan Mail The Attack of the Clones!!! Not so fast. A grape clone is a grapevine that exhibits excellent characteristics and is grafted onto rootstock to create enough vines to be categorized and indexed. Most wine grape vines today are some type of clone. The Noble Vine 337 Cabernet Sauvignon is a Lodi wine made from a Bordeaux clone.  The 337 clone, go figure. Yes, clones are geeky, but th...

Send us Fan Mail Sea Sun Pinot Noir 2019 This is a wine from Charlie Wagner, the son of Chuck Wagner from Caymus Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and the head of Wagner Family Wines. Joe Wagner, Charlie's younger brother, did Meiomi Pinot Noir before he sold it for a crazy amount of money. Jenny Wagner has a  wine brand that specializes in Merlot. This is A Wine Family. Charlie Wagner is also the wine...

Send us Fan Mail Honey Moon Viognier 2019 This is a $5.99 Trader Joe's wine. This wine tastes delicious. Should $5.99 wines be enjoyable? In Europe, folks drink wine with every meal, a $5.99 wine is a bit expensive. But wait a minute, only $40 wines can start to be good, according to the wine press. Maybe, just maybe, you should taste the wine first and then decide. Check out www.cheapwinefin...

Send us Fan Mail The Conte Priuli Prosecco Rosé 2020 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's Sparkling wine, but it is available at other retailers in different parts of the world. It sells at the Marks and Spencer store in London for the equivalent of 16 dollars US and at a similar price in wine shops in Ireland. A wine that is a store brand that sells for a meager price does not mean that it is a cheap win...

Send us Fan Mail The William Wright Monterey Pinot Noir 2018 is a $9.99 Aldi exclusive. It is exclusive to Aldi in the United States but a quick check of the internet saw this wine selling for $34 (Canadian) and for the equivalent of $25 in Denmark. I am not sure as to what to make of the price differences. Aldi typically holds the trademark on the wine labels they sell, but the William Wright Mon...

Send us Fan Mail The Apothic Red 2018 is one of E & J Gallo's multitude of wine and spirits brands. Gallo was founded in 1933 and is the largest winery in the United States, and is still family-owned. They offer around 80 different wine brands, from Andre's Sparkling wines to single-vineyards high-end wines. Gallo also owns some of the best vineyards in California and routinely wins...

Send us Fan Mail The Blackbird Vineyards Dissonance Napa Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is 87% Sauvignon Blanc and 13% Semillon. The Sauv Blanc sourced from the Hudson Vineyard, located on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA. The Semillion was taken from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in the Knights Valley AVA of northeast Sonoma County. The Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend is inspired by the Bordeaux Blanc wines o...

Send us Fan Mail The Elevation 1250 Paso Robles Red 2018 is a $7.99 Trader Joe's wine made for them by Riboli Family Wines, who have been producing wine since 1917 and have been in Paso Robles since the early 2000s. The typical Trader Joe's wine conceals the producer, but the winery name and the winemakers' name are on the label. Riboli Family Wines has a pretty good webpage, but th...

Send us Fan Mail Riddle Edna Valley Chardonnay 2018 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's wine sourced from vineyards in the Edna Valley AVA inside San Luis Obispo County, inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Edna Valley is to the east of the Santa Lucia Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean provides a cool climate ideal for Chardonnay vines. As a Trader Joe's wine, there is no technical information...

Send us Fan Mail The Dueling Pistols Paso Robles Red 2016 is a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah sourced from a single vineyard near the Templeton Gap and on the westside of Paso Robles city. The vineyard has the classic vineyard climate, warm days, cool nights, morning fog, and low rainfall. This is not the usual CheapWineFinder value-priced wine; it sells for somewhere between $...

Send us Fan Mail The Los Vascos Cromas Carménère Gran Reserva 2019 is sourced from Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards located in the foothills of the Coastal Mountains in the Colchagua Valley of Chile, twenty-five miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Rothschild (Lafite) vineyards and winery were founded in Chile in 1988.Carménère was once one of the main grapes in the classic Bordeaux bl...

Send us Fan Mail The Lomasi Bee Well Rosé 2020 is a $6.99 ALDI wine sourced from vineyards in the Monterey County AVA inside California's Central Coast AVA. ALDI does not offer any information on the making of this Rosé, so which grapes are used, and the production methods are a mystery. Lomasi WInes is a trademark owned by a large Monterey winery that often produces wine for ALDI and Trader...

Send us Fan Mail The Los Vascos Rose 2020 is a blend of 60% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Mourvedre sourced from Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)'s Los Vascos estate vineyards in the Colchagua Valley in Chile, located about 25 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Rothschild (Lafite) found this 5,000-acre wine estate in 1988.The Colchagua Valley is in the Coastal Mountain range's...

Send us Fan Mail The Grower's Guild Oregon Pinot Noir 2019 is sourced from select vineyards throughout Oregon. Grower's Guild is the affordable line of wines from Owen Roe Winery, which David O'Reilly owned. And that is why the Grower's Guild Oregon Pinot Noir 2019 is chosen as CheapWineFinders St Patrick's Day wine. Owen Roe was an Irish Rebel commander from the 1500s and...

Send us Fan Mail The Fior di Vino Chianti Classico Reserva 2016 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's import wine sourced from the DOCG Chianti Classico district in Tuscany. The name Fior di Vino translates to Fine Wine. While this wine sells for $6.99 at TJ's, I found it selling at a wine shop in New York State for $13.99.Fior di Vino Chianti Classico Reserva 2016The Chianti wine region is a little c...

Send us Fan Mail The McBride Sisters Hawke's Bay Brut Rose is a non-vintage blend of 64% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and 6% Merlot vineyards located in Hawke's Bay growing region on the North Island in New Zealand. The Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay are iconic grapes used in Champagne wines, so the uncommon addition of Merlot is an interesting choice. The South Island of New Zealand, espe...

Send us Fan Mail The Weed Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the Central Coast AVA of California. The Weed Cellars website only mentions Paso Robles as the contributing region, but the label says Central Coast (Paso Robles AVA is inside the Central Coast AVA. I would imagine most of the grapes came from Paso, but not enough of a percentage to show it on the label. Weed Ce...

Send us Fan Mail The Angeline Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is sourced from vineyards in Sonoma County, primarily the Russian River Valley AVA and the Dry Creek AVA. The Angeline brand is one of the Martin Ray Vineyards and Winery family of wines. Martin Ray Vineyards was one of the pioneers of the single varietal Burgundian style of wine in California. Martin Ray was founded in the early 1940s and...

Send us Fan Mail The Ashokawna Russian River Chardonnay 2018 is an $8.99 Aldi exclusive. The Russian River Valley AVA is in western Coastal Sonoma County. The Sonoma Coast AVA is west of the Russian River Valley AVA.The Russian River Valley runs north/south parallel to the coast. The river originally flowed east/ west until a cataclysmic event thousands of years ago changed its source forever. The...

Send us Fan Mail The Legende Bordeaux Rouge 2017 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot sourced from AOC designated vineyards in the Bordeaux region of France. The Legende brand is Domaines Barons de Rothschild's (Lafite) line of export wines. Legende line includes wines from the major Bordeaux region and the top-of-the-line wine from Rothschild's own vineyards. The Legende...

Send us Fan Mail The Tenebres GSM 2019 is a $5.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from vineyards in France's Languedoc region. The name Tenebres translates to "Darkness." A GSM Red blend is a wine that originated in the Southern Rhone Valley in France and is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. The Languedoc is the largest wine region in France and is where much of the eve...

Send us Fan Mail The VINTJS Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's exclusive. The Sonoma Coast AVA runs along the California coast from the San Pablo Bay to Mendocino County to the north. The Sonoma Coast AVA is located in mountainous terrain, with most of the vineyards located high up in the foothills, well above the fog line. The area is prised for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noi...

Send us Fan Mail The Exquisite Collection Chardonnay 2019 is a $7.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in California and that is the extent of what I know about this wine. The Exquisite Collection line of wine is basically the ALDI equivalent to Trader Joe's Reserve wines. Special wine deals happened upon that year, and they pass the savings on to us. They do not seem to be $20 wine selli...