CheapWineFinder Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Poppy Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2017The StoryThe Poppy Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is sourced from the Sunny Slope and the San Juan vineyards inside the Paso Robles AVA which is also inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Poppy (which is the state flower of California) is a brand started in 2003 by the Silva Family who has 45 years' experience in the wine tr...

Send us Fan Mail Anna de Codorníu Brut RoséThe StoryThe Anna de Codorníu Brut Rosé Cava is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay sourced from estate vineyards near the town of Lleida in the Cava D.O. of northeast Spain (near Barcelona). A typical Cava uses the three indigenous grapes, Macabeo, Xarello, and Parelada, but since this is a Rose' and Red grapes skins are needed to get the p...

Send us Fan Mail Meringue Chardonnay Edna Valley 2018The StoryThe Meringue Chardonnay Edna Valley 2018 is a $7.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from the Edna Valley AVA which is located south of Paso Robles along the Pacific Ocean coast inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Edna Valley may not be the best known AVA in California but it has an excellent reputation for producing Chardonn...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Revelation Pinot Noir 2018 is a Trader Joe's $7.99 American exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Languedoc region of southeastern France. The Languedoc growing area borders the Mediterranean on the east, the Pyrenees Mountains to the west and Spain to the south. This is a Pays d'Oc (IGP) designated wine which is rated a step below AOC wines. Pays d'O...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petite Sirah, 5% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 1% Syrah sourced mainly from J. Lohr's 7 Oaks vineyard as well as other estate vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA of the Central Coast AVA in California. J. Lohr is a family-owned winery founded in the Monterey AVA in the early 1970s. In the 1980s...

Send us Fan Mail The Story The Sean Minor 4B Chardonnay 2018 is 100% Chardonnay sourced from several contracted vineyards in California's Central Coast AVA. Sean Minor Wines do not have their vineyards but have long term contracts with selected vineyards. They have a full line-up of wines from affordable White and Red wines to single-vineyard Pinot Noir, though they concentrate more value-pri...

Send us Fan Mail Trader Joe's Petit Reserve GSM 2018The StoryThe Trader Joe's Petit Reserve GSM 2018 is a Trader Joe's $6.99 exclusive. A GSM is Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blend in this case sourced from vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA inside the Monterey AVA which in turn is inside the Central Coast AVA of California. This is a wine made exclusively for Trader Joe's by ASV Wi...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Lagranja 360 Verdejo Viura 2018 is a $4.99 Trader Joe's import exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Castilla y Leon region of northeast Spain. The Verdejo grape is indigenous to Spain and widely planted and the Viura grape is also known as Macabeo which is one of the 3 grapes traditionally used to make Cava. Trader Joe's carries a whole line of Lagranja 3...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Source and Sink Red Field Blend 2018 is a blend of 65% Petite Sirah, 25% Alicante Bouschet, and 10% Carignan sourced from the Dunbar Ranch vineyard located near Glen Ellen in the Sonoma Valley region of California. Source and Sink is a new wine company, I think this is their first vintage. The company was formed by 2 Chicago guys who met during the 2017 harvest in Son...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe 90+ Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 179 2018 is sourced from vineyards in more than one California Coastal grape growing AVA. And that is about all I know about where the grapes were grown and who made the wine since 90+ Cellars are Negociants. A Negociant is a French term and it refers to a wine business that buys excess wine from a winery and distributes it under its own lab...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Raimund Prüm Mosel Dry Riesling is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Mosel district of Germany. There are a few interesting and unique details with less than 7 buck Riesling. First, you remember that ALDI is a German company and has great buying power in Europe and especially Germany. Second, Mosel is to Riesling what Pinot Noir is to Burgundy what...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Chateau Le Grand Moulin Bordeaux 2016 is a blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Malbec from the Estate vineyard in the Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux AOP. This is wine available at Costco for $7.99, I don't think this is a Costco exclusive, on-line retailers seem to sell the same wine for almost twice as much. Chateau Le Grand is a family-owned vineyard a...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Kirkland Champagne Brut is a $19.99 Costco exclusive produced for them by Champagne Janisson of Verzenany in the Champagne district of France. There was a time when a sub 20 buck real-deal Champagne was unheard of, but ALDI, Trader Joe's (I think TJ's French Bubbles has gone up in price) and Costco have all managed to offer pretty enjoyable Bubbly. Janisson...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Technique Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a wine that sells for $6.99 at Trader Joe's. Is it a Trader Joe's exclusive? I don't know since this wine does not conform to the typical Trader Joe's exclusive wine brands. The Technique label is owned by the Precision Wine Company which has 9 different labels and specializes in Napa Valley win...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Babich Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 is a young Sauv Blanc sourced from mainly Estate vineyards (they own several in different sub-regions of Marlborough) and other carefully chosen contracted vineyards. Babich is a family-owned wine operation founded in 1916 and three generations of the Babich family currently oversee the operations. Marlborough is located on the...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio 2018 is 100% Pinot Grigio sourced from the Tiefenbrunner estate (founded 1848) vineyard in the Vigneti Delle Dolomiti IGT district of Trentino-Alto Adige region of far northern Italy. Vigneti Delle Dolomiti is located in the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains which are part of the Alps Mountain chain. This part of Italy is as much German as...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2018 Lot #23 is a $12.99 Trader Joe's exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Carneros AVA which is half inside the Sonoma AVA and half inside the Napa AVA. This is the 10th vintage of TJ's Grand Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir, we last reviewed the 2017 version. Carneros is an interesting Pinot Noir and Chardo...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Louise d’ Estrée Brut is an $8.99 Trader Joe's exclusive Sparkling wine produced somewhere in France with undetermined grapes. The label has virtually no information except that this Bubbly is made with the Traditional Method (same technique as Champagne) and it is Brut or Dry (not sweet). In France where the grapes are grown and the wine is produced is more impo...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Roederer Estate Brut is a non-vintage Sparkling wine with a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. Roederer Estate (founded 1982) is the Mendocino County, Anderson Valley in particular, branch of the nearly 200-year-old (founded 1833) Louis Roederer Champagne House in France. Roederer Estate has 600 acres of vineyards and grows only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. And...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe ALDI Monsigny Brut Champagne #3 is a non-vintage $19.99 ALDI exclusive, a blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier, and 10% Chardonnay sourced from multiple vineyards in Champagne, France. It seems this is a brand name that ALDI owns and in the past several different Champagne Houses supply the Bubbly for ALDI. But it seems, and it isn't easy to be sure, that P...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Trader Joe's RSVP Brut is a $6.99 TJ's non-vintage exclusive, sourced from grapes grown in California and produced with the Traditional Method, the same techniques used to make Champagne. CWF reviewed this wine way back in 2010 and then it was a blend of "92% Chardonnay and 8% shhh...it's a secret". Why they felt the need to "shhh" u...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Légende Pauillac Bordeaux 2015 is a 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30%Merlot blend sourced from Domaines Barons de Rothschild estate Lafite vineyards near the village Pauillac in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. That is about the fanciest sentence CheapWineFinder ever had to write. While these vineyards are very, very upscale vineyards, the grapes were taken from some of the...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Beringer Founders Estate Pinot Noir 2017 is the #1 wine on Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Best Buy Wines of 2019. And that is somewhat remarkable. Beringer is the oldest (since 1876) continuously operating winery in the US and they produce a lot of wine, from $400 bottles to $4 bottles, they run the gamut. The Founders Estate Pinot Noir is not the typical wine that leads bes...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryQuake and Dave sample a bottle of Mionetto Brut Prosecco from their Prestige Collection. It is a light, crisp and delicious DOC Prosecco from the Treviso region in northern Veneto section of Italy. It may be crisp, light, and refreshing Bubbly, but it has loads of flavor: apple, lemon, pear, honey, and grapefruit, with light acidity. It is one of those wines where the bot...

Send us Fan Mail The StoryThe Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from several carefully selected vineyards located in various AVAs inside the Columbia Valley AVA in Washington. Check out the Wines of Substance website for vineyard details. This is the base Cabernet for the Substance line, the others are single-vineyard wines selling at several times the price....