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The StoryThe Trader Joe's Reserve North Coast Brut is a Trader Joe's $9.99 non-vintage exclusive and is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. The North Coast AVA consists of Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Mendocino, along with the lesser-known Marin and Solano AVAs. This Bubbly is made for Trader Joe's by Rack and Riddle, a company that specializes in producing Sparkling wine and many of the California Bubbly made under varying Brand names are produced by Rack and Riddle. They also have Sparkling wine sold under their name.The term Reserve doesn't have a legal meaning, Trader Joe's may have a less expensive Califonia Sparkling wine and Reserve means this one is positioned a step up. The TJ's Reserve is made in the Traditional Method, the same production technique as Champagne, meaning the 2nd fermentation (this is where the bubbles are created) occurs in every bottle. A major difference with the Trader Joe's Reserve and Champagne is the 2nd fermentation in France must last a minimum of 18 months and here the 2nd fermentation is 12 months. That is more in line with Cava than Champagne.Brut indicates that this is a dry wine or not sweet. The North Coast AVA is an excellent place to grow these grapes, Rack and Riddle have years of experience making Sparkling wines and Trader Joe's has a history of bang for the buck Bubbly. So why not take a chance. The alcohol content is 12.7%.The Tasting NotesThe color is a pale, clean, clear gold with plenty of bubbles. The nose is crisp and slightly nectar sweet, lemon, green apple, juicy peach, lime, a little brioche, cherry, and pear. This is dry Bubbly with crisp flavors and a bit of an edge. It starts with a mix of green apple and unsweetened lemonade, a salty sensation, a bit of yeasty bread (not too much), and ripe pear. The mid-palate adds ripe peach (again not too sweet), lemon cough drops, and spice. The acidity is well managed, sometimes under ten dollars, Bubbly has the acidity that can bite. The finish is full and does not quit.The Summary The Trader Joe's Reserve North Coast Brut does not have the depth of Champagne, but it is plenty tasty. At $9.99, getting the flavor, but not the depth ain't a bad thing. I am getting jaded enough with Sparkling wine (Champagne and Prosecco are both Sparkling wine) that I am really into Bubbly that has extended 2nd fermentation times (often several extra years), there is something about that extra time that brings out sensational characteristics in the wine. The Bubbly with extended 2nd fermentation tends to get a little pricey, so this solid. but standard Bubbly is really nicely priced. I am of the position that with Bubbles if you are looking for a special bottle for a special occasion find one of those extended fermentation Champagnes, they can be remarkably special wines. If you just want a nice glass of Bubbly/Sparkling wines like TJ's Reserve hit the spot at a great price.

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The StoryThe Tempest Bay Carneros Chardonnay 2018 is a $7.99 Trader Joe's wine sourced from grapes grown on the Napa side of Carneros, the Carneros AVA is half in Sonoma and half in Napa. The Carneros AVA is located a good distance from the Pacific Ocean, but its southern border is the San Pablo Bay (the bay just north of the San Fransico Bay) which brings cool Ocean breezes and morning fog. Carneros is one of the premier Chardonnay regions in the US (they are known for Pinot Noir, too) and many of the wineries located here are the Whos Who of California wine. So, a $7.99 Carneros Chardonnay is a welcome find.Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer states that "you normally wouldn’t find a Carneros Chardonnay of this quality for under $20" and that is not an exaggeration. You may find a brand (a wine not tied to a specific Winery) Chardonnay for around $20, but Carneros Chardonnay gets expensive in a hurry. I checked the COLA website (the government website that keeps alcohol records) and found that the Tempest Bay label name is owned by a very highly respected Sonoma winery. I won't name them since how they fit into this can vary. Since this seems to be a wine that Trader Joe's contracted with them to produce and this isn't one of their own wines, you can't infer too much other than they do know how to make high-quality wine.The Tempest Bay Chardonnay does have a write-up in Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer, which gives a few clues on how this Chardonnay is produced. They mention vanilla, baking spices, and toasted oak which would indicate a fairly serious oak seasoning program. There is no mention of oak barrels, so how those flavors were imparted into the wine isn't specified, but you wouldn't figure that new French oak barrels are used on a $7.99 wine. Then again, it does not make much sense to be too critical or demanding of an 8 buck Carneros Chardonnay. The alcohol content is 13.4%.The Tasting NotesThe color is a wheat beer yellow with a touch of gold. The nose is full of ripe fruit and citrus, there is an apple, lime, orange blossom honey, lemon, vanilla, candy spice, pear, peach, and melon. This is a Chardonnay with balanced acidity and subtle flavors. It tastes of lemon curd, tart green apple, melon, vanilla, ripe peach, and Anjou pear. The mid-palate is slightly spicey, with that nutty, salty sensation from "on lees", and banana cream (faint). The acidity is very well balanced, the flavors have plenty of time to unfold. The finish starts strong and slowly, very slowly fades away.The Summary With writing for Cheapwinefinder.com, I do not have a great deal of experience with Carneros Chardonnay. Its almost always out of the price range for the website and while I do get to sample it now and again at tastings, I really didn't have a good fix on what to expect with the Tempest Bay. The Tempest Bay is not as fruit-forward as the typical $10 California Chardonnay, there is a subtlety there, it builds slowly in flavor. I actually really enjoy several Chardonnay wines in the ten buck price range, they are bright and fruit-forward and often delicious. But this Carneros Chardonnay is not exactly the same, it hits your palate in a slightly different way, the acidity seems more integrated. My favorite value-priced Chardonnay are still my favorites, but I am glad I bought this wine. It brings elegance to $7.99 California Chardonnay. CHECK OUT THE COMPANION PODCAST BELOW !!!! 

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The StoryThe Klinker Brick Old Vine Zinfandel 2016 is sourced from 16 "old vine" vineyards in the Mokelumne delta region of Lodi, California. Klinker Brick is family-owned and they are 5th generation fruit growers and have produced Klinker Brick wines since 2000. You hear about old vines when talking about Zinfandel on a regular basis, but there are no legal standards for what age an old vine vineyard has to be. Klinker Brick Old Vine Zin is taken from vineyards aged from 55 years to 120 years. That seems legit to me.This is Klinker Brick's second line Zinfandel label. They have the Old Ghost Zinfandel which is sourced from a single 90-year-old vineyard and is priced about 3 times higher. Older vineyards naturally have smaller yields than vineyards in their prime years, the smaller the yield the fewer grapes to go around and the higher the price. The way to get all the good qualities the old vine vineyards provide at a lower cost is to use smaller portions of grapes from multiple vineyards. By the way, grapes from the same vineyard as the Old Ghost Zinfandel are also included in this bottling.This Zinfandel is produced the traditional way, oak barrel fermentation, then the grape juice and skins are cold-soaked for 24 hours and then undergo maceration for 7 days. Maceration extracts color, tannins, and aroma from the grapes and allows the structure of the wine to develop and enriches the body of the wine. This Zinfandel is aged for 15 months in American oak barrels and then the various vineyard lots are blended to achieve the final product. The alcohol content is a sturdy 15.4%. The Tasting NotesThe color is a barely see-thru, concentrated black cherry red. The nose is extracted red berries, toasted vanilla, baking spice, chocolate milk, orange zest, raspberry, and pomegranate. This is a Zinfandel with a soft mouthfeel and a mix of rounded and edgy flavors. It starts with rounded black cherry, black pepper, dark chocolate, slightly sharp spice, and plum. The mid-palate adds licorice, cold coffee, and cherry. The tannins are soft and sweet and the acidity allows the flavors to unfold. The finish is large and long.The Summary The Klinker Brick Old Vine Zinfandel 2016 is an excellent, classy Zinfandel. In this price range, there are many "brand" wines, and that isn't a bad thing. The rise of brand wines (meaning the label is part of a large wine conglomerate and not associated with a particular winery) has improved the overall quality of "cheap wine" while keeping prices down. But the Klinker Brick is a genuine Winery offering and typically the 2nd tier wine has many of the characteristics of the top-line wine but at great savings. This is a delicious Zinfandel that was produced with all the production techniques the winemaker deemed necessary, no shortcuts, nothing to speed up the process. Just old-school Lodi Zinfandel.

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The Story of New Mexico BubblyThe Gruet Blanc de Noirs is a non-vintage blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in New Mexico along with grapes from, I believe, California and Washington. The term "Blanc de Noirs" translates to White from Black, yes, I know, White wine grapes are usually green and Red wine grapes are purple or red in most cases, but for some reason the French use terms that are color blind.Gilbert Gruet started farming a vineyard in Champagne in the 1950s and the 1960s founded his Champagne winery near the village of Bethon in Champagne, France. He heard from other French winemakers about a promising, off the beaten path grape growing region in New Mexico. He decided to check it out and in the 1980s started a vineyard and by 1989 was selling New Mexico Bubbly based on the Sparkling wines from Champagne. In 2010, the Gruet Blanc de Noirs was named to Wine Spectators Top 100 Wines list, not bad for a Bubbly selling for less than $15.The Gruet Blanc de Noirs is produced with the Traditional or Champagne Method of production. Here the grapes are fermented the first time, the 1st fermentation is where all the secret House Style techniques take place. After fermentation, the wine is bottled, but before a temporary top is attached a measured amount of yeast and sugar is added to every bottle. The 2nd fermentation then takes place inside the bottle, the yeast and sugar do their job in about 30 days, but the dead yeast and residue stay in the bottle for a minimum of 18 months. During that time the CO2 that was released as a result of the 2nd fermentation incorporates into the body of the wine. After 18 months or so, the dead yeast and gunk are removed from each bottle and the bottle is topped off with a little bit of wine and maybe some sugar to reach the intended sweetness level, such as Brut or Extra Dry. Just like they do it in Champagne only this time it's occurring in New Mexico. The alcohol content is 12%.The Tasting NotesThe color is pale gold with a hint of pink, along with a flurry of pretty little bubbles. The nose is crisp and clean, toasty vanilla, pear, grapefruit, green apple, and black cherry. This is an elegant Bubbly, well-balanced with tantalizing hints of flavor. It tastes of cherry and vanilla, peach and pear, tart grapefruit, and raspberry. The mid-palate shows that salty, nutty thing that 18 months of "on lees" provides, ripe McIntosh apple, and a flash of tangerine. The flavors are all subtle, they float in and out. The acidity is sneaky, it will get you reaching for another sip. The finish is soft and long.The Summary * I have to admit my favorite Bubbly is the Pinot Noir based stuff, Blanc de Noirs, of course, I'm perfectly happy sipping the Chardonnay-based stuff as well. So, I am predispositioned to dig the Gruet Blanc de Noirs. * We last reviewed this Bubbly in 2010 and while the price has risen in the last 9 years my enthusiasm seems to have remained. * This is an excellent Sparkling wine/Bubbly. It is not merely good for the price. * I have sampled the next level up Gruet Bubbly (around $25 to $30) when compared directly with Champagne Bubbly 2 or 3 times the price and in my mind, the Gruet won. * When making your Bubbly purchase for the upcoming holidays let flavor and texture be your guide, not just price tag. Inexpensive Bubbly can give the entry-level Champagne Bubbles a run for their money. For additional information check out the companion podcast below 

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In this podcast episode, Quake talks about:Repeal DayInternational Cabernet Franc Day and sips theField Recordings FRANC 2017Cabernet Franc from Paso Robles. Want to know more about these important booze holidays? How about cabernet franc? Listen in now (podcast episode below) ...

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The StoryThe Sienna Glen Chardonnay 2018 is a $6.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from grapes from more than one California grape growing AVA. This is one of those wines where there isn't much to say. It is a contracted store brand, they rarely give technical details on their wines. The winery that produced the wine, they are located in Mendocino, is an excellent winery, but they made the wine for another company (ALDI's) specifications, it does not really tell us much except a winery that knows what they are doing made the Chardonnay. The back label mentions vanilla as one of the flavors and that would indicate some sort of oak aging, but what? Oak barrel, oak staves or oak chips added to the stainless steel tanks or some other method, we don't know. Every winery and winemaker has their own way of making Chardonnay, it seems no 2 companies make it exactly the same.One thing that is different about the 2018 vintage of the Sienna Glen Chardonnay is they have upgraded the label. In the past they had a pretty basic front label, it basically shouted "inexpensive Chardonnay". The 2018 label has been improved, while it isn't fancy it would blend right in with retail Chardonnay selling for under $15. That is a trend I have noticed recently, the quality of inexpensive value-priced wines have improved to the point that they need a flashy label to catch your eye, a cheap price alone isn't good enough anymore. The alcohol content is 13.5%.The Tasting NotesThe color is a pale butter yellow. The nose is not shy, lemon, apple, pear, melon, lightly floral, a touch of honey, and a little butterscotch. This is a very fruity Chardonnay, not sweet, just fruit-forward. It starts with ripe apple, lemon, grapefruit, peach, vanilla, and melon. The mid-palate brings dried banana chips, a little spice, and a salty, nutty sensation. The acidity is fine, it does not bite and allows the flavors to unfold. The bold flavors in the body of the Chardonnay run right into the finish, which is full and lengthy.The Summary The Sienna Glen is a solid, fruit-forward Chardonnay. Remember, store contract brands have a significant price advantage when compared to retail brands. You never know how much of the saving the store (in this case ALDI) passes on to the consumer. It is probably at least a couple of bucks, so we should compare this to a Chardonnay closer to ten bucks. If you like your Chardonnay bold, but balanced, without too much oak influence, give the Sienna Gen Chardonnay 2018 a try.  

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The StoryThe Pure Bred Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2017 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's (maybe exclusive). The reason I say maybe is this wine seems to be a close-out wine of some sort. The listed winery on the back of the label, West Coast Wine Group, Lodi, California, no longer has a website. Their URL, which is under their name, now sells online generic drugs. Maybe they forgot to re-up their domain name or maybe they changed their name or are no longer in business. But the 2016 Pure Bred Lodi Zinfandel sold online for $16.99 and another site had this 2017 vintage for $11.99. At some point, the Pure Bred Zin was a 17 dollar wine, since their website is down it would seem that this is some sort of distress sale, closing out of inventory. With store brands, contract brands you know you are getting wine at a discounted price, but it isn't easy to figure out the size of the discount. Here we know, the old price, $16.99, the new price, $6.99. In the accompanying podcast, we will go into detail on why old vines are a good thing and why they seem to be so abundant in Lodi. For now, we are happy to be drinking a Zinfandel selling for roughly 60% off. The alcohol content is 14.8%.The Tasting NotesThe color is a still see-thru, black cherry red, with a clear halo. The nose is ripe and meaty, there is blackberry, mushroom, herbs, cherry, black pepper, baking spices, and dark chocolate. This is a medium-plus bodied ZIN, smooth with a nice sharp slap of spice. It starts with a mix of milk chocolate, black cherry, and black pepper (sounds awful, but actually tastes good.), raspberry, and spice. The mid-palate shows creamy vanilla, herbs, blueberry, and orange peel. The tannins are smooth and the acidity does its job. The finish is full and sticks around.The Summary This wine is easy, it is a Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, you basically know what to expect, and it sells for 60% off the list price. If you enjoy Zinfandel there is no reason not to give the Pure Bred Old Vine Zinfandel a try. It isn't my favorite Lodi ZIn, but it is a very respectable effort, it is enjoyable to drink and $6.99 is a ridiculous price.

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The StoryThe Flora and Stone Gewürztraminer is a non-vintage dated $4.99 ALDI exclusive wine sourced from vineyards in Monterey County AVA in the Central Coast AVA of California. Normally, $4.99, non-vintage, and a store brand would be a cause for concern, but I did a little digging and there is more to this wine than that. The company listed as the producing winery, Pacific Bay Vineyards, seems to be a Trademark owned by a large, well-respected Winery headquartered in Mendocino. That Winery just happens to make a well-received Gewürztraminer that sells retail for just a few dollars more than the Flora and Stone. The Gewürztraminer grape is not widely planted in the US, a couple of AVAs in California and some cool weather grape growing regions sprinkled throughout the United States.Gewürztraminer is a grape that is reminiscent of Moscato but isn't necessarily sweet. ALDI's description of the wine says it will pair well with grilled meats with fruit sauces and will also do double duty with dessert. So, this looks like a White wine that will do well accompanying the Thanksgiving feast. The alcohol content is 12%.The Tasting NotesThe color is a pale butter yellow and it is slightly effervescent. The nose is ripe and almost sugary, there is orange slice candy, grapefruit, lemon cough drops, pear, peach, orange blossom honey, and melon. The nose suggests a sweet wine, so on to step 3. This is a wine that seems like it will be a sweet wine, but never quite gets there. It is probably classified as an off-dry wine, but there is a balanced unexpected in a $4.99 wine. It tastes of lemon/lime soft drink (not sweet), tangerine, honey, peach, apricot, soft candy spice, and dried pineapple chunks. There isn't much of a mid-palate, but with all the flavor upfront it isn't missed. The finish is full and does not let go.The Summary The Flora and Stone Gewürztraminer is a very tasty White wine. It isn't a full-blown sweet wine and I am not typically a fan of sweet wines, but I think this wine is a crowd-pleaser. Normally it is the acidity in White wine that keeps me reaching for another sip, but the acidity here is not that pronounced. I guess I'm reaching for more because it tastes good. Yes, this will pair well with white meat turkey and cranberry sauce and it will do well with a slice of pumpkin pie.    

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The StoryThe Raisins Gaulois Beaujolais 2018 is a Gamay wine from Marcel Lapierre sourced from vineyards in the Morgon area of Beaujolais in France. The name "Raisins Gaulois" simply translates to French Grapes and from there we will begin our story. Marcel Lapierre is one of the icons of Beaujolais, pioneered a return to the old ways of producing wine, organic farming in the vineyards, native, natural yeasts for fermentation, no added sulfur dioxide, and not filtering the wine at bottling. Marcel has passed on and his son Mathieu is continuing his father's legacy (they are adding biodynamic farming techniques).  If you notice the label, and the label is something that does get your attention, the wine is designated as Vin de France or Table Wine, which is the lowest French wine classification. It is Table Wine, not because of quality issues, but this is a Beaujolais that does not conform to Cru or AOC rules and regulations.The Gamay grapes are sourced from organic Cru vineyards near the town of Morgon, along with a small number of grapes from AOC vineyards. The vines average about 15 years old, which is young for Marcel Lapierre, their top Beaujolais wines feature vines 60 years old and up. The Raisins Gaulois is a young, affordable wine, but has impeccable sourcing of grapes. The front label features a cartoon of a man squeezing a bunch of red grapes and wine pours from the grapes to his open mouth. The winemaking is not quite that simple, but the winemaking process is intended not to get in the way of the quality grapes. This is a wine that is not exactly Beaujolais Nouveau and isn't AOC Beaujolais either, hence the Vin De France designation. It was aged for 4 months and is intended to be as drinkable as Nouveau, but with the quality of grapes of Cru Beaujolais. The alcohol content is 12.5%.The Tasting NotesThe color is a see-thru black cherry red. The nose is subtle, a little cherry, herbs, some minerality, soft spice, a hint of jammy strawberry, and black pepper. This is a Gamay with an engaging mouth-feel, solid balanced acidity, and rich fruit flavors. It tastes of blackberry with a herbal edge, spice, black cherry, pepper. The mid-palate offers a salty sensation, minerality, a hint of tart cranberry, and a late blast of sweet raspberry. This is a very French wine, every component is of equal value and importance. The finish is soft and very long.The Summary The Raisins Gaulois is a wine made with the old techniques, but with modern equipment and ideas. A very tasty and affordable wine featuring some of the best quality grapes Beaujolais has to offer. This is a wine that grows on you, at first sip you are thinking, "I don't know about this". By The 3rd sip, you can't get enough. 

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The StoryThe Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2017 is 98% Chardonnay and 2% Gewürztraminer sourced from Wente estate vineyards in the Livermore Valley AVA located across the Bay from San Fransico in the northern section of the Central Coast AVA. Wente Vineyards started in the 1880s and has been in continuous operation since then (they didn't close during Prohibition). Wente is one of the cornerstones of American winemaking, their work in the vineyards developing hardy disease-resistant grape clones is still the basis for most vineyards. The Wente Chardonnay clones (there are more than one) comprises 80% of all Chardonnay grown in California. I have had a Bordeaux winemaker tell me that they use the Wente Cabernet Sauvignon clone for their high-end Bordeaux blends. He said it was a healthier vine and Wente originally got their Cabernet vines from Bordeaux anyway. Livermore Valley AVA is located on the east side of the San Fransico Bay and is unique because the valley runs east-west, most valleys in the wine regions run north-south. Livermore Valley gets the full benefits of the cool breezes off the Bay and the cooling morning fog (so that's where the name comes from).Wente is the first California winery to sell wine with Chardonnay on the label (back in the 1930s). The Morning Fog uses several Wente Chardonnay clones and is fermented in 50% neutral American oak and 50% in stainless steel vats. The neutral oak portion of the Chardonnay was aged "on lees" for 5 months, the stainless steel parcel was also aged for 5 months. 50% of this portion aged "on lees" and the 50% with the lees removed. Lees are the dead, spent yeast and grape residue bits, "on lees" means those bits are left in with the aging wine. They add texture and a salty nutty flavor and when stirred can bring a creamy mouth-feel, the oak barrel Chardonnay was stirred. Neutral oak does not add much if any flavor to the wine, but brings a different character to the Chardonnay since wood barrels allow for a tiny bit of oxygen to get to the wine and stainless steel does not. There is a noticeable difference in wine aged in barrel, even neutral barrel than wine aged in stainless steel. This Chardonnay should not have a great deal of oak influence, but it went through a very precise and detailed winemaking technique. The alcohol content is 13.5%  And if your interested James Suckling scored this Chardonnay 91 Points.The Tasting NotesThe color is a clean, clear, wheat yellow. The nose is elegant, it is not just a rush of ripe fruit and citrus, there is honey, brown butter, lemon curd, green apple, lime, Anjou pear, light spice, and French Vanilla, all with a floral edge. This is a bright, alive Chardonnay, crisp and lean, with a pleasing flavor. It starts with lemon cream, tart apple, vanilla, soft, and exotic spice. The mid-palate brings juicy peach mixed with pear, melon, and tart, unsweetened pineapple. The mouth-feel allows the flavors to engage your palate and the acidity is very well-balanced. The finish is full and long.The Summary I have long been a fan of the Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay, as a matter of fact, this is a Chardonnay that I compare all other Chardonnay. I think I found it for around $12 and it is rare that I find an expensive Chardonnay that I like better. It is really well-made and there is a lot of flavor happening in your glass. In France "terrior" is everything. That is the sense of place of the grapes in the vineyard and the winemakers' knowledge of these grapes that have been passed down over the generations. Wente Vineyards has "terroir" in spades, they created the grape clones and have winemaking knowledge passed down for 5 generations, all with 130 something years of knowing their vineyards and climate. Wente is legit and they have seriously good knowledge in producing Chardonnay (other grapes and wines, too).

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