South Carolina Wine Joe

The second Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer wine that I tried this month comes in an unusual bottle and is called "Dearly Beloved I Thee Red".  The "Dearly Beloved" line of wines comes from a Healdsburg California winery Truett-Hurst and is made exclusively for Trader Joe's.  Truett-Hurst was founded by a group that includes Paul Dolan, former  president of Fetzer Wines.  This wine is a blend of  Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel and Petit Syrah from grapes grown in the Central Coast of California.  That region stretches from Santa Barbera to San Francisco Bay and includes areas such as Paso Robles and Monterrey.  The wine has an alcohol content of 14.5%. This is a medium bodied wine with flavors of dark cherry, blackberry and a little mocha.  The wine starts smoothly but has some oak on the finish.  The high alcohol content is not detectable and the finish lasts a while.  The wine is $7.99 at TJ's and I think it tastes like a $12 plus bottle so i...

The October 2016 Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer arrived in my e-mail yesterday and my snail mail today.  One of the featured wines is the Eris Carneros Estate Napa Valley Chardonnay.  The grapes are said to be from a single estate on the Napa Side of Carneros.  I have previously written about the breezes and fog from  San Francisco Bay creating a climate of warm days and cool nights in Carneros that is well suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. The Flyer describes the wine as buttery and rich with a creamy mouthful and that is not my favorite style of Chardonnay.  I prefer a crisper wine, aged is stainless steel or neutral oak.  After tasting this wine, I do agree that the wine is creamy and soft but I cannot say it is rich and buttery.  From my perspective, I am glad that it did not taste buttery to me.  This is really a high quality wine, even if it is not my favorite style.  An unusual taste, that was immediately noted by both my wife...

Costco's Kirkland wines are some of the best wines for your money that can be found anywhere.  The Kirkland Cotes du Rhone Villages is at the top of the list for quality at a low price.  I have been enjoying this wine since the 2011 vintage and previously blogged about the 2012 vintage (June 16, 2014) and the 2013 vintage (July 11, 2015).  I do not think there was a Kirkland Cotes du Rhone Villages 2014 and it has only been about 14 months since the release of the 2013 vintage. Cotes du Rhone is a major wine region in southeast France near the outlet of the Rhone River into the Mediterranean Sea.  In a previous blog about this wine, I reviewed the levels of quality of Cotes du Rhone Wines.  This wine is again a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre grapes with 14% alcohol.  Previous vintages were said to be made from sustainably grown grapes but that is not stated on the label this time.  The wine maker is Patrick Lesec from Chemin des Vins and he is...

In the past, I have blogged about wineries we visited in Finger Lakes New York, Yadkin Valley North Carolina and various regions in Virginia.  We recently went to Charlottesville Virginia to visit the historic homes of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and , of course, we visited some wineries in the area.  We have been to wineries in the Charlottesville area in the past and believe that some of the finest wineries in the eastern United States are located there. Many of the wine regions in the eastern US do well with white wines, especially Viognier, Reisling and Chardonnay.  Virginia wineries distinguish themselves from those in other eastern states by producing some terrific reds.  The Virginia wineries have done this by recognizing that they cannot make Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to compete with California and Washington.  Instead, they concentrate on grapes that can grow well in the Virginia climate and these are often from Italy, Spain or regions of F...

Chateau de Pitray is a 200 acre estate in Bordeaux with a large castle and 70 acres of vineyards.  You can actually stay at the Chateau and tour vineyards in the area or participate in bicycle races. The wine that I purchased at Costco is from the Cote de Bordeaux Castillion region at the very eastern edge of Bordeaux.  The wines in this region are predominantly crafted from Merlot,  Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, although the other Bordeaux varietals are permitted. There is nothing on the bottle to advise you of the grapes in this wine.  Since most Bordeaux wines are predominantly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, I was surprised when I sipped the wine and could only taste Cabernet Franc.  While that is not a bad thing, it was unexpected.  The wine may actually be 100% Cabernet Franc. The wine is medium bodied with  flavors of raspberry and blackberry.  I found the wine to be slightly bitter.  I bought the wine at Costco for $9.99...