South Carolina Wine Joe

Total Wine and More mailed me a coupon for 25% off a $100 purchase.  The great thing about this coupon was that it did not apply only to "winery direct" wines but could be used on any wine except those whose price ended in $.97.   When I get a coupon like this, I always use it on name brand wines that are not priced with the $.97 ending.  The trick to maximize the coupon is to exceed the $100 amount by as little as possible and I did really well by selecting wines that totaled $101.49.  One of the wines I selected was King Estate Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2015.  This wine is priced at $22.49 but with my coupon, I paid $16.92. The King Estate Winery is at the south end of the Willamette Valley AVA, southwest of Eugene Oregon.  Their estate vineyards are managed using bio-dynamic methods.  The grapes for this Pinot Noir are from the estate vineyards blended with grapes from other Willamette Valley growers who use sustainable practices. Some Oregon Pinot Noir wines are ve

Our local Costco is selling 689 Cellars Killer Drop Red Wine for $18.99.  This blog focuses on wines selling for under $20 and the Costco price is at the high end of that range.  I had never seen this wine before buying it and my research found that it has only limited distribution and the average price is around $30. The wine is a blend of Grenache, Petit Sirah, Syrah and Zinfandel incorporating grapes from Napa Valley, Sonoma, Sierra Foothills, Lodi and Mendocino.  It was aged 10 months in French Oak (25% new) and has an alcohol content of 14.5%. This is a rich, soft, full bodied wine with flavors of blueberry, dark cherry, cola and spice.  There are oak flavors but not a lot of tannins.  The oak and spice remain in your mouth for a long finish.  This is a fantastic wine which I really enjoyed.  Wine Enthusiast rated the wine at 91 points and I agree with their review.  I hope your Costco has this wine. SC Wine Joe rating = 91 points

Dave Phinney, founder of Locations Wines, wants to make the best possible wine from a country or region.  To do this, he removes restrictions that limit his freedom to achieve his goal.  This is especially true in European countries such as Italy, where rules restrict blending across appellations.  If you do not follow the appellation restrictions, you can only market your blend as "table wine" and you cannot show the vintage year.  Phinney avoids vintage year by labeling his Italian blend as I-1, I-2, etc.   Locations Wine was sold by Dave Phinney in June 2018 to E & J Gallo.  The press release states that Phinney will continue as the winemaker and leader for this brand.  Consolidation of wine brand ownerships into a few major corporations continues and that may not be a good thing, but  Gallo's clout may make this wine more widely available. Locations I-4 is a blend of Negroamaro and Nero d'Avola from Puglia in Southern Italy and Barbera from Piemonte in the

Lidl is having one of their 40% off wine sales, this time featuring wines from Italy, Spain and France.  I was out of town and only able to buy a few bottles yesterday.  As I write this, today (July 18) is the last day for the sale.  This bottle of Barbera D'Asti regularly sells for $5.99 and I bought it for $3.59, not much more than the price of two buck chuck. Asti is a province in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy.  The principal red grape variety is Barbera which has been grown there since the 17th century.  In fact, Barbera is the third most planted red grape variety in Italy. When you pour this wine, you will immediately note the deep color of the wine.  However, this is a medium bodied wine with flavors of cherry, strawberry, raspberry and a little blueberry.  The wine has a higher acidity and modest tannins.  Unless you were expecting a heavier bodied wine, this is a flavorful and enjoyable wine.  It would be hard to beat this for $3.59 and you will not go wrong if

Elkin Creek Vineyard has been one of my favorite Yadkin Valley wineries.  I have mentioned the winery in two previous posts about the Yadkin Valley, most recently on May 6, 2018.  One of the unique things about this winery is that one of the owners is a skilled baker.  Bread is usually available and on Sundays he bakes pizza.  The pizza is sold only by the large pizza size and since this is a very popular item, your pizza dough ball must be reserved ahead.  You can arrive anytime on Sunday and order your toppings and enjoy your pizza and some wine. We recently had a road trip to Philadelphia and knew we would be in the Elkin North Carolina area around lunch time on a Sunday.  This was perfect timing for pizza and we advance ordered our pizza dough ball.  One large pizza was perfect for 2 people and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We accompanied our pizza with Elkin Creek Dornfelder wine.  Dornfelder grapes were originally bred in the Rhine region of Germany to blend with the pale red win

When I think of Joel Gott wines, I think of California.  However, Gott has been making Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris from the Willamette Valley of Oregon for several years. Joel Gott sources Pinot Gris grapes from several sub-appellations in the Willamette Valley, including Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton  and Chehalem Mountains.  Each sub-appellation has its own micro-climate and soil conditions.  The 100% Pinot Gris juice from each of these sub-appelations is aged in 100% stainless steel and then blended to achieve the desired flavors. The wine in the glass has a slight peach color with tropical aromas.  The best words to describe the wine are fresh and crisp.  The wine is definitely fruit forward with flavors of peach, pineapple, melon and grapefruit.  You may also detect some minerality in the finish.  The wine has 13.2% alcohol and is a great summertime wine for poolside sipping.  I definitely plan to buy some more. In my area, both Trader Joe's and Total Wines sell this for $