Category Archives: Wine News

Gruet Brut Rosé

The wine is a fabulous choice for an aperitif or a toast to Mom. With this tasty sparkling wine, it will be difficult for you and your guests to limit yourselves to just one glass. It’s best to stock up with several bottles of the Gruet Brut Rosé.
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Posted in KL Wines, Wine Bargains, Wine News, Wines of the Week | Tagged | 1 Comment

Tribunal Red Wine 2011

The Tribunal Red Wine, $9.99, is now on the shelves at Northern California Trader Joe’s stores. This is our third vintage review of this wine, the so-called “clone” of Orin Swift’s popular Prisoner wine ($38). We loved the 2009 but thought the 2010 was just okay. How will the Tribunal 2011 taste and how will it stack up to the past two vintages? Continue reading

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Poll Results: Shop for Wine Values

Ninety readers cast their votes to tell us their favorite wine shop or store for finding wine bargains. Most of the readers of GoodCheapVino.com are based in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, so the results are going to be skewed toward the Bay Area wine shops and store. Continue reading

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Chateau L’Avocat 2011 is our wine of the week

Talk about terroir, Chateau L’ Avocat is all about the expression of where it was made. The wine is produced from vineyards at 300-foot elevation that rest in gravely soil in the southern Graves appellation of Bordeaux. The Chateau L’ Avocat is a blend of 50% Semillion, 40% Sauvignon Blanc, and 10% Sauvignon Gris. The Semillion is barrel fermented and left on the lees for 6 months prior to bottling. Continue reading

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How to find wine values – Take the poll

The old adage “Seek and You Shall Find” is my motto when it comes to shopping for wine values. I know they are out there. It is just a matter of keeping your eyes open whenever you enter a store … Continue reading

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Tipping on Corkage and Wine

What about the servers who tell you that they are waiving the corkage fee? Are they doing that just because they like us? Continue reading

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BevMo 5 Cent Sale February 2013

Each BevMo 5 Cent Sale, I scour the BevMo Website and visit the Burlingame BevMo store to sort out what I think are the best bargains in the maze of unknown labels in the sale. Usually there is a batch of wines from a few noted wineries who sell a large inventory of wines to BevMo in order to make room for their next vintage. Continue reading

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VinoServant new wine price guide

There are many wine Apps out there, but this is the first one that I have come across that compares restaurant wine prices to retail prices. I also like that they have created a formula to calculate a fair price for a bottle of wine in a restaurant (Ideal Restaurant Price), and they provide a description of the wine and where it can be purchased on the retail level. Continue reading

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Apothic Red 2011 Review

The back label on the wine bottle tells me it is bottled by Apothic Wines in Modesto, California. The Gallo Family owns Apothic. On the back label it says “a Masterful blend of rich Zinfandel, smooth Merlot, flavorful Syrah, and bold Cabernet Sauvignon.” It does not tell us the percentage of each grape or where in California the grapes are from. My best guess is that most of the grapes come from various vineyards in the Central Valley. Continue reading

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How to take wine tasting notes

With each sip of the wine, dig deeper into the components of the wine. Is the wine light, medium or heavy in texture in your mouth? How about the level of sweetness? Is it dry or sweet? What about the tannins? Too much, too little or just right? What is the acidity of the wine? Too little, too much, or just perfect for this style of wine? Continue reading

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