Category Archives: Top Wine Values

Northstar Merlot Review | A Merlot for Cab Lovers?

2010 Northstar Merlot Review | Northstar Winery

Northstar Merlot

Two of my best friends are decamping the Washington D.C. area and are relocating to Seattle sometime this year. While I’m not exactly thrilled that they are moving to the other side of the country, it will give me a great excuse to visit beautiful Washington State from time to time and perhaps even explore it’s burgeoning wine country – where Northstar Merlot is produced.

Already big wine-lovers, their impending move has them drinking almost exclusively Washington State wines these days. It has been great fun to pop the cork on several different examples and most of them have been great if not excellent. One of their favorite go-to bottles has been the Northstar Merlot, which they regularly find for under $30.

But then they told me that the highly-acclaimed 2010 Northstar Merlot was being sold in the Costco Wine Section for under $20! So naturally I jumped at the opportunity to grab a case before it sold out – as the best deals always seem to do.

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Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay | Trader Joe’s Wine

Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay Review

Despite all of the international and intriguing worldly white wine options available to us as consumers, good old Chardonnay is still easily number one. Much like popular but often looked down upon Merlot, arguably some of the greatest wines in the world are made from Chardonnay. Yet it often gets a bad rap as being too oaky, too, buttery, or just plain boring.

Despite this negativity it seems that it’s still Chardonnay, usually Napa Chardonnay, that consumers want. And if the level of searches I receive to from just the Spiral Cellars wines are any indication, this is a very popular choice that I needed to try. So if it’s Napa Chardonnay you want, it’s the Spiral Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay 2012 I’ll give you!

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La Granja 360 Cava Brut Review | Trader Joe’s Wine

La Granja 360 Cava Brut | Trader Joe’s Wine

La Granja 360 Cava Brut | La Granja Wine

I’m always looking for excellent sparkling wines that can be enjoyed without ceremony. Today I wanted to investigate another popular pick in the Trader Joe’s Wine Section: La Granja 360 Cava Brut by La Granja Wines. At under $7 it is a full $2 less expensive than the Rondel Cava Brut that has become so popular both at Total Wine as well as here on The Fermented Fruit.

I have to admit that I am always somewhat skeptical of sparkling wines under $10, and especially so of those with animals on the label. In the case of the La Granja 360 Cava Brut a duck adorns the label. Since La Granja is Spanish for “The Farm”, I guess this is somewhat appropriate. But this particular duck appears to be pretty shaken up so let’s hope my palate isn’t similarly shaken up after tasting the La Granja Cava Brut!

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Chateau Hanteillan 2010 | Costco Wine Reviews

Chateau Hanteillan Haut-Medoc 2010 | Costco Wine Reviews

Chateau Hanteillan

I’m surprised I’m just now trying the Chateau Hanteillan 2010. Considering it received a solid 92 point score from Wine Enthusiast and is frequently touted by one of my favorite wine wholesalers: Wines Til Sold Out. They offer it for half of it’s $30 retail and have marketed it as a ‘very impressive “stock your cellar” wine.’ But when I happened upon the Chateau Hanteillan 2010 in the Costco Wine section at under $12, I couldn’t resist any further!

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Costco Champagne | Kirkland Signature Brut Review

Costco Champagne | Kirkland Signature Brut Review

Costco Champagne

If this is you’re very first visit to The Fermented Fruit then welcome and thanks for visiting! I hope you come back and visit often. If you’re one of my totally incredible regular readers though, then you probably know just how much I love sparkling wine, especially Champagne!

Despite my profound love of Champagne, I can’t bring myself to regularly spend upwards of $40 on a bottle of bubbly; hence why I drink wines like the La Marca Prosecco, Lunetta Prosecco and Roederer Estate Brut more often. But sometimes you just want to drink real Champagne so today we’re tasting an affordable option that blends both my love of Costco and Champagne: The Kirkland Signature Brut, otherwise known as Costco Champagne!

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Domaine Lafage Cuvee Nicolas Review

Domaine Lafage Cuvee Nicolas

Domaine Lafage Cuvee Nicolas

The Domaine Lafage Cuvee Nicolas 2012 really caught my attention when I received an e-mail offering from The Wine Library. Not only was it fashioned by the same talented winemaker who produces the Novellum Chardonnay, but at only $13 it had scored a whopping 93 point score by Jeb Dunnuck of the Wine Advocate.

The Novellum Chardonnay is an excellent value, consistently over delivering for it’s modest price point at the hands of winemaker Jean Marc Lafage. He is also responsible for producing the wildly popular Las Rocas Garnacha for power-importer Eric Solomon.

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Roederer Estate Brut Review | Cristal’s American Relative

Roederer Estate Brut Review | Cristal’s American Relative

Roederer Estate Brut

In 1982, Jean-Claude Rouzaud selected a 580 acre vineyard site in California’s Anderson Valley with the intent to expand and further build upon his long family tradition of producing world-class sparkling wine.

The descendant of the founder of Champagne Louis Roederer, Jean-Claude Rouzaud was running the highly successful family company when he decided to bring his vision of Champagne to the United States in the form of Roederer Estate. Six years after locating this ideal, sizable site near the Mendocino Coast, the Roederer Estate Brut was born!

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Hess Select Cabernet Review | Your House Cab Has Arrived

Hess Select Cabernet Review | Your House Cabernet Has Arrived!

Hess Select Cabernet

On a recent trip to Costco in Arlington I was originally on the hunt for one of my new favorite Spanish bargains, the Tarima Hill Old Vine Monastrell, when I spotted the Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2011.

I had tasted prior vintages by the glass at several restaurants who pour this as their house Cabernet Sauvignon, but I had never actually committed to a full bottle. It’s not often you order house wine that actually tastes somewhat varietally correct and like…real wine. I decided at under $12 it was about time to pull the trigger and give it a shot.

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Tarima Hill Monastrell 2011

Tarima Hill Monastrell Review | Costco Wine Review

Tarima Hill Monastrell

Bodegas Volver produces the Tarima Hill Monastrell 2011 with fruit from it’s vineyard holdings of approximately 834 acres spread across the Spanish wine regions of Alicante, Jumilla and La Mancha. Of those impressive holdings (which the winery has plans to expand further), 457 acres are located in the Alicante. Despite having a history of wine production for over 2,000 years, Alicante is still better known for it’s beaches than it’s wines.

It’s reputation of producing cheap, bulk wine is quickly transforming as a new generation of vanguard winemakers produce bold reds with superb extraction and balance at price points few other, if any, wine regions can match.

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Big Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Big Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Big Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Big Vine Wines is cooperative of industry professionals based in the Oxbow District of Napa Valley. With two state of the art production facilities (One in Napa and one in Dry Creek) they leverage their extensive relationships within the wine industry to bring appellation-specific wines of incredible quality and value.

Though the business model of Big Vine includes purchasing already crafted wine lots, the Big Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 was handcrafted from scratch by none other than Scott McCloed of Rubicon. One of my absolute favorite wines is still Napa Cabernet and I welcome any iteration that has the character and style that I’ve come to expect without the high price tag all wine lovers have come to expect!

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