Please use comments here to alert everyone to interesting wines you’ve seen at which stores, but which have not yet been reviewed. Please post any tasting notes in Guest Contributions, or as a comment on a main-page review, as comments here older than six weeks or so will be deleted.
You can check out what reviewers have at home to review at this sub-blog:
The magical world of wines from Grocery Outlet 
Gee Whiz Tram Driver 2017 Gewürztraminer / Riesling, Eden Valley, S. Australia, “Cool climate” “Sheep Pruned*” $4. Nose of Riesling-y petrol, light yellow and white fruits. On the palate, screamingly dry, crisp, fairly lean flavors of less ripe yellow apple, petrol, lemon, slight green apple, finishing with engagingly rough grape skin astringency and minerality. This certainly will not be everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak, but I can see some folks really loving this style. Probably good with fresh white fish or oysters, the latter likely raw.
*”This means Terry’s vines were treated, for several years, using ‘minimal intervention’, with only your future lamb chops managing the vine canopy.”
The wine selection at GO is running the risk of becoming consistent, and not in a good way, similar to what you’d find at Safeway. Mostly the same wines for an endless period of time. A few new ones every so often.
Wondering how the tariffs and Covid are affecting availability?
I wonder if this is the effect of growth. When Trader Joe’s was almost exclusively in So Cal they got in the sort of wine deals we think of GO getting, but now with so many more stores to stock buying 30 cases of something makes less sense, and its stock is basically typical grocery store wine with a private label program (are those wines any good? The certainly were not 20 years ago.)
That said the Civita cabs are exactly the sort of thing that got me shopping GO 25 years ago
Here’s one to make your mouth water…Jim Poppe was the store manager at Trader Joe’s in Oceanside back in the late 80s and was a huge wine fan who brought in those great bargains that you remember. Two big scores in 1989 (before he got promoted to regional manager and left) were 1985 Royal Oporto Vintage (not LBV) Port for $6.99/bottle and an amazing 1982 Brunello di Montalcino at only $4.00. Those were the first two cases of wine I bought here in California and they were awesome.
When Coppola bought all of Inglenook except the name, in the early 1990s (he now also owns and uses the name) he sold four vintages of the Reserve Cabernet, 1989-1991, to TJs, which sold them for $5 a bottle. I bought at least four cases, but alas have no more left.
After choking down and dumping numerous duds, I had been throttling back wine hunting at GO and favoring Costco. In for more than a case of the Civita; best QPR of anything in 2020. Finding quality cabs at GO is hard enough and they are usually twice the price when available. Quality fruit, great structure and complexity, appear to have been well cellared – absolute enigma of origin here. Possibly a second label of a Napa producer, forgotten in the cellar?
I have found only one reference to a Civita wine on the internet, and it did not involve Cabernet. This does indeed have a high QPR. Oakland still has some of the 2011.
The Taraval 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, is pretty good for $10. It needs a bit of air to show fairly complex and elegant flavors of dark Bing cherry, plum, blackberry, red currant, orange?, dark-roasted coffee, and a stemmy tannic finish. Also, it’s nice and dry as I like it. It’s maybe not as rich and lush as some might like, being a little more restrained and delineated. IIRC this wine at GO was previously $13.
Tried a couple 2017 Pinot Noirs: Wolfgang Puck, California, $5, and Headlands, Mendocino County, CA, $6. I found them both okay for their prices, although they are both a little on the fruity and sweet side for my taste.
I am always skeptical about a Pinot with only a California appellation so avoided the Puck. I did buy a bottle of the Headlands. I found it pleasant, above average for pinot in that price range, but the Chilean one blows it out of the water.
The Chalone 2017 rosé of Pinot Noir, $5, is pretty good, to my taste very French in style: delicate fruit, crisp, with slight bitterness.
Haven’t had a bad rose this year. I buy a variety for fun. That Mud House Sauv Blanc I finally got my hands on is as great as everyone said it is. Was a hit at an outdoor socially distanced play date this past weekend.
It was gone when I came in Tuesday.
I restocked it when I was there on Wednesday, and I’ve mentioned it to the store owner that we should get more, although I have no idea if we can.
Castronovo 2015 Chianti DOCG is a good every day pour for $6, or at least better IMO than most of the Chiantis GO gets. The Castronovo is a basic wine, but has good earthy / stemmy structure and balanced fruit, pretty tasty right away but holds up well before fully airing after ~5 hours, or the next day.
A couple of new wines at the Richmond store.
Headlands Mendocino County Pinot 2017, $5.99 I think. Screwcap. Tasty, varietally correct, balanced, medium bodied. This would have been lovely on turkey day. In its price range it is one of the best GO pinots I’ve tasted in a while.
Acacia Thornton Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2016, $9.99. This must come from the very end of Acacia as a real winery. I recommend it for those who like the big bodied tropical fruit and butter chardonnays. It has enough acid to balance that out but it is not my style.
BTW the Richmond store soundtrack is now saying with will take returns within 30 days with a receipt.
That is surprising. All of the Seattle area GOs stopped taking any returns due to COVID. Given the resurgence of serious infection rates, I wouldn’t have expected a return of the old returns policy at the moment, at least.
Lemmon Valley, NV took back a corked bottle this week.
Olympia is taking returns again, haven’t reverted their policy again yet—I don’t believe.
I confess I had been ignoring the Arienzo de Marques de Riscal Rioja 2012 Crianza, $4, thinking “Yeah, yeah, another vintage of this wine.” However, tonight, thinking it would go well with a turkey & bacon pasta sauce, I opened one and was very pleasantly surprised. This is quite tasty right away, but developed well over three hours, with flavors of dark red tangy cherry / with air slight red plum, bitterness of cherry pit, dried orange peel, wood / cinnamon, and a surprisingly firm tannic finish. I thought there would be no point in saving any in a small screwcap bottle for the next day, and there was certainly no need to, but it now wouldn’t surprise me if it would actually still be decent the next day.
I picked a half dozen last summer and another half case again this week when they reappeared in San Marcos (San Diego County). Hard to go wrong with $4 a bottle for an 8 year old Rioja. Paired with marinated flank steak and grilled asparagus. Yum!
I have not tried this one but every other vintage that has appeared has been good. I went long on the 2008 Reserva that came through recently so I’ve not bought any of this.
In Central/Eastern WA the Chalone Estate Chardonnay has showed up at $7.99, one of the rare times we’re cheaper than CA. But the real interesting wine is a private label. 2015 Gamache Columbia Valley Merlot for WAC (Washington Athletic Club). Gamache did not make a Merlot 2014-2016, but generally runs in the mid $20s. WAC is high end, they are closed now with COVID (Private club has 3 restaurants/bars, over 100 rooms, full gym, etc.). The wine needs an hour to open up, but it is a winner.
It showed up in Western Washington just before the wine sale, though the Gavilan Chardonnay had been around for some months. I found the Gavilan more charming right away, but the Chalone Estate is the more serious wine, and does need air now to open fully. Both are worth having in the cellar, though the Gavilan probably is at its best now. The Estate I suspect has a good bit of life left in it.
Sadly none of the other interesting wines our California friends are talking about were seen in the Seattle area, at least not around the time of the sale. I haven’t been back to GO since the first day of the sale; COVID rates too high for my comfort level, and my wine cellar provides plenty of pleasant, even exceptional, GO wines from the Before Times.
Last night, I decanted a bottle of the Chalone 2016 Estate Chardonnay ($8) and rubberbanded plastic over the mouth of the decanter. Today, I mixed two $5 southern hemisphere 2013 Pinot Noirs from opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean: the Giesen from Marlborough, New Zealand, and the Falernia from Elqui Valley, Chile. The Giesen was more lean, stemmy and delineated, while the Falernia was more soft and fruity, with flavors actually quite similar, and the mix of the two worked well. I had planned on having a bottle of the heavily fruited Estancia Pinot ($8), but, not feeling like making a whole turkey, I roasted only a turkey breast ($2/lb). The Chalone Chardonnay and this lighter-flavored (red cherry, orange, green and brown stem, Pinot funk, but no purple cherry or plum or baking spice) Pinot Noir worked well. Also in the meal were curried cauliflower and paneer (paneer “Royal Mahout” $4), the usual sort of mashed potatoes, and Metropolis potato rosemary bread. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving under the circumstances!
How was the Chalone Chard? The SF South Van Ness store had that today for ten bucks. We had a 1999 Ardente Cabernet today with grilled turkey breast and tri tip. Wine was really good but if you have any it is not getting better.
We were tempted to have the Ardente with our turkey but settled for a 2007 Lalande de Pomerol (from GO perhaps 7 or 8 years ago). So sad that only one bottle of that one left now.
I’ve been drinking a lot of 2008 Civita Cellars Cabernet for $6.99 at the Richmond store the last several weeks. It has a lot of flavor for this price.
I’ve had the 2010, and it was also quite well-made and tasty. Classic Napa fruit, fully mature yet not losing much yet, moderate tannins (mellowed by years) and decently structured. Interested in alternative vintages, as ’08, ’09, ’10, and ’11 are all out there. Don’t think the ’10 will improve much, kinda tasting “peakish” right now. At $7, great buy….I’ll give it 92 pts or so…
SB, was that your last 1999 as you might have mentioned under Ardente 1999? I think it has a good, long plateau of drinking. Actually trying to refrain from popping anymore for awhile.
I think I have a couple more of the 1999. It is in fine shape and I probably won’t be touching any more of the Ardente cabs for a while.
When I started cooking, the Chalone Chardonnay had not aired sufficiently. It was in that musty, funky phase I disliked when I tasted it over three days last summer. However, after I left the decanter alternately covered and not, with small pours here and there, it had evolved perfectly by dinner about 4 hours later. Then, it had the nice lemony acid and yellow apple fruit, in a fairly delicate structure.
Tonight I opened my final bottle of the Chalone Vineyard 2016 Estate Grown Chardonnay. It’s very nice! Initially, it tasted a little tending-toward-oxidized, but after a little air in the glass, it has a nice balance of aged and fresh flavors, with both some fullness in the main taste and delicateness on the finish: ripe yellow apple (with tinge of caramel) quickly goes to viscous acid of lemon and slight lime / green apple, some bitterness of stem / grape skin in the finish. Should you still have any, there’s certainly no longer any need to wait to drink it.
Second day, that Pinot blend is definitely yummier than either alone.
After raving about the Alcance 2016 Carmenere and Cabernet, thinking the 2015 Merlot was ok but not as good, I finally opened a 2016 Chardonnay this evening. My initial reaction, at least, is that it’s outstanding for $4: plenty of lemony acid, softer yellow apple fruit, in a nice structure, almost French.
A few hours later, I still think the same, although I’d add a touch of lime toward the end, and a fair but not overpowering amount of oak.
Agreed. I opened one alongside a bottle of the 2018 Owl Block Reserve Chardonnay (Monterey) $5.99. At first the Owl Block seemed better but as the bottle warmed on the table it lost its charm, becoming more astringent that I expect from a chardonnay, while the Alcance remained consistent. At $3.99 a bottle its a bargain.
De Casta 2018 rosé by Familia Torres from Spain (no DO) is quite decent for $4: dry, smooth lighter red cherry, quince jelly, pink grapefruit tartness, slight chalkiness and bitterness on the finish.
Vieux Domaine Bertineau 2018 – Lalande de Pomerol
Paid $15
Importer: The Wine Source Inc
For those who like Bordeaux I think this is a very good wine. My wife and I are not into very big wines, especially oaky Cali wines, but we very much enjoyed this. I said “If we bought this at a restaurant and it cost sixty seventy dollars, no one would complain.”
It’s morning so I don’t remember the finer points, but this wine had no structural issues, and seemed to be a good blend, probably more merlot heavy, which I like.
I rarely buy wines for this price at GO, but I’m not upset I did. If you brought this to a holiday meal people would be satisfied.
Here is a recent tasting, https://wine1percent.com/2020/11/12/the-18s-are-coming/ and the cost is about $22/btl. in MA.
Clearly a better review. 😉
If I was a big bordeaux drinker I’d buy more.
That is a very positive review from him.
I thought the Winemaker Che Grande 2015 Chianti Riserva was pretty good for $6, not amazing but pretty good. The only thing is it needs quite a bit of air, or you could just come back the next day, although it wouldn’t surprise me if it still needed more air on the second day. On first opening, the wine is thin, light red in flavor, rather tart, but with a stemmy finish that seems like it might be hiding something. The wine finally opens after being decanted for 5 hours, and then has tasty medium-bodied darker purple fruits with complexities of red fruits, orange, and dark spiced earth.
Sangiovese wines are like that. Personally I think they need years of age or a lot of air. In a fancy restaurant in Tuscany we ordered a young wine. It was decanted, then poured into a second decanter. Then when it was poured it was poured into a glass, and that glass was poured into another class and served to us.
I opened the saved single-glass screwcap bottle of this wine tonight. It was quite good, expressing well both the fruit and the structure together, slowly airing into the more fruit-forward wine that had come out after 5 hours the first night.
Seedboy, my observation has been that wine needs to have air mixed into it, but then it still just needs time to evolve. Did that young Tuscan wine still need that time?
Honestly I do not remember, this happened 20 years ago.
Last night, on its third night open, the Four Vines cab was holding on, showing as an elegant wine that still does not show any real varietal character but for $5 it is a pleasant enough wine. I bought a 2009 Civita Cab at Oakland. It is also an elegant wine that does smell and taste like Cabernet and for $7 a bottle is a better buy than the Four Vines.
I’m looking for the Civitas in San Diego…anyone seen them down this way?
Recently arrived: Falernia 2013 Pinot Noir and Carmenere / Syrah, from Elqui Valley, Chile, $5 each. The Pinot is a good every day wine, with supple texture, subtle and decently complex flavor-wise. Usually, I have not liked Chilean Pinots, but this one worked for me.
Also liked the Falernia 2013 Carmenere / Syrah, fruity but on the more elegant side for these grapes. Smooth and decently complex for $5. Needed some air, though.
The Falernia 2010 Carmenere / Syrah is also pretty good, but is fully mature, more of a “drink now” than the 2013.
The Falernia 2012 Pinot Noir is not as good as the 2013, but still quite good for $5.
I found the 2013 Pinot quite decent last night. I’ll look for some of their other wines. Looks like the winery is a Jackson project. It is in a beautiful setting. And then there were riots in Chile yesterday. Water canons included. Oh well.
I just tried the 2012 Falernia. That is the best GO pinot at that price point in a long time. Much more complexity than the St Clement etc. Positive Cellartracker reviews also https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2070044&searchId=42C8118C%23selected%253DW3743337_1_K6ac925c33d295a715149d90b0d1af488
Petaluma still has the 2013 Falernia Pinot and the Alcance Chardonnay.
Second bottle of Falernia has consistent noted, and my wife remarked on how good it was.
Second bottle of the 2012?
Yes
A friend who loves Pinot Noir reports that the 2013 Falernia Pinot Noir reminds him of a Russian River Valley Pinot and tastes like a $50 bottle.
Chalone Gavilan Chard has reappeared. I hear that last time some folks got bad bottles but I never tasted one.
I never got a bad bottle of the Chalone Gavilan, either, and we drank probably a half case of it.
$4.99. For Chardonnay made by a real winery from one vineyard.
Yes, and I had two quite mediocre bottles myself…bleh…from a devout Chard enthusiast. The Everett Ridge or the Merlo are far better… don’t drink plonk.
I have to agree with Zoel, we were pretty disappointed…after all the good comments here. (And used to be huge Chalone fans way back in the back when)
But I just bought another bottle this week to try again…..second chances for all but Trump.
As I’m sure we all grasp, bottles can be uneven.
Tried the cheapy Geyser Peak Pinot Grigio (and not as a big PG fan, at all)….we could not believe what we were tasting. Gorgeous aromas and mouth full, well beyond it’s pedigree. So I went out and bought a case. Just opened the first bottle, and so far seems like an acid test.
ugh.
Yeah, I think the quality of Chalone wines went down after the tragic death of Dick Graff. Most of my bottles were/are from the ’60’s, ’70’s and early ’80’s.
Wow. I liked it a lot, but I would not go that far. 🙂
Recently arrived: Civita 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Cabernets Napa Valley, $7 each. I tried a 2009 last night and liked it a lot. I had let the bottle sit for a couple days to let a small amount of sediment settle, but it’s probably not really necessary to do that. It was yummy right away but developed nicely over about three hours, not falling apart at all and indeed only getting better. It was a little on the softly fruited side (but not sweet) for me, but delicious for the price.
I bought a 2008 this morning that I will open right now.
I have now tried the 2008 and the 2010. They both are surprisingly fruity for their age, very smooth, no rough tannin, reasonably balanced, and a bit of Margaux perfume in the bouquet. I see no information about this winery on the internet and no Cellartracker reviews of any of the Cabs.
I went to Petaluma Sunday morning. Benny has gotten in more of the Al King wines including more recent vintages of the Grenache. I bought the 2014 and 2016 Cabs, the 2014 I opened was very different from the Civita, very rough textured with the fruit hiding behind tannin.
On the second day the 2014 Al King Cab had smoothed out some but still seemed closed. I think I might buy a couple of them and forget about them for a few years. I did open the 2016 Cab, which was not as rough as the 2014 but still very closed even with air.
I have tried all four. They are all quality cabernets, consistent style, I think I like the 2011 the most.
Benny still has the Al King Cabs and some zin.
The GO selection in El Cerrito is flat out stale. This is the most uninteresting 6-8 month run I can recall in years.
Be nice if someone with a European background chose their wines because the French and Italian wines are sub par. Rather drink Trader Joe’s low end offerings.
I have to agree with you. The San Luis Obispo store has a lot of completely uninteresting wines and the Euro side of the equation is woefully inadequate. The first GO wine sale (only Santa Maria had a store then) I got Grgich Hills cab for $15 and some fantastic Italian and French wines. Those days are the distant past.
Sadly, I can vouch for the currently disappointing state of the SLO selection. Not much in the way of higher-quality wines, particularly from Europe.
I believe it’s harder now because of online selling etc but it seems like the same wines on repeat. Chiantis that aren’t interesting and cheap Bordeaux.
They need someone else on the case.
Hiya, very long time between posts. Alright, I’ll share my secret. The owner of the Alameda store used to work in Hospitality in Bordeaux and loves wine. I keep finding little treasures that Oakland doesn’t have, but you gotta hunt for them. BTW, the person that currently works that section doesnt strike me as much of a “wine guy “. During the sale I found a 2013 Giesen NZ Pinot Noir that I’m enjoying and I gotta say, not usually a Joel Gott fan, but the 2015 Grenache is pretty dang tasty. Got a few Mud House ’cause y’all were talking about it, a 2017 Albarino, some Charles & Charles Rosé and a couple of Siri Lane Pinot Noir. Most expensive bottle this time ($14.99) was a 2018 Bordeaux that we had at work (TJ’s) a few years back at double the price. Putting it in the cellar to share with the almost adult on their 21st.
I live in Alameda and refuse to go to that store because of the owner’s horrible treatment of his employees and his refusal to enforce a mask policy. 3 of the assistant managers quit in protest including the wonderful wine buyer who now works at my local Safeway. Months ago when I complained about people with “medical conditions” being allowed to enter the store without masks, he said there was nothing he could do since corporate sets the policy. He’s a Trump supporter which I think explains his unwillingless to enforce mask policy. There’s a current lawsuit against him by former employees. While less convenient, I’ll happily drive to San Leandro store (they had all the wines you mentioned).
I wish I was close enough to go to the Alameda store (and I’m not a “Trump supporter”)
Corporate’s policy is that customers and employees must wear masks. Thanks for the info, this guy sounds like an idiot.
My husband works for Corporate and I work for TJ’s. In CA, if someone says they have a medical exemption, we *can’t* legally stop them from coming into the store. It totally sucks!
Sorry to hear about all the Staff not feeling heard. Having worked this entire time, I sympathize with having to tell customers and fellow staffers over and over about mask compliance. It’s literally, emotionally draining that people don’t care or don’t believe they or their kid could possibly be asymptomatic carriers.
As for his politics, I’ll ask him when I see him.
I have noticed that, at my store, the number of people claiming medical exemptions has gone down over time. It irked me that people would say they couldn’t wear a mask because of reduced lung capacity, all while yelling at me quite loudly. It still amazes me (not in a good way) that people cannot seem to put together “contagious disease which is largely mild but significantly deadly for people over 65” and “transmitted mostly by aerosols (drops of liquid in this case that are so small they float and drift in the air) mostly generated by speech (more so by loud speech or singing)” to produce “always wear a mask that filters your breath when talking near other people, especially indoors.”
I will say that, while I was disappointed with the lack of mask enforcement at the Crown Hill GO earlier during the pandemic, when I visited there during the wine sale, all of the employees and customers in the store were appropriately masked, and I saw one of the checkout workers warn an entering customer to “please mask up before coming in.”
I don’t know about California law, but in Washington a business can refuse admission to someone, even if they claim a medical reason for non-compliance, as long as the business provides an alternative accommodation. Our local Fred Meyer has a tape-looped announcement over the PA that masks for customers and employees are required, and that those who cannot wear masks for medical reasons can take advantage of the order-and-pick-up-in-the-parking-lot service or can order for home delivery. (The first option is free; I am not sure whether medical opt-outs get the delivery free or not.)
I was thinking something similar…..
I think the wine buyers are expert enough to know about European wine quality, but consistently market them more expensively than the same quality of other wines from around the world because of the curiousity-killed-a-cat syndrome, at least in my case. I tend to buy New World wines exclusively from GO.
Some of you guys are (or have been) in the biz, and I have not, but I am assuming that the restaurant and bar closures associated with COVID this year have been devastating to the wine industry, particularly in the US where I believe a disproportionate share of wine is sold to eateries rather than direct to consumers in comparison with Europe. So, there must be oceans of unsold and unsellable wine in the pipeline. And, even when things get back to whatever normal will be, many restaurants will not re-open, and it may be years before we approach the level of restaurant purchases of wine from the Before Times. This is a scenario made for Grocery Outlet, who can liquidate stock quickly; which is exactly what trustees in bankruptcy want to happen. It’s a terrible time to be a wine-maker or a restauranteur for sure, but it might be a good time to be a winebuyer for Grocery Outlet.
Bottom line is that despite the 25% tariffs imposed on imported wine, the selections can be better. There has to be someone with French/Italian connections in this area who can take control of the wine buying. The CA wines they sell are just not good to me, so that’s not even in the cards, but from time to time they get some winners.
The wine guy at the San Leandro store was raving about the True Story Pinot 2014, so I picked up a few bottles @ the sale. Anyone try this?
True Story PN – tried about two weeks ago. Thought it competent, definitely well-made OR Pinot, a solid 88-89 pts. Very representative of the region, but at $14, not quite the QPR of my preferred Russian River/Sonoma CA juice. If you can find any of the Woodenhead PN ( still at Vacaville), far more intriguing at a few $$ less, imho.
True Story shows promise but is disjointed now
I thought it was excellent and got a couple during the sale. For me, though, it’s still a bit young, so I’ll try one next summer.
A few new wines came in today in Redwood City, the only one I recognized is a Four Vines ’13 Paso Robles Cabernet, a wine which I believe pre-dates the sale of the brand by the original partners. Though they were known more for their Zins and Petit Sirah, I recall their Cabs of that era to be decent to good. Though I usually shy from “cellared & bottled” GO offerings, I picked one up to try for $6, less sale discount.
Hi All – been working hard, so apologies for negligence here…big buys at the sale this week at 6 different GOs…here are some thoughts and what I grabbed (all prices per shelf, not less 20%):
Petaluma
1) Al King Wines – never heard of before (and I live in Healdsburg, this winery is in Cloverdale, and my winemaker friends didn’t know either). Benny knew Al, who passed away, His spouse asked Benny to take care of all the inventory…bottomline, excellent winemaking in a classic old-school style, all at $7. Winery was all organic near Lake Sonoma.
Best is the ’15 Grenache Noir – wowsir, just a beauty. Spice, structure, depth…grabbed the last case. Had 2nd half tonight, just as good. Will be a fab Thanksgiving wine.
Next is the ’13 and ’15 Zins, expected more of the brambly big Rockpile genre, instead this is lightly oaked and balanced. Reminded me of Napa Zins. Plenty of the ’15 left.
Last, but not least, ’14 and ’16 Cabs. Old school Sonoma cab here, somewhat restrained fruit and nice balance. Lovely bottles and food friendly…good value again.
2) Mossback – Benny hasn’t been able to move this, so he dropped the price from $10 to $7.69…for a solid Chalk Hill Cab, no brainer.
3) BellaCana Cab Reserve – I prefer the ’16 over the ’17 (discussed elsewhere). grabbed another case at $8.
4) Everett Ridge Chard – Napa – $9 – drinking so nicely time and again. Grabbed a case.
5) Montecello Chard Napa – $9 – discussed elsewhere – again a winner.
6) Wente Fog Chardonnay $3/split – no brainer after tasting…beats many of the other Chards at 3X the price.
Other GOs (Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Vacaville, Cloverdale…okay, I admit I have a bit of a problem here…)
7) Post House Road Cab (A Valley) $8 – consistently delicious and balanced A Valley fruit. Vacaville still had a bunch.
8) Szabo – a variety of Rhone-based bottlings, haven’t tried yet but am hopeful. Picked up the Vizar, the Syrah, V, and one other blend. Will report back, looks like plenty of stock…my hunch is a heavily styled Lodi-type winery, will either love it or not.
9) Woodenhead PN – I thought these were all gone, but Vacaville had a bunch of the ’17 Mendo and ’16 AndersonV as well. At $11 and $14, not cheap but easily drank thru past purchases, grabbed more. Both are vibrant and complex and worth 4X.
10) Rockwall Zins – still some up north at Cloverdale, solid Zins at $9, prefer the Jessie to the H-Kraka, but both are good.
11) Woodenhead Zins – both the $11 and $13 Zins have been cellar staples this summer, tough to beat with pasta or BBQ. Cloverdale still has some in stock.
12) McW Cab Reserve 660 Hilltops – Aus – interesting Ozzie Cab, thought it promising, will try 2nd time tonight. $7?
13) Meyer Syrah (Mendo) $6 – solid Syrah, excellent winemaker and no brainer…
14) Merlo Family Chard – Sonoma $5 – good everyday Chard.
Several Bombs as well (can’t win ’em all):
Clos Argentine ’17 Gran Corte – Blue label – strong VA on opening, really didn’t blow off over two days…drano.
’17 Lucina & Millie Chard (Mendo) – $5 meh…weak fruit material.
’15 Spellbound Merlot – interesting sweet cherry I kinda liked, but wife thought it more porty and not varietally right. Had to agree…
’17 Geyser Peak Chard – double meh…
Several other bombs, can’t recall ’em all…
Overall, very good sale thanks to the Al King scores plus Zins and Chards. Cellar stocked for the winter, I feel like a vinosquirrel.
Wow, that’s quite a haul! I certainly would have loaded up on the Bellacana during the sale, but it’s been gone from our GO for a couple of months now. Will have to look at a couple of the others on your list which I haven’t tried at this point. Cheers!
Rocklin had a lot of the Bellacana wines but Have not been by for a couple of days
Northwest vinosquirrels may starve this winter…if the sale is any indication. Luckily some of us PNW vinosquirrels have socked away wine in the Before Times.
Ah, loving the new term “vinosquirrels”…born here !!
I agree w/flitcraft…the sale has been disappointing. Needed to replenish my reds, brought home so dang many to try, and almost nothing bears repeating. We’re flush with NZ SB’s, but am tired of those for now, and who wants that kind of brightness and edge in front of a fire in darkness?
I miss all those great Pinots from 6-12 months ago, and decent Syrahs have virtually fallen off the map. Keep the suggestions coming, with good notes.
Where have the referenced Al king wines been sighted? Looked for them on SF peninsula (Redwood City, Pacifica) with no luck.
The Al King vino was only at Petaluma, Benny (store owner) got the whole inventory to liquidate. This isn’t unusual for GO, but tough to find out about them if you’re not a regular (or on this blog). I went back yesterday and grabbed 3 more cases. He has another remaining pallet to bring in yet…
Petaluma and Santa Rosa are the only stores I know of that buy wine not supplied by GO Corporate. GO corporate has clearly decided that it will not bring in anything special for the wine sales.
Zoel, which 3 cases? The Grenache Noir is gone you said.
I grabbed the last of the Grenache, and the ‘13 Zin, and the ‘14 Cab.
I was able to find some bottles of Ousterhout 2015 Zinfandel at one of the local GO’s. We’ve had this wine a few months ago and really enjoyed it. We thought had good fruit and some nice spice to it. I bought the last 7 bottles they had there during the wine sale. Great bargain IMO.
Which store had the Ousterhout?
North Highlands, CA….. But again, I did buy the last 7 bottles they had. They did still have l plenty of the Rock Wall Zins there though.
Thanks. Not interested in the Rock Wall wines. I have never cared for them.
I also have not found this sale very exciting. I did pick up some of the Mud House SB at the Olympia store (still plenty left) and tried the following, all around $6-$7 pre-sale:
Casa Santos Lima 2018 Red Blend Portugal. A little bland.
Moobuzz 2016 GSM. Some nice things going on here, but too sweet for me.
French Bar 2016 Gold Dust Red from Rock Creek Family Vineyards. Just OK.
French Bar 2016 2016 Petite Sirah. This one I did enjoy, especially on the second day. Probably would have picked up a few more of these, but they got wiped out before I could.
Up in WA State, the sale is pretty much a bust for reds. The Ink Blot Aussie is the only thing I’ve found worth buying (OK, one Bordeaux, violating my rule of never buying a GO Bordeaux $12) . But several decent NZ Sauvignon Blancs from Spring Creek Estates (Marlborough – spritzy is my quick estimation, high acid) at about $7 before 20% off. I’ve hit 2 stores and talked to the wine guy at one, not too much in his Thursday order book. I know there is a glut of wine out there but GO isn’t jumping on it. Just the usual second label (Indigo, Windstorm….)
Ink Blot is a solid choice for winter consumption.Fruit forward,restrained tannins,and a long finish,plus a 14% ABV not showing heat..Tapps Owl viognier 2018 $5..99 before sale is the find in whites this sale.WA fruit made in a dry Rhone style with characteristics of this variety showing in the glass.
Do you guys mean “Barossa Ink”? And if so are you talking about the Cabernet or the Shiraz?
I love the Grove Mill (NZ) Sauv. Bl.~~it’s juicy delish with musky guava and gooseberry with plenty of acid–yet not too much. Also something slightly flinty and mineralish.
The fruit is outrageous.
Up here in WA, we’re also still swimming in new orders of the Mudhouse SB…wish we could share with those Cali southerners who seem to have been cut off.
We are in fact swimming suddenly in all sorts of NZ SB’s.
It has been harder lately to find good reds, and that’s the season we’re definitely moving into. All this white will probably be sitting in my garage for the winter.
I do kinda like the Castle Rock Pinot Noir, reserve, Russian River. Not stellar, but fine drinking medium body Pinot.
Richmond has Geyser Peak Alexander Valley Cab 2015 for $6.99 I think. This is a solid easy drinking cabernet. It will not wow you but it is a fine Tuesday night wine.
Agree, the Geyser Peak Alex. Val. Cab is a nice weeknight wine, may slightly improve over the near term as it has slightly noticeable oak still. Tried a Wente 2015 Livermore Cab in 375 format @ $4 and preferred the Geyser @ $7. Both available in Redwood City.
Also saw and tried two Sauv. Blancs: Clos La Chance 2016, $7 I think, has some oak barrel influence, good fruit, ready to drink, silky acid free finish. Morgan 2017, $6 piquant fruit, less weight on the palate than the Clos La Chance, bracing acid finish which is more to my liking.
Several Sunce wines on the floor, ’18 Zin, ’19 Chard, ’17 (I think) Barbera, ’18 Viognier, all between $8-10; Barbera and Chard both nice in lighter style.
Looking forward to sale day.
I think those Sunce wines are all current releases. I also note that they closed their tasting room in Kenwood. Looks like financial trouble.
Of the Sunce wines I have seen recently I have tried the Sauv Blanc, which I liked quite a bit but have not seen again, and, the Viognier, which was too fruity for me.
agree on the Geyser Peak cab. Fine but not really memorable.
The Grigori 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon “Family Reserve” from Coonawarra, Australia, is excellent for $5. At first pour, the nose suggested a powerhouse, but it aired into a wine with nice balance, length, and complexity. There’s also a Grigori 2016 Shiraz “Family Reserve” which I haven’t tasted, also $5.
The Shiraz, from McLaren Vale, is also excellent for $5, although I somewhat preferred the Cabernet.
I opened another bottle of the Grigori Shiraz tonight, and it’s not what it used to be, even such a short time ago. It’s still pretty good after a few hours of air, but it now lacks the heavy dark fruit it had soon after arrival. If you have any, don’t wait to drink it.
The Alcance 2016 Carmenère “Gran Reserva”, from Maule Valley, Chile, is excellent for $4. Initially, it has a tight, elegant structure which relaxes over 2 – 3 hours into soft ripe fruits with good complexity in typical Carmenère flavors. There is also an Alcance 2016 Cabernet, also $4, which I have not tried.
The Alcance 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon “Gran Reserva,” from Maule Valley, Chile, is also excellent for $4. It is a bit tougher than the Carmenere, a little more elegant, and less overtly complex. I plan to mix together a bottle of each and drink the result over a few days, probably after the sale. 🙂
The Alcance Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Rosa Store – $3.99) was quite good. It was a bit muted up front but opened up to be a really nice drinking wine over the course of an hour. It’s a solid, straightforward CS, but you’re right, it’s not terribly complex. IMHO it’s a far better wine than the Carmenere. We’ve been trying the Carmenere for years (significant other works for Jackson Family) and have never loved it. Maybe the vintages we had were too old?
At $3.99, the CS is a great weekday wine, or one we’ll bring to parties, whenever those start up again. I’d love to hear how the field blend goes between the two.
Also, I saw 3 cases of Mud House SB at the Santa Rosa store. If I hadn’t picked up a case of it in the Cloverdale store a month ago, I’d be buying another.
Agree on both the Alcance CS and the Mud House SB. Dropped in to Mira Mesa to grab some more of the CS this morning as it was long gone in north San Diego County.
Monticello Vineyards 2016 Presidential Chardonnay, 14.1% ABV, $9. Lightly buttery Comice pear, yellow apple, hint of green apple, abundant vanilla oak. Flavors on the more delicate side. Texture creamy and smooth. Pretty good value for this style of Chardonnay, although personally I prefer the higher acid, tighter structure, and more intense fruit of the Chalone.
Confirmed San Diego Mira Mesa will be doing the fall wine sale the first week of November and has ordered pretty extensively from the order guide. Hoping some good Pinot floats in. Already saw a few South African wines that look good.
Were the South African wines the ones from Bellingham (Bernard series Pinotage and Chenin Blanc, “Pinopasso” (appassimento-style Pinotage), Citrus Grove label Chenin Blanc) that we’ve seen here in N CA, or something new?
Also, sorry I will say this so often you all will hate it but: During the sale, please remember to maintain your wearing of well-fitting face coverings over mouth (protects others) and nose (protects you) and your staying at least a few feet apart. Your getting 20% off wine is not worth anyone getting this weird and unpredictable illness.
Preach!
Good for Grocery Outlet for trying to take precautions during the pandemic, to protect themselves and customers, and good for BargainWhine for reminding us. Unfortunately, I have been able to find only one GO willing to deliver wines to my trunk in the parking lot rather than inside the store, so that store has received all my wine purchases since early March. I think other GOs are missing a bet in difficult times.
I just tried the Citrus Grove Chenin Blanc. Nice wine. I think it might be just a bit off dry but it has the acid to pull it off and Chenin makes a fine demi-sec.
Next day I did not detect the sweetness but was very pleased with the wine and at $4 it is a fine deal. I also took a shot at the 2014 Rioja Reserva from Concordia. It is a pleasant wine but not worth $3 more than the 2008. Finally I have tried the St Clement Pinot Noir for $5 at Richmond. Not particularly complex, good red fruit and frankly a taste of blood which I rather enjoyed. Richmond has also received a mess more bourbon, Elijah Craig Small Batch, Larceny, Basil Haydn, Knob Creek, but the pricing is no better than Total Wine. However they still have that Irish whiskey that is a steal at $15. Oh, and the Caradini balsamico is back, this is the real thing, for $6
Richmond has the Casamatta Rose Toscano 2018 for $4. Still fresh, dry, sufficient acid. I will buy more.
I finally tried this, and I agree it’s pretty good. Like all of Bibi Graetz’s wines, it’s definitely not traditional. This is more fruity and less elegant, but it’s still dry, decently acid, and tasty.
The second bottle I bought was off. I won’t buy more.
Agreed that the Citrus Grove chenin is a decent, friendly white at $4. Yesterday evening we tried a couple of new things that showed up this week:
The 2013 Szabo Elvezet dessert wine was strangely dry for a “dessert wine,” and, to my palate, not very enjoyable. I was happily surprised to find the 2014 Field Stone Convivio – my mother-in-law used to work in their tasting room years ago, and I recall liking this as their house red-type wine. We liked it quite a bit, although I thought I did detect just the slightest hint of TCA or something a touch musty (others didn’t, but I’m a bit more sensitive than average to corked wines). Still, it’s definitely solid enough that we’ll go back for more.
I also picked up a 2008 Concordia Rioja Reserva to try and a 2016 Ram’s Gate Sonoma Coast chardonnay for $7, plus a couple bottles of the balsamico.
I have seen a lot of Szabo wines at GO lately. I have not bought any of them and have never heard of this winery. Anyone have any thoughts other than the one review above?
I’ve tried the Vizir and Vsz. Both of them show better on day 2 than the first night which is a bonus if you have wine leftover. The Vizir is their flagship according to their website. Both wines are ambiguous about which Rhone varietals they’re composed of but judging by their taste the I’d say that the Vizir has a more Syrah in the blend and the Vsz more Petite Sirah and Grenache. The Vizir is a tad sweet and unfocused on day 1 but comes together nicely on day 2. The Vsz is a softer wine. Not sure if it was chaptalized. Lots of sweetness and vanilla oak. The sweetness subsides significantly on day 2 but it remains approachable. For those who like a simple, very ripe, easy drinker. I have a few bottles of the Syrah but haven’t opened one yet. I am hopeful it will be the best in show. Big and bold 14.7 abv.
Any input on the Rams Gate Chard? And store location? Thx
These wines are new to GO which means they have been driven around a lot, recently, so it is hard to judge them now. Day two is probably more accurate. It disturbs me the website does not tell what is in the wines.
Zoel, my local store is San Luis Obispo.
We opened the Ram’s Gate last night, and it struck me as a well-rounded, pretty high-quality chardonnay in the California mold, right down the middle. Full-bodied and fairly rich, a hint of butter but not too much, a whiff of reduction but not too much, enough acid to get by, pretty decent complexity. Well worth it for fans of the style. Heck, bigger chardonnays aren’t generally my thing, and at $7, I still might go pick up some more.
Thx Bretrooks – the Rams Gate sounds like a winner, haven’t seen it yet in any NBay stores. Their new head winemaker cane from Donelan and is quite talented, so not surprised at the quality of the vino.
That’s good~~funny enough, ours doesn’t even like wine.
Never can ask for any advice other than “What’s selling well?”
Nice guy though.
Oops.
Apologies, you were talking about a wineMAKER.
Do you recall if you saw a 2014 RSA red blend called “Roxton”? I’m looking for a few more after cleaning out Escondido’s inventory earlier this week.
Yes to the question re: the S. African producer. I saw the Chenin. Did not see the red wine but wasn’t looking hard.
Headstrap, certified KN95s only for me!
Bellingham Chenin
+1 For the Roxton here – bought from San Jose (Winchester) GO.
The Lane “Lois” Blanc de Blancs Petaluma. Don’t know what I paid for it today. Clean blanc de blancs, nicely made except I find it a bit sweet.
Is this available anywhere else or is this a Petaluma special.
Don’t know. Other stores have had the same winery’s Shiraz, I believe it is reviewed elsewhere on this blog. Petaluma still has the Chalone Pinot and Chardonnay, and, of course, he has some things no one ever had.
The Lois actually tasted better the next day. Still had some bubbles, but the wine showed more complexity and fruit on day 2.
My wife and I tried two bottles of the Lois, but she had a negative reaction twice, a histamine reaction she surmises. Her reaction to some wines have always been reds.
The Lois is $4.
Seen at the Lake City GO in Seattle: Montauk Summer Rose, 6.99, Syrah, Malbec, and Merlot from the North Fork of Long Island. Being on the Left Coast, I am dimly aware that there are wines made in New York state, but I am innocent of personal knowledge of them. Given the (by GO standards) exorbitant price, and my sufficient stash of roses already, I passed it by. But somebody might be interested for educational purposes if nothing else. (Sorry I forgot to note the vintage…)
Richmond has a number of new red wines and I recommend both of the wines I bought Friday night.
Delightful and Strange Red Mountain Cabernet 2017. This is a Red Mountain Washington Cab cellared and bottled in Napa, $5.99, $14 retail. Easy to drink Cab, varietally correct, reasonably balanced, 13.2% Alcohol.
Marques de la Concordia Rioja Reserva 2008, $4.99. This is a nice mature Rioja that is ready to drink but shows no sign of decline. Both of these wines were great with the hamburger I had for dinner last night and will be great with grilled or roasted meats. They will both hold at least a year and the Cab longer.
There are a number of other M de la Concordia wines at Richmond, all costing more.
They are close to selling off all of the Wind Gap pinot.
Day 2 the Rioja was delightful, the Cabernet pleasant.
Meyer Family Cellars Syrah 2011, Richmond, CA, $4.99. This is made by a real winery and the price is right so I tried it out. I popped and poured and it took more than an hour for it to taste like a cooler climate syrah. I have one glass left and will report tomorrow but my guess is that it will show well.
Any update on this one? I saw it at our local GO yesterday but didn’t pull the trigger
I did pick up a couple bottles of the 2017 Kettmeir Müller-Thurgau and a four-pack of Wychwood Brewery’s Hobgoblin Ruby (which I recall having tried and liked many years ago but don’t remember much about otherwise).
It held up, I do not recall any evolution.
I saw a couple of Rock Wall Zinfandel wines at a local GO. I believe both if them were 2017 vintages Has anyone tried one of these yet? I also found a 2014 Eric Ross Old Vine Zinfandel and purchased a couple of bottles, but haven’t opened one of them yet.
The Eric Ross Zin – kinda a “meh”, not up to the competition (Woodenhead or Rock Wall or bunch of other good Zins on the shelf). Pass…
The Rick Walls have some mixed reviews , we like them. Well made and decently balanced, yet clearly fruit forward. 90 pt or so, rebuy
Thanks for the reply…sorry to hear that you didn’t think much of the Eric Ross Zinfandel.
Did you like one of the Rock Wall Zinfandels over the other? One was from Contra Costa and the other from Alexander Valley.
Thanks again.
The only feedback I’ve gotten on the Eric Ross Zin is that because it’s mature old vines, it’s rich and smooth, not brambly and spicy, “almost more like a Merlot.” Whether that’s a plus or not is up to you, and you indeed may disagree with that assessment. 🙂
Just bought a few bottles of the Echo Echo 2017 Benchland Sauvignon Blanc, which is a steal at $4.99. Winemaker is Jeff Bundschu, and it’s really tasty — just the right body, crisp without being at NZ SB levels of tartness. And it comes with a playlist on Spotify to listen to as you drink it!
I’d seen this but not tried it. I did pick up one bottle of the 2016 Echo Echo Coastal Red ($4.99), and we opened that yesterday. There was nothing wrong with it, per se, but I found it to be a fairly generic ripe red, not something I’m personally likely to buy again.
A couple recommendations:
Domaine de la Grand Garrigue 2018 Coteaux de la Cabrerisse, $8, is delicious, unless you like a tightly structured wine. It’s from Aude Department, in the more southwestern part of Languedoc, France, made from Carignan, Merlot, and Marselan (a hybrid of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache). With that blend, although I am not familiar with Marselan, I half expected to dislike it. However, decanted two hours, it shows soft, smooth, complex, ripe fruits of tangy black cherry, cassis, plum, black raspberry, ripe red currant, slight floral character. From the saved bottle, the next day promises to be more full and rich.
The Lane 2013 “Block 5” Vineyard Shiraz, Adelaide Hills, Australia, is quite good for $5, with funky, earthy redder fruits with darker notes. Strikes me as more similar to a CA Syrah than your typical dark purple Australian Shiraz.
Opened my other bottle of the Domaine de la Grand Garrigue just now. In contrast to the previous bottle, this one really does not need air. From the thick and drying tannins in the finish, I can see it will develop nicely over the next 2 – 3 hours, but it’s pretty fruity and tasty from the get go. No reason to wait to drink this.
A couple recommendations:
The Mirabeau “Pure” 2017 Cote de Provence rosé is very good for $4: light, elegant fruit, crisp, with balancing slight bitterness and minerality.
4 Cellars 2015 red blend, $10. Elegant, complex, well-structured, medium-bodied, Bordeaux-style blend. Still a little young. First day, decant 3 – 3.5 hours. Or come back second day.
Agreed on the Mirabeau. Nice wine.
I’ve seen three rosés from Mirabeau now: the basic bottling, the price of which just increased from $4 to $5, the “Pure” (the only one I’ve tried), and the “Etoile” also $5.
With the warm weather, I have been enjoying a number of roses. I have had three of Mirabeau: the entry level, The Pure, and the Etoile Mirabeau Rose. The Etoile was the best of the three to my tastes. Plenty of good roses at GO to choose from at great value. I did pick up a True Story Willamete Valley pinot noir volume II. at $15.99 which stretches my limits. Anyone else tried and care to comment?
If your local GO has any of the 1.5L of the Miraval Rose, go for it. A great buy at $9.99
Only feedback I have so far is that it’s still a bit young and could use a couple more years of age.
So, I finally tried a bottle of the True Story 2014 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, from Hamacher. Over three days, I thought it was excellent on the very elegant, subtle, complex side, and still a little young. I thought it was very good now, but still has some of that rough acid that to me says it’s too young. I would guess that will be gone by next summer, and that the wine will be good for years after that. I’ll probably get a couple during the sale.
I opened my other bottle of the True Story 2014 Pinot Noir, and IMO it’s just entering drinkability. Fruit is darker and richer now, but needs at least a couple hours decanted, and will probably be even better next year, if anyone still has any.
First off a quick introduction as this my first post. My name is Alex and I live in Paso Robles. I’ve enjoyed this forum for many years and thought that it was time to contribute.
I tried the 4 Cellars 2015 Red Blend last night ($9.99 at the Paso Robles GO). I agree with BargainWhine that it is a complex and well structured Bordeaux blend. I do find it to be more of a full-bodied wine. The regular winery price for the wine is $49.99. I wouldn’t pay that for the wine, but at 80% off it is a great deal. I went back this morning and bought a case. It is definitely one of the better $10 wines that I have found at GO in a while.
I did a little more research and found that it is a celebrity wine from the country group Little Big Town. I’m not the biggest fan of celebrity wines, but this one is produced by Browne Family Vineyards in the Walla Walla district of Washington, who have made some really good wines.
https://brownefamilyvineyards.com/collaborations/four-cellars/
Welcome Alex – always great to see a “lurker” turn into a contributor, pls keep ‘em comin’
You still have that red wine from the Dolomites in stock?
There were very few bottles left last time I recall (a few days ago?), ~3, I think. However, it does not sell quickly, so there may indeed be a bottle or two the next time you stop in.
2017 East & West CA Red Blend by Norwegian Cruise Line (Private label made by Michael Mondavi Family). $5 in Kennewick WA. I guess this is a COVID casualty, no cruises. NCL used to charge $10/glass ($36/bottle), then in 2019 raised to $17 and $49. I’d say this is a $12 or so wine (manufactured). One cruise review said they did a taste comparison with Robert Mondavi Private Selection and they were very similar (not the same winery).
I was on the NCL cruise when and where Michael hosted several wine events. As I recall he is HQ’d in the Atlas Peak area of Napa. Very nice guy. I don’t remember that his wines were memorable but they weren’t bad either.
The East and West Red Blend was OK, the East and West Sauvignon Blanc is possibly better. Same $5 price in Oregon GOs.
I picked up a bottle of East and West Red Blend yesterday in North San Diego County at $3.99….definitely overpaid on that one. Tasted like a flabby merlot and didn’t even measure up to 2 buck chuck. Hard pass for me.
The Villa Bianchi 2016 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC from Umani Ronchi ($4) has been around for a while, but I have finally tasted it only recently. It has textured yellow pear / melon fruit, lightly honeyed / beeswaxy, with lemon / yellow grapefruit acid. Opened bottle holds up well in the fridge.
Just had this tonight! Agreed with your assessment. Good, steely, simply white. Will buy more for cooking.
The Consejo de la Alta 2014 “Cata de Consejero” Tempranillo, from Rioja, Spain, 13.5% ABV is pretty good for $9. On the first night, I liked it best decanted about 3.5 – 4 hours, when it showed darker flavors of plum, cherry, with acid of tart red cherry and hibiscus tea, hints of blueberry, cinnamon, orange, licorice, finishing with wood. Even so, it’s still a bit tight and tart for me on the first night. I’ll probably prefer the saved bottle another night.
Funny you post this. I JUST bought and drank this this weekend based on my location’s wine guy’s recommendation since we have similar tastes. I thought it needed a lot of decanting and it was tight and very tart. It’s fine and won’t rebuy. Didn’t survive to see day 2.
Hi GOWL! I opened the saved 250ml screwcap bottle of this wine tonight, and was disappointed. While it started with the same nice complexity (and maybe excess acid) as on the first night, as it aired in the glass over 1.5 – 2 hours, those complexities went to the background and it became clumsy, purple grapey, slightly raisiny, stemmy in some way I disliked, not the elegant and delineated wine I had anticipated. It might be better on the first night with a bit of decanting and with food.
I think the Consejo de la Alta Reserva Rioja is only a buck more and worth it in that it continues to benefit with air.
The Consejo de la Alta 2014 ticked all the boxes for me. I enjoy older rioja and bordeaux wines and this one even had a tinge of mustyness to it. Still a couple of bottles left in San Marcos (north San Diego County) but none in Oceanside or Escondido.
The Boschendal 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, from Stellenbosch, South Africa, is very good for $4. It benefits from some air, but then is nicely dark, ripe, smooth with complexities of coffee, cassis / almost blueberry, black earth.
There are a number of new South African wines, all for pretty low prices: The Bellingham 2016 “Bernard Series” “Bush Vine Pinotage,” $7, the Bellingham (forget year) “Bernard Series” Chenin Blanc $4, Bellingham “Citrus Grove” (looks like a lesser bottling) Chenin Blanc $4, and a Bellingham 2015 “Pinopasso” $5, a straw wine (appassimento) made from Pinotage. I have also tasted the latter, and found it with tangy purple fruits, on the sweeter side for a dry wine, somewhat candy-like with little complexity and not much to identify it as Pinotage. (TBH, it’s been a while since I’ve tasted a Pinotage, but still…)
I bought a bottle of that cab yesterday. Best cheap cab I’ve gotten at the GO in a long time. Like most Stellenbosch red wines it is not big on fruit. Its black fruit flavors are balanced with acid, fine tannin, minerality and umami.
The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2016 is a lovely wine. Rich, balanced, complex. It will probably improve for years. Now, where to put it?
Oh, here is the Cellartracker link for the Chenin. https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=2594093
The Cab was recently sold at wine.com for $36. One Cellartracker note. https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3230529
On the second day the Cabernet showed a beautiful perfume on the nose and the Stellenbosch foavor profile. I will buy a few of these,
I finally opened the Bellingham 2016 “Bernard Series” Old Vine Chenin Blanc ($4). It is very nice, with full-flavored ripe fruit of yellow apple, pineapple, golden kiwi, and a slightly musty minerally finish. However, to me, it has a slight caramelized character, so I disagree with Seedboy about how much life it has left in it, I guess unless you like that sort of thing. Even so, IMO it’s great for fall or even winter drinking, e.g., could pair with butternut squash.
I picked up two bottles of the Boschendal cab yesterday – it’s quite nice, especially for the price, and I’ll definitely pick up some more. I think my recent favorite cab find remains the 2017 Bellacana, though. Unfortunately, they didn’t pick up the Boschendal chenin blancs at our store…I asked about them.
The other bottles I picked up yesterday were new to our store – 2016 Chalone Chardonnay Heritage Vines for $6.99. Will have to crack one soon to check it out.
I also saw the same Knob Creek/Larceny/High West/Elijah Craig bottles at our GO, but the prices seemed competitive moreso than compelling, and we’ve been having very little whiskey lately, so I let them be.
Two days open the Cab actually shows a little more fruit, but what impresses me is the perfumed nose. I bought four bottles more.
Re: Chalone 2016 Heritage Vines Chardonnay, please see this comment and those following, from when it appeared in early / mid June.
I remember reading those comments when they were first posted. I’m curious to see how ours show. The couple of Gavilans we purchased were indeed variable, so I’m coming into this one with that in mind.
I opened my saved quarter-bottle screwcap bottle of the Pinopasso tonight and was quite pleasantly surprised. Whereas the first portion of this bottle was simple, candy-ish, tangy purple fruits, the saved bottle was more complex, less sweet-tasting, and indeed tasted a lot more like Pinotage. It was still more heavy and purple-grapey than your usual Pinotage, but it had more of the tangy red, rusty earth, rough bacon, blueberry flavors that I think of as Pinotage. For me, it has gone from an “avoid” to a “yummy but drink over more than one day” kind of wine.
I saw that whiskey and figured just based on MSRP that it’s be good. I won’t steer anyone toward the $16.99 Contigo Blanco Plata tequila – very off-putting front end of the palate. Best part is the finish and that’s not saying much.
Thanks for your review of the Contigo. I had been wondering since packaging looked nice.
I’m liking the Contigo more and more. I think my expectations were out of line hoping for a true $38-40 value and it is not that. The most delicious blanco I’ve ever had is Casamigos. Both the El Consuelo and Contigo are competitive at their price points. They are hot and typical of blancos – delivering most of their flavor and hit up front with a fairly lengthy, if hot finish. I’ll change my recommendation to Recommended but not overly so, and I don’t have a lot of recent $15-20 bottle comparisons to be able to make. I have a feeling it is basically sold at GO at what it’s worth.
I drank a bottle of El Consuelo Reposado a couple years ago now? At first, I did not like it at all. It seemed to lack flavor and was quite rough, so I left it alone for months. In time, it smoothed out to the point where it was pretty yummy. I haven’t had much tequila, and don’t think I’ve ever tasted a blanco (except possibly as part of a margarita in a restaurant), so I wouldn’t mind doing so some time.
Loving the Concullin gin. Amazing value at $11.99 and heavy on botanicals and juniper – interesting combo.
I love that gin and have 3 bottles stowed away. The Irish Whiskey [ed. note: Kinahan’s, $15] that has recently appeared is tasty too.
We tasted the Kinahan’s, and we both liked it, although I enjoyed it more than my wife did. She prefers milder whisky/whiskey, and it had a little too much punch for her.
It’s the other way around on the Concullin gin – she likes it in G&Ts, and we’ve picked up a couple of bottles based on that, but I find it just okay. There’s something I can’t quite put my finger on that keeps me from enjoying it as much as some of the other baseline gins we keep around (e.g. Tanqueray). I’m not sure what that means about my palate preferences…I’ll have to think about it more carefully the next time around. Glad you are digging it, though.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just the slightly odd botanical mix on the gin.
So, for everyone out there, is gin anything anyone ever drinks neat? I don’t mix drinks (with the exception of occasionally blending wines), and I like flavor, so I never saw the point of vodka, but is gin something that ever stands on its own?
Some people call chilled gin a martini. I prefer that one include vermouth.
BW, I totally concur about vodka and why people just wanted ethanol, essentially. I don’t drink mixed drinks and drink distillates neat, too I have a friend who likes gin over ice. My postprandial distillates of choice are Cognac and single malt Scotch. I do add wee bit of water to cask strength Scotch. I do like a very good Calvados on occasion.
For me, no, but in the UK, artisanal gin has been having a moment for the past several years. Given the variations in the botanicals that are infused in it, the flavors (flavours?) are considerably different one to the next. The pub nearest my late mother-in-law’s flat–which we still consider our ‘local’ when we’re in the area–boasts that they carry 65 gins. I would imagine you’d get the same look from the publican in ordering one of the fancy ones for a G and T as you might asking for a premier cru bordeaux wine spritzer…
🙂 Thanks! Maybe the Conncullin would qualify, then, although I am rapidly getting a collection of spirits larger than I can or at least should drink in the near future.
Well, they will keep.
That’s true. They seem to improve over time, too, contra opened wines.
Seen at the Kenmore GO: Decibel NZ SB, 2019, Hawke’s Bay. 5.99. I didn’t buy any because I’d just stocked up on the delicious Mudhouse, but it looks interesting, and obviously is much younger than the usual New Zealand wines that turn up at GO.
I actually saw a 2020 wine from the southern hemisphere at GO. This and the Sunce 2019s show me that current economic conditions are really good for wine buyers.
I agree, seeing my email wine ads that have more discounting than I remember.There is also the specter of additional tariffs on wine from France. In addition, I wonder if there is going to be a GO Fall sale if wine is backing up.
Economic conditions in the wine world? Egads, it is awful and getting worse for many. While off-premise (grocery/retail stores) has been booming (+30% or more yoy), on-premise (restaurants) has been dead…and DTC for many wineries is near-dead. These last two channels often account for the (vast) majority of winery profits…we will see many many forced sales, closures, and bankruptcies in the next 12 months. Yes, this means lots of bargain vino – LOTS – make room in your cellar. But it also means lots of shuttered doors and lost dreams. The can was “kicked down the road” by early economic stimulus, but those lifelines are running dry.
All of the above are facts…don’t let political smoke cloud your vision.
The wine business has always been a lot like the restaurant business–thus, the gallows humor joke, :What’s the best way to make a small fortune in the wine biz? Start with a large fortune.” And just like many talented cooks think, “Hey, let’s open a restaurant!”, there are too many folks who think, “I could make wine as good as this thirty dollar bottle!” Truth is, even if they are right, so many things can go wrong that are beyond your control. I remember years ago there was a winery whose stuff was selling for a song at GO…you could log onto their blog and follow the story of their winery from the beginning–from hopes and dreams, to the thrill of the first crush, to being double-crossed when grapes they were promised were sold to a larger winery, to problems with production lines, to the dawning realization that things were going downhill and there wasn’t much of a way to stop the slide, to…silence. The blog ended, and the wine ended up at GO.
This story is going to play out for a lot of wineries, small and not-so-small. Yes, make room in the cellar for the bargains, but, as Zoel suggests, let’s spare a thought, too, for those whose dreams ended in a mishandled pandemic that steamrollered over them.
What it seems like is classic depression economics: There will be more and more bargains, but even so, fewer and fewer will be able to afford them, letting the rich buy up whatever they want. And as you can tell I don’t mean just bottles of wine.
Bought a bottle of the Mahana PN (I thought it was a single vineyard, tbh) and opened tonight with dinner. Flawed wine with some decent fruit – but has a predominance of VA, just not drinkable. Poured down the drain, which I rarely do. Blech!
Apparently there is a bit of bottle variation in this wine. Of the two bottles I’ve opened, the first seemed at first possibly too old but opened to a full, soft mature wine. The second was tight the first night but quite well balanced and tasty the second.
The Castillo de Tornos 2012 Gran Reserva, Cariñena DO, Spain, from Ignacio Marin, is pretty good for $7 IIRC. It’s in a style more modern than traditional, i.e., riper and fruitier, but still with good structure and complexity as well. It’s composition is 60% Tempranillo, Garnacha (Grenache) 30%, Cariñena (Carignane) 10%. The last two are softer, darker grapes, and this wine reflects that. Still, while good now after 2 – 3 hours’ decant, it has at least a couple years’ improvement ahead of it.
Bought Bell’s End 2018 Chardonay from Russian River Valley and Bellacana Cabarnet from Alexander Valley for about $8 each from Milpitas Grocery Outlet, both of these are a bargain where other similar quality wines at Costco/etc would be 25-30, very happy to get great Sonoma wine for an excellent price
Hi Brian and welcome. I’ve seen the 2016 and 2017 vintages of the Bellacana Cabernet around. Do you recall which you had? Thanks.
Re: Bellacana – I tasted ‘16 vs ‘17 cabs…very different, both quite competent. ‘17 is fresher, a tad leaner, needed time to open. ‘16 – which is tougher to find – is richer and more complex…we prefer the ‘16, which is a raging buy in my book. I’d rate the ‘17 a 91, and the ‘16 a 93….and some palates will definitely prefer the ‘17 .
The Bells Chard – decent, but meh…86 or so
I’ve opened two of the 2017 Bellacana in recent weeks, and these haven’t been as stern as the others I opened weeks ago. I really like this wine at the price (I prefer wines on the structured side), and I picked up a couple more this weekend. Haven’t seen any of the 2016 locally.
I also picked up a couple more of the Ethic apple ciders (which are top notch) and a bottle of Kinahan’s Small Batch Irish Whiskey to try.
Let us know about that Irish Whiskey. K&L currently has that on sale for $35.
I’m not that familiar with Irish whiskey, and had the general impression that it was rather bland compared to Scotch. However, I quite like the Kinahan’s for $15: lightly honeyed, orange, woody, pretty smooth, not sweet.
I went to Petaluma today. It has an end cap full of the 2016 Bellacana. Only time recently I have seen it. Benny also has the Wind Gap and Chalone Pinots and the Gavilan Chardonnay. He also seems to have bought some stock from a liquor store. Pricing not great except Rittenhouse Bottled in Bond 100 proof rye for $19.99. He also has the Rebel Yell rye that has disappeared elsewhere for $13 I think. Spring for the Rittenhouse, you want that extra ten proof to stand up to the vermouth in a Manhattan.
Is this becoming Grossouthardliquor?
I enjoy Manhattans a lot, although I don’t drink them all that often. Rittenhouse is my go-to for those, and $19.99 is the lowest price I’ve seen by a couple of bucks.
Apparently. We got in some bourbons that look good: Knob Creek 100proof $33 I think, Larceny 92proof $23?, Elijah Craig 94proof $25?. Also High West Double Rye $30. I bought the Elijah Craig and will report when the weather is cooler.
Interesting. Maybe corporate bought that stuff Benny got at Petaluma. That High West is a good price.
Customer said the High West Double Rye is usually about $40.
It was 2017, agree with the analysis from Zoel, drinking another bottle tonight and still great, Bells chard a good everyday chardonnay for a great price.
I thought the Mahana is a good wine but agree with BW that it is on the downhill slide. The Lea and Wind Gap are better bets except for maybe right now.
Just tried a 2017 RD Napa Valley from RWC GO for $17. Spoke to a customer who enthusiastically liked it enough to buy cases of it. The price was lowered from $20 to the $17. The bottle was opened for lunch and the bottling was not like the previous RD releases from awhile back, there was a plastic cork. Put my nose in the glass and there was a substantial whiff of VA and I am afraid other bottles might be the same.
Has anybody tried Gabriel Ashley wines, 2018 Alexander Valley CS,$8 or a 2017 Napa CS for $10? The above customer spoke highly of the Napa , but I am quite leery of that recommendation. Also there was a 2018 Post House Road CS Alex. Valley for $8. There was a large amount of the Latitude 38 PN, $7 at the store and hoping there will be a Fall sale to pick up more.
The RD wines are a strong no-go for me…had several bottles of previous vino at GO from them – Cab Reserve and Syrah – lots of VA plus several bottles were major Fups – tasted like watered down wine. Returned the rest to GO (when we could). Bad karma, all!
The GabAshley wines have been universally “meh” to me…nothing wrong, nothing great.
Post Road House – great buy and consistently solid. Will age for 2-5 yrs as well. Back up the truck…
Zoel
Zoel, thanks for the tasting notes and a new word for me, Fups. Will give the Post House Road a go. I have always liked Alex. Valley CS since Jordan.
Bought a bottle of 2018 La Domitienne Pique Poul (100% Picpoul De Pinet) from Languedoc in the Silverdale GO today. I’ve grown rather fond of the variety in the last five years, as it goes great with shellfish (especially oysters) and this is the second time over the years that I’ve found a tasty one in GO. It’s selling here for $5.99. This one is brilliant pale golden with what seems to be a bit of sulfur upon opening that quickly blows off. Then it’s crisp and clean, bone dry, yet fairly fruity with plenty of lemon and pear flavors and pleasant mouth feel and structure. An excellent example of the variety. I’m thinking I’ll buy a case.
On another note: A short time ago I mentioned the 2018 Mud House NZ Sauvignon Blanc for $5.99. I was inclined to research how it managed to arrive at GO, so I emailed the winery. They reported back that their importer had decided to get out of the business, so they were in the process of moving to another importer. I’m inclined to believe that the old importer wanted to clear everything out of their warehouse…for cheap. The folks at the winery also gave me the name and contacts for the new importer (in Napa), so I emailed him as well. He also responded and told me that they would soon be importing Mud House wines. I had mentioned that I bought the Sauv Blanc at GO in WA for $5.99. He was a tad astounded at the price I paid and said I got an outstanding deal. The price in most retail stores will likely be around $16.49, which is what I found it selling for online at Total Wine in CA, which is the only state that still had stock. The current vintage is 2019. The 2018 is delicious! I bought two and a half cases and my wine group friends bought a bunch as well. Silverdale GO still has a fair amount if you’re in the Kitsap County area and inclined to try it.
That Mudhouse is a solid wine. One significant source of higher end wine for the GO is a change in importer/distributor, the former one tends to blow out the remaining inventory. GO also seems to get wines periodically from Foley and Boisset (sure would like to see more of Boisset’s Burgundies!)
Tonight I opened the Mahana 2014 Pinot Noir from Nelson, New Zealand ($6). I thought it was slightly past its prime, but still very tasty for the price. At least on this day of its arrival at the store, it was tasty pretty quickly after opening, but needed a couple more hours to fully air. So, if you need a drink-now Pinot, I recommend it.
Just tried this one. Good on the nose and attack, clearly a Pinot or at least lightly extracted Grenache, but drops off a cliff on the finish. Fair for the price, though not a great deal.
I drank another bottle of this over two days, and I was significantly more impressed with the second bottle. The first part of the bottle took a few hours to air, and even then, it was not fully forward. The saved screwcap bottle was better, but did not really get enough air to fully open before I finished it. This second bottle could have lasted a bit longer and improved. So, some bottle variation apparently.
Or maybe it just had a bit of a chance to calm down after all of the trucking. I liked this wine, but not as much as the Wind Gap.
Assuming you drank the Wind Gap over more than one day, what did you think of it on the second day? My saved bottle of this wine contained flavors I did not detect at all in the first portion.
OK so here is an imperfect description of an imperfect but still satisfying experience. Wed night I opened a bottle and then forgot about it. Thursday morning I corked the still-full bottle and put it in the fridge. When I got home from work at 11 pm (yes, it was that type of day) I pulled it out and over the next hour I had three glasses of it (yes, it was that type of day). It was too cool to make great judgments about but my general perception was that it was a much more complex wine than it would have been had I popped and poured it. Some tannin was present that I don’t remember from drinking a freshly-opened bottle. The fruit is far from simple. I think I have half a case put away and will probably buy a bottle every time I’m in the store until it is gone.