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The magical world of wines from Grocery Outlet 
More items seen recently
2018 Hardys ‘Eileen Hardy’ Shiraz [McLaren Vale] $12 This is their flagship bottling and gets a ton of oak, 14.5% abv It’s not seen much, but was brought over to the US in some of the era of Oz Ooze monsters in the 90’s. These run some $50 to $100 in their home market. This is sort of like selling BV Georges de Latour for $20 in a foreign market. I bought one.
2018 Grant Burge ‘The Holy Trinity’ [Barossa] $10 This is a GSM blend, I think these run $30 in their home market. Never seen before, at least by me. Both of the above wines have had all kinds of corporate machinations and are part of big enterprises, although sort of like Treasury/Constellation etc. may still have some prime vineyards and botlings.
2018 Laetitia Pinot Noir [Santa Barbara] $10 The back calls this the ‘Limite’ bottling and has lots of details on clones, altutude, vineyard philosphy, oak etc. Seems to have decent regard here, and I’ve not had anything from them in at least a half decade so I’ll give it a try. ABC’s Santa Barbara AVA pinot bottling is my benchmark and safety PN at this price point and availability, at least in my area.
2019 Omega Road Winery ‘Heroine’ [Livermore Valley] $8 100% petit sirah. Probably just as good as Bogles, at least for the money, but I’ve never liked the name ‘Livermore’. Nor the smell of liver.
NV Familie Steffen Riesling Spatlese [Germany] $6 The back states Rheinhessen, but bottled in Trittenheim, yet the front states Germany so who knows what it’s truly entitled to, or where exactly it’s from, but its 9% abv. Presumably quite off dry, a shrinking market no doubt, but really not many low priced German wines in any market so glad this was brought over. For my tastes I like the lower pradikats which tend to have more zip. Sometimes K&L has some good ones in the teen price categories, declassified stuff from Richter’s estate vineyards etc. I am the only one who will drink semi sweet Riesling, in our house.
2020 Benjamin Darnault ‘La Cote Doree Chardonnay’ [Vin de France] $6 This is a nakedwines selection, and has a sku tag appended later on, ie. not part of the back label. Somewhere from the south of France , 13.5% abv
2021 Rick Boyer Chardonnay Unoaked [Central Coast] $5 Another nakedwines offering as others mentioned previously this was supposed to be Edna Valley but for some reasons, not AVA tagged that way. I suppose Nakewines customers might have noticed/objected, but who knows. 14.5% abv. Bottled up in American Canyon, a major industrial era for the ‘Napa’ industry. PS: I have not seen it in a couple of years but Mount Eden makes a ‘Wolf’ bottling of Edna Valley chardonnay which gets the balance between fruit, wood, acid just right, and is worth trying.
2020 La Calla ‘Appassimento’ Rosso [Puglia] $10 14.5% abv I think the La Calla is a brand name and its actually bottled by Fossalta di Piave. (Think of something like Palazzo della Torre, from Allegrini) It’s a very strange label, but presumably something like a wine made by passing must through raisined grapes or something. I had a pretty good Zenato Ripassa Valpolicello a couple years ago made this way.
2017 Ol Towne Red [Livermore] $6 I think there has been comments on this already
2014 Finca Montote ‘Reserva’ [Rioja] $5 14.5% abv. I’ve not heard of this, but this is a very low price for a reserva level wines, even though 2014 was a cool and somewhat hard vintage in the region. The front label says estate bottled so this could be a real deal; I guess I’ll have to check my local Spanish Penin guide.
2017 Front Porch ‘grenache’ [RRV] $7 200 cases produced, no capsule, sku stickers added later, typically a good sign that it could be a real deal.
2015 Michaud ‘Syrah’ [Chalone] $12 It’s hard to sell American syrah, and I guess after 9 years, the winemaker decided to let GO have a crack at it.
2018 Sabotage Cabernet Sauvignon [Napa] $10 Sean Roney is the winemaker. Strangely unappealing name and label, presumably explaining its GO debut.
2019 Hardy’s ‘Tintara’ Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon [Mclaren Vale] $10 14% Fancy label, but ugly orange hue, and devoid of actual content/information.
2018 St Hallett ‘Higher Earth’ Syrah [Barossa] $10 Label advised that this is to be drunk up age 10. Feels premium and classy from a visual perspective. 14.5% abv of course. Appears to be cork finished, unusual for many of these OZ domestic bottlings relabeled for export.
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I picked up a couple bottles, kind of pointlessly, but huge props to the GO buyers for landing many of these. These appear to be real deals, on real wines, that have some kind of market dislocation going on. There is always some kind of Rioja deal to be found, and room for American direct importers to do something, and protect their margins since no one has to fight over the obscure, but good bottles that can be found. But Australia is a much wider hunting ground since between tariff troubles, and local consumption declines, there is an ocean of mid level, and even fine wine that can be exported. And if realistically, those $70 price points will never again be achieved, who cares if some of the better brands are sold for lower now? Maybe there is even the chance that it can find new real consumers that are not closeout shoppers, unlikely I know, but a chance. I had picked up local OZ book – 2020 James Halladay – that I quickly skimmed through and realized that a ton of the obscure names I’ve been seeing in GO are all well regarded in there, and in fact some bottlings from St Hallet, Eileen Hardy etc. are among the very best at least among local critics.
Of course so much depends on the local operator. The one closest to me runs a clown show for their wine dept.
That Rioja Riserva is a good wine, ready to drink, and would be an excellent wine to keep on hand for summer grilling season
And posts like this are the reason I keep reading this site. Much appreciated.
I saw the 2020 St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz [Barossa] $7 14.5% abv which is reputed to be low yielding wines and is supposed to develop over the next 15 years. grown/made/matured in Barossa and imported by Accolade wines. It has a premium vibe and label, and seems like it would be worth a shot. At this price point I’m usually drinking a country French red which is usually not going to age/develop for any length of time.
Tonight was a 2020 Kermit Lynch [Corbières] which is a red Rhone blend from the Languedoc – ten spot money or so – but it had a bit of acidic edge to it. I put half the bottle in a split and we’ll come back to it. I’ve had this wine before, but it’s a brand, and I don’t recall it being labelled with this village before, usually just wearing a Languedoc flag. (This was not from GO, I just mention since it sort of segues from the first comment, since this Kermit Lyncher was 55% syrah)
Correction that K-L wine was a Cabrieres, a different Languedoc AOC than Corberes. I had never seen/tried the former before.
Hi Aubergine. This is a mess of my own making. You did write that it was Cabrières, but after doing a quick look and not finding it, I changed it, assuming you must have meant Corbières. However, looking again more carefully (not saying much), I see there is Cabrières, a commune in Hérault department, western Mediterranean France. However, that article says “Cabrières wine is marketed under the AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. This is the smallest of the Languedoc Roussillon appellations.” and Cabrières is not in the list of AOCs. It appears to be a special Kermit Lynch bottling.
Looking at the bottle I think it’s actually [Languedoc Cabrieres] at least by 2020. I’ve read several books on the country French areas, and can freely admit to never having heard of that Rousillon village. I thought Herault is best known for Mas du Gassac but maybe I’m thinking of Guilhem.
For people who like this flavor profile, these are wines with lots of character and interest, that might even age. Well, as long as they don’t have carignan, which cracks up and gets leathery to my tastes.
Got at Richmond, CA yesterday
Eugenia Rosé of Cinsault 2022 $5. I tried their PN rosé a while ago, and even longer ago, an Ernest PN (Eugenia is a label of Ernest Vyds), both of which looked like well-pedigreed wines from a real vineyard, but I wasn’t thrilled with either. Have another Ernest PN down, will try it soon. On the Cinsault, I liked the nose better than the palate; berry fruit with big savory components, leathery, edging into animal. That character comes through on the palate but weakly, and it manages to be both a bit sweet and finish a tad thin, watery, and tart. A near-miss; I’m thinking young and/or overcropped grapes, potential in future vintages?
Rick Boyer Central Coast Chardonnay 2021 $5. Another one from Naked Wines; both the NW page and the GO shelf card say “Edna Valley”, but that’s not on the label – maybe why it’s at GO? Quite nice; no oak and a maybe just hint of malo (think cream rather than butter), fairly rich, really nice fruit, mostly crisp apple-citrus, similar to the Terres Secret but I like it better, more stuffing and some movement to riper stone fruit; it does have a tiny bitter tinge at the end, of the white-citrus rind type, which doesn’t bother me much and usually ages out. I’ll get a couple more at this price.
Serenita Bella Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2021 $4. Continuing my hunt for southern Italians, this one in a prettier bottle than either of the other two MdAs on the shelf now (Fratelli Cozza, OK–, and Filari, OK+, IIRC). PnP – kinda simple, closed nose, looks and tastes like plenty of extract but pretty one-dimensional, and slightly shrill tannins. Today, not much changed.
Mudhouse Pinot Noir Central Otago 2020 $7 – IIRC, their Sauv Blanc got good marks here a while ago, I missed that one. PnP, some good qualities in the nose and mouth, bright cherry-berry fruit, soft tannins, decent & ripe acidity, but a tad thin, and a bit simple and hot. Seems like it might benefit from time & air; today, it’s not very different, less hot maybe.
They had a couple of other new pinots there but I forgot to take pics or notes; several from Oregon with an “Oregon” designation. The Laetitia St Barbara is still there, which is a very nice wine for $10, but I still like the Longford (Scheid) Monterey better for $7. Go with Laetitia if you like a riper style. There was another Sonoma PN too…dang CRS.
Thanks for your notes. I think my comments on the Mud House 2020 Pinot Noir are consistent with yours.
Ramblas Reales 2021 white blend, Catalunya DO, Spain, 12% ABV, $4. The front label says, “Fresh. Fruity. Original.” and indeed, it is made in style more Californian than Spanish. It is medium weight, fairly soft and fruity, lower acid, perhaps even a little off-dry by Spanish standards, but the flavors mostly of yellow and green melon, slight lemon and minerality, are pretty Spanish. I think I would have preferred it more traditionally Spanish, i.e., less fruity and more acid, but it is quite tasty and is likely good with generally sweeter American foods. Images of previous vintages of this bottling online have been made from Airén and Sauvignon Blanc, but perhaps incorrectly I think of those as fairly non-fleshy grapes, so I wonder if this has some Grenache Blanc.
There is a Spanish Grenache Blanc at Richmond right now, name is maybe Luxus something? that I really like. Good flavors, sufficient acid, a nice mouthful of white wine.
In other news McConnell likes the Petaluma Cabernet that I’ve seen there lately. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161652176252904&set=a.406988657903
The Grenache Blanc is labeled Luxus. Last night it tasted great. Good body, nice fruit flavors including maybe cantelope, a touch of minerality. I think I will pick up a few more.
I think I’ve also seen a Luxus One rosé. Has anyone tried one?
Hum, the bottle I had seemed over the hill. But I’ve done second tries on wines I didn’t like that you recced … but I looked at the stack on the end at Richmond yesterday, and they looked on the dark side for a ’21 white grenache…
Columbia Crest Grand Estates 2022 Unoaked Chardonnay Columbia Valley $5 (At Safeway for $10 currently)
Vivino rating over all vintages was 3.6, so vacillated. Last bottle on shelf, FOMO, finally pulled the trigger. Wished I bought a bunch. Drink this well chilled.
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🕰2022
Screwcap closure
💯89/100 🌟3.9
👁Straw
👃👅Nose of stone fruit, white floral, palate pear, white peach, tropical note of guava, Granny Smith apple, zesty citrus finish, juicy acidity, med light body, silky mouth feel, delicious!
🍇%CH unspecified
🌄Columbia Valley AVA
🕰Stainless ferment,no oak
⛽13%ABV
🏅v2012 86 WE🏅
💵$10 MSRP/$5 GOBM
Spectacular value steel fermented crisp, clean, refreshing Chardonnay!
Drink up on day opened. Flavors faded on Day 2.
Day 2??? I must admit it sounded interesting to this ABC guy. But I now have 40 cases of wine stacked in our new house garage after our move. So reluctant to buy wine.
Lim, Day 2, this unoaked CH tastes like a SB/PG hybrid. I did have 2 glasses on day 1. My husband doesn’t drink, so it usually takes me 3 or 4 days to get through a bottle by myself, depending on how much I like the wine. I usually get bored with it before the bottle is finished. Lots of leftover wines in our fridge.