We tasted 4 wines from France, Argentina, Chile, and Virginia. Wine A (Reserve des Vignerons Saumur Champigny Cabernet Franc — 2022 at $17.99), Wine B (Arraigo Benegas Cabernet Franc — 2022 at $19.99), Wine C (Carmen Grand Reserva — 2023 at $19.99), & Wine D (Barns of Hamilton Cabernet Franc - 2023 at $34.00) with the Barns of Hamilton Cabernet Franc coming out on top because of its floral bouquet of rose and mixed berries aromas and its elegant, smooth, long-lasting tasting notes with refined tannins and balanced peppery finish.

We tasted 4 Pinot Noir wines from Trader Joe’s, Wine A (Compass Bridge – Sonoma County, CA at $9.99), Wine B (Petiole – Willamette Valley, OR at $9.99), Wine C (Mei Oh My – California at $19.99), and Wine D (Trader Joe’s Private Label Lot 241 – Santa Barbara County, CA at $4.99), with Wine B, the Petiole Pinot Noir, coming out on top because of its balanced blackberry and plum aromas and smooth, elegant texture with a soft, pepper-tinged finish that perfectly captured the classic Oregon Pinot Noir style. 🍷✨

Our son and his wife loved the Trader Joe’s private label wine and it was their favorite of the night.

We tasted 4 Rosé wines from Walmart — Wine A (Josh Cellars Rosé at $12.98), Wine B (Apothic Rosé at $9.48), Wine C (Kim Crawford Rosé at $14.87), and Wine D (Yes Way Rosé at $13.87) — each enjoyed on a sunny November afternoon aboard the boat on Virginia’s Northern Neck ☀️

🛥️ Yes Way Rosé came out on top 🏆 with its bright strawberry, citrus, white peach, and green apple aromas 🍓🍑🍏 and crisp, dry, perfectly balanced flavor that captured the essence of a southern French summer. Its refreshing acidity and lively fruit made it the clear favorite for an “All-Day Rosé” to sip and share.

Our latest blind tasting focused on West Coast Syrahs from Washington and California, all priced between $10 and $20 and sourced from Wegmans. 🍇 Each wine showed the varietal’s signature depth and spice, ranging from dark, fruit-forward expressions to softer, earthier profiles. Washington State dominated the evening, producing the top three wines and confirming its strength for balanced, flavorful Syrah. 🌄 The Bernard Griffin Syrah (2022, Columbia Valley) emerged as the clear winner 🏆, admired for its floral aroma, smooth texture, and perfectly balanced finish.

We blind-tasted four German Rieslings from Wegmans, all in the $10–$12 range. 🍇 The lineup showed a split between drier styles and sweeter expressions with the 2023 Emma Reichardt Dry Riesling from Nahe standing out for its crisp acidity and Sauvignon Blanc–like freshness, earning the highest combined score.

Our favorite among the sweeter styles was the Relax Riesling (Mosel, 2023). 🍑🍈 With notes of peach, melon, and kiwi, it impressed them with its refreshing sweetness and long, lingering finish. 🏆 We both agreed it would be an excellent choice served well-chilled on a hot summer day. ☀️

• Winner (highest score overall):

  • Francis Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon (2022, California) – $15.48 – 65 points

• Second place:

  • Winemaker’s Selection (Walmart Brand) Cellar Reserve, Sonoma County 2020 – $15.00 – 59 points

• Third place:

  • Clos de Bois Cabernet Sauvignon (2022, California) – $10.64 – 55 points

• Fourth place:

  • Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon (2023, Mendoza, Argentina) – $10.98 – 51 points

📊 Best Price-to-Score Ratio:
The Clos de Bois (Wine #7) at $10.64 with 55 points stands out as the best value – it cost less than any of the top four but still landed in third place overall, beating several more expensive wines.

👉 In other words, Clos de Bois gave the “most points per dollar” of the lineup.

In this blind tasting of four Côtes du Rhône red blends from Harris Teeter, we crowned the Boisset Family Estate Bonpas Réserve as the winner for its rich fruit-forward profile, spicy pepper notes, and long, balanced finish. All wines were considered drinkable, but Wine A stood out with the highest combined score of 30, making it the only one both would confidently serve at home or at a neighborhood party.

We found a few nice Chardonnay wine’s from Whole Foods with one wine at the $3.99 price range to compare. These were all from California and the ‘Butter’ wine at $17.99 was the clear winner, however if you like a little sweetness in your wine, the $3.99 Three Wishes Chardonnay came in as tie for second and a real bargain.

California Cabernet from Calironia were tasted and compared this afternoon all from Walmar. Bieler Family, Pyramid Scheme, Josh and Cole.

The Cole cellars cabernet was the winner with possibly smaller production and better grape varietals.

California Sauvignon Blancs were tasted and compared this afternoon all from Whole Foods. Justin, La Crema, Rombauer and Cannonball.

The Rombauer at $22.99 was slightly higher than the $10-$20 price range and came out as the winner however we wanted to see if it reflected the higher price and it did!

Pinot Noirs were tasted by 5 tasters from Oregon and the Willamette Valley. Pino Noir is a thin-skinned grape known for its light to medium body, red fruit flavors (like cherry, raspberry, and strawberry), with delicate floral notes 🌸

The wines were evenly scored as a group however everyone had strong opinions on particular wines with the totals balancing out the opinions with the winner being the Rascal Pinot Noir from 2022.

Costco Malbec wines all from Mendoza, Aregentina with the Mendoza Vineyards Gran Reserva, 2021 taking first place and the Clos de los Siete, 2021 Red Blend with 59% Malbec coming in second.

Food Lion California & Washington Cabernet Sauvignons, Josh, 14 Hands, Novinophobia and 19 Crimes Cali Red with the 19 Crimes Cali Red winning the tasting

Pinto Noir from California with big brand names and Scott solo tasted with the Apothic 2022 coming out on top.

Pinto Noir from California with big brand names and Scott solo tasted with the Apothic 2022 coming out on top.

We tasted 4 Sauvignon Blancs from the Marlborough wine region of New Zealand. We had a tie! Both the 2023 Stoneleigh ($16.99) and 2022 13 Celsius ($12.99). One winner has grapes harvested, vinted and bottled in New Zealand and the other wine bottled the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc juice in Livermore, CA.

Cory and Michaela were young guest tasters of the same 4 Sauvignon Blancs from the Marlborough wine region of New Zealand. The idea was to compare younger folks tastes versus our tastes.

The end result is Cory and Michaela also chose 13 Celsius as the winning wine with Stoneleigh as the second place where we had those two wines in a tie!