All posts by Phil

Review: Rijckaert Chardonnay – Blech!

By | Chardonnay, White | 3 Comments

We’ll keep this short and not so sweet.  Amy’s review “This wine stinks, literally!”  Hopefully, there was something wrong with the bottle.  There was definitely an unpleasant “cooked cabbage” odor happening.  At $15 from Costco it was definitely a disappointment.  As ever though, Costco rules.  We returned the half empty bottle for a full refund (which we promptly invested in the always delicious Edmeades zinfandel.  If you’ve tried the Rijckaert chardonnay and had a better result than us definitely drop a note in the comments and *maybe* we’ll give it another try.

Review: Sea Ridge Chardonnay – 100% Drinkable!

By | Chardonnay, White | 9 Comments

You’ve probably spotted this one on the bottom shelf at your local grocery store with a price somewhere under $4.  Four dollar wine?  I figured there was a decent chance I might go blind from drinking the cheap stuff but in the name of science (and cheapskatedness) I thought I’d give it a try.  Because of the inherent danger involved in drinking this stuff Read More

Review: Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut Champagne – Buy It!

By | Champagne/Sparkling, White, Winners, Winners and Losers | 3 Comments

gloriaferrerMmmm, my taste buds are watering just thinking about Gloria Ferrer champagne.  It’s one of our all time favorite grocery store finds (and occasionally makes an appearance at Costco).  Always under $20 and we’ve snagged it on sale at Vons for under $15.   It’s a delicious sparkling wine which is such a good deal we have no qualms breaking it out for even the most minor celebrations.  Listed below are four of the reasons we’ve used to break out the bubbly Read More

There is good wine at the supermarket!

By | General | No Comments

Wine row please!

We love wine.  The problem is we work all day, have kids to shuttle around and can barely keep food in the cupboard let alone schedule a visit to the local “wine merchant”.  That means we’re just like you and nine times out of ten we buy our wine at the grocery store where we’re faced with a billion colorful labels, strategically placed displays and not a single knowledgeable salesperson in sight (beside the fact there’s a toddler in the cart desperately trying to knock bottles from the shelves, which by the way is probably the easiest way to find the most expensive wine in the supermarket).

Here’s the theory: among all those bottles there is some great wine, possibly outstanding wine at a great price.  The bad news is there is also a lot of bad wine mixed amongst it.  The trick is finding the needle in the haystack.  Our reviews help you find the hidden gems and avoid the “blech“!