CheapWineFinder Podcast
Talking about remarkable wines that pair nicely with your wallet! Because we like to keep it cheap but excellent.
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Lapis Luna Lodi Cabernet-Value Wine done right and $10.99 @ TJ's
Discovered at Trader Joe's for $10.99, the Lapis Luna Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 delivers impressive quality at a value price point with its beautiful 400-year-old engraving label. The wine comes from War Room Cellars with connections to Randall Graham's Bonnie Dune, made by his longtime assistant winemaker Nicole Walsh.
• Jammy and juicy without being over-the-top, perfect for casual sipping
• Flavor profile includes black cherry, blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry, and hints of cinnamon
• Aged in French oak (5% new, 15% one-use, remainder neutral) for subtle complexity
• Made specifically as an easy-drinking wine that's still dry with balanced flavors
• Priced between $11-16 depending on retailer, representing excellent value
• Lodi region offers quality Cabernet grapes at much lower prices than nearby Napa
• Versatile pairing options from tacos and burgers to simply enjoying on its own
• Delivers quality that both casual wine drinkers and more knowledgeable enthusiasts can appreciate
Like us where you like your podcast. More wine reviews coming as the weather warms up and the days get longer!
Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at podcast@cheapwinefinder.com
hey, domain dave. Cheap wine fightercom. Another wine review again. Podcast for a wine. Read wrote up on the cheap wine fightercom website. We do that three times a week and here we go.
Speaker 1:We've got one that I found at trader joe's for 10.99. That was not a traderader Joe's exclusive wine. It should be available in other places too. It is the Lapis Luna Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon 2022. Lapis Luna is stone and moon.
Speaker 1:Not quite sure what the meaning of it is there, but this is one of those wines you can definitely buy because of the label. The label is a 400-year-old, just about about 400 years old. I think it was from 1624. Uh, copper plate engraving, which is now kind of very beautifully colored, of a maze and a I'm not sure. There's a somebody plowing them or walking their dog them. Who knows what they were doing in 1624.
Speaker 1:And it's a wine from a company War Room Cellars. They went together with Total Beverage Solutions to form this company. They got Toad Hollow and they also have Bonnie Dune solutions to form this company. They got toad hollow and they also have bonnie dune. If you don't know bonnie dune, uh, bonnie dune is randall graham's company. It's from the central coast. He's this uh, mad inventor, wine genius guy who makes interesting wines, and he sold the wine to the other company, I think, because he wants to be sure it lives on beyond him. And that's what this wine, this company, this wine is from there, the, the winemaker is nicole walsh, who works with randall graham at bonnie dune for 19 years.
Speaker 1:If you have, if you know bonnie dune wines, you know that they are quality wines and interesting I mean at the very least interesting. So we have this 11 wine and they and it's it's not super cheap at trader joe's I think. I saw it as high as 16 on the internet. Um, but it's about. It's about this price. Everywhere you go for a lodi Cabernet Sauvignon and it's, it's kind of a fun wine to drink. It mean, it's made to be a value price wine.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna take a sip. It's jammy and juicy, but not over-the-top, it's a sipping wine. This is one of those wines that you oh, that's nice. I mean maybe wine purists are not going to be crazy about it, you know. But to each their own and they can like what they like. And you know, if people like jammy, juicy wine's gonna like that too. And you know, I kind of go both directions sometimes but I'm probably more low brow than eyebrow, and um times, but I'm probably more lowbrow than eyebrow and um, this is fun to drink.
Speaker 1:It's got really ripe, juicy flavors black cherry, uh, blackberry, licorice, uh, pomegranate, cranberry, because there's some sweet sour, you know, it's at least sour things. There's some, uh on the nose or cinnamon it's got, um, it's got. It has it's barrel aged and like five percent is a new french oak, 15 is one use and the rest is on neutral oak. They do neutral oak not because it gives any flavoring to the wine, but the barrel aged wine tastes different than a stainless steel aged wine and that small amount of new and one use oak is going to give a little bit of flavoring. French oak is different than American oak, if you like that chocolate vanilla thing that goes on. That's usually American oak. French oak is much subtler and here it's very nicely done.
Speaker 1:This is a quality sipping wine. I mean, this is a value price sipping wine. It's a drink. It now wine it's supposed to be supposed to be. Oh gee, I'm talking like this, you know, I don't know. Talk like where I come from, south side chicago.
Speaker 1:So, um, it's made just to be a good night, a wine to sip out in the watching Netflix, out on the balcony, out on your porch. It goes down very easily, it's easy drinking, it's easy flavors to understand. They're rich but they're not over the top. This is still a dry wine. There might be a touch of sweetness to it, but it's not a sweet wine at all and it's rounded. You can have the usual pairings. You can have the tacos and the burgers and all that type stuff with it and be very happy.
Speaker 1:But this is a sipping wine. If you ask me, this is a wine that it's got, has enough nectar sweetness to it that it is enjoyable. You don't want it too dry if you're just sipping, especially for a value price wine. Lodi is a great place for value price Cabernet because it's not a place you go like. It's not that far from Napa, but Napa is going to be a whole lot more expensive and you're going to get quality grapes and Lodi for, you know, for less money. And here he goes, which is why they went to Lodi for this.
Speaker 1:And this is a fun wine to drink from Randall Graham'sham's assistant winemaker, and that's a pretty good thing. If you like wine, you're gonna like that. If you know wine, you're gonna be happy to drink it. The labels you can see that if you go to trader joe's, all the none of the other labels look this good and they have a whole other lapis luna has a whole lineup of wines and it's for $11. It's hard to beat, you know, it's really hard to beat. It sips well, you can have a Chalope Chipotle with it and be very happy, and you can just sit there and pour yourself a glass of wine and watch the sun go down. So, adios, that's it for me. Domain Dave CheapWinewinerfightercom. Like us where you like your podcast. Uh, we got more wine coming up because it's starting to warm up and it's starting to get interesting. It's starting to be longer days and it's not so dismal. And I'll be talking to a couple days because, yeah, why not, adios, keep it cheap.