CheapWineFinder Podcast
Talking about remarkable wines that pair nicely with your wallet! Because we like to keep it cheap but excellent.
CheapWineFinder Podcast
Aldi's Tasty $8 Intermingle California Dark Red Blend 2023
Expecting a brooding beast from a “dark red blend”? We pop Intermingle California Dark Red 2023 from Aldi and find something better: a calm, balanced, mid-weight red that drinks clean, pairs easily, and costs just $6.99. We walk through the blend—Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Sirah—exploring how inky color can still lead to a smooth, food-friendly sip, and why the moderate 13.5% ABV keeps things lively rather than heavy.
We also unpack the story behind the bottle. Intermingle comes from a division connected to Sutter Home under Trinchero Family Vineyards, a name with deep roots and real blending chops. That lineage matters at this price: you get competent fruit, no rough edges, and a style built for weeknights. From the legacy of White Zinfandel’s rise to America’s modern appetite for easygoing reds, we connect the dots between history, sourcing flexibility across California, and the practical goal of making an affordable wine that simply tastes good.
If you need a reliable red for tacos, pizza, burgers, or a pot of spaghetti and meatballs, this one fits. The palate brings cherry and plum with a hint of blueberry, soft tannins, and a tidy finish—no cloying sweetness, no heat, no fuss. We share pairing ideas, serving tips, and why Intermingle as a brand has become a safe bet for budget shoppers who still want a pleasant glass. Grab a bottle, pour it slightly cool, and let it prove that “cheap” can absolutely mean smart value.
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Hey, Domain Dave, cheapwineflatter.com for another uh wine review podcast coming your way. That's what we do. Uh check out the actual review on the cheapwineflatter.com website. We got a ton on there. And today we've got a wine from Aldius,$6.99. Intermingle California Dark Red Blend 2023. So anytime you're gonna get a kind of a big red wine and for$6.99, I think that's a pretty good deal. And the one thing about this wine is I saw the dark red blend, I thought, okay, this is gonna be mocha and dark flavors and all this, and it I didn't really get that from here. I'm gonna take a sip. What I got's a really kind of nice red blend. It's a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and uh Petite Soura. So you're gonna get those um two darker flavors with the uh the cab and the merlot, and then you're gonna get a little bit of red coming in with the petite source. Uh, you know, or maybe more of a blueberry type thing. Um and then and they were supposed to the darkness, the the color is inky black. I mean, you it's you'd be hard pressed to say any of it's red. But um, it's just a nice red blend. I mean, it's not big and dark, it's not overpowering, it's maybe mid uh mid-weight on the palette. So, I mean, that that's me thinking, oh, California dark red, I'm gonna get this kind of you know over-the-top, deep and dark thing, but no, I got a very balanced, nicely tasty value pressed red blend. Take another sip. It is tasty, it does sip well. Um it was made by some division of Suter Home Um Family Vineyards. They've been around since um 1890. They the first original owners got it all the way to the Prohibition, then it went uh, then it went it it stopped, and then uh Trinchero Family Vineyards, uh, they do when they have a huge portfolio. They bought it in 48. Suter Home in 1970s too did um White Zimfandel. Now, white Zimfandel today, you probably aren't gonna get too many people talking about how great it was, but it was a sensation in its time. It was White Zimfandel is a rose, and um you don't get that many the Zimfandel roses anymore, but they couldn't they couldn't make enough of it back in the day. It was like one of the very first times that Americans really got into wine. So so while it's like, oh, it's white zinc and yeah, no, I mean it it kind of changed things. Let me take another sip. Yeah. So what we have here is just a nice red blend at$6.99. It is for$6.99 to have a wine that has no issues and it drinks well and it sips well. So and you can pair this with, you know, anything, your tacos, steak tacos, or uh pizza or you know, burgers, anything like that, uh uh chipotle. You know, it's a nice wine. It does it does stand up well. It is worth paying food and using this as a as a pairing wine. It does not detract from the food at all. Sometimes you think, oh, that's too cheap. Nope, it's it's fine. It drinks well. If you want to have uh, you know, if you want to have something, you know spaghetti uh with meatballs and red sauce. This would do fine. It's not particularly Italian, but it would do just fine. I'm gonna take another sip. Now I am drinking a lot of sips. So I mean I'm so I'm saying that I I didn't think that it was big, dark, and red blend. The alcohol was only 13.5 nowadays with the with the way uh the temperatures are in California, and this is a California red blend, it's they don't say say where it's from. Uh Trinchero is from um Napa, and I think they got Suterhoma's in Lodi. Uh, but where this is uh where the where the vineyards are, they don't say it's from it could be from anywhere. And there you go, it's just a regular simple red blend. It tastes good. And it you know, seven bucks and a red wine that's tastes great. There's a regular intermediate uh intermingle red blend, it's a different uh a different blend. And that was good too. And I had an intermingle Chardonnay, that was good too. So intermingle makes good value-priced wines. If you see one at uh Aldi and you're looking for something and don't know what to get, and you don't want to spend too much because you know I don't know this wine. I for seven bucks I'll take a chance. Well, intermingle seems to be a brand that you can take a chance with. So adios, keep it cheap. Uh, this is Domain Dave with uh cheapwinefighter.com. Like us for you like your podcast. That's cool. I've got a French Pinot Noir coming up. I will do that maybe in a couple of days. So adios, uh keep it cheap, and I'll be talking to everybody and stay warm. Okay, bye bye.