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CheapWineFinder Podcast
Unveiling Lazy Bones: The $7.99 Paso Robles Cabernet Franc That Drinks Like Luxury
Finding exceptional wine values under $10 feels like discovering buried treasure, and the Lazy Bones Paso Robles Cabernet Franc 2023 is exactly that kind of remarkable find. Available exclusively at Trader Joe's for $7.99, this bottle consistently delivers quality that belies its modest price tag.
What makes this wine special starts with its pedigree. Crafted by the Miller Wine family, who have been producing Trader Joe's exclusives for over 15 years, this Cabernet Franc benefits from serious winemaking expertise. The Miller family owns some of Central Coast's most prestigious vineyards, and while we can't confirm which specific vineyard sources were used, their experience and connections clearly translate to quality in the bottle.
The wine itself showcases classic Cabernet Franc characteristics with a California twist. Dark fruit flavors of blackberry, plum, and blueberry mingle with hints of dried strawberry and oak spice. Most impressive is the tannin structure—present enough to provide authentic varietal character and food-pairing potential, yet remarkably smooth and sweet rather than harsh. This creates a versatile bottle that works beautifully for casual sipping or alongside burgers, tacos, and other outdoor dining favorites.
Even the label stands out with its artistic flair reminiscent of 1890s France. Longtime fans might notice the evolution from previous vintages' black-and-white nude figure to this year's more modest, full-color rendition—a small change that doesn't diminish the bottle's eye-catching shelf appeal. As summer approaches and outdoor entertaining season begins, this Cabernet Franc deserves a spot in your regular rotation. Give it a try with your next casual meal and taste for yourself why we're so impressed by this overachieving budget wine.
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Hey, welcome Domain Dave. Again CheapWineFindercom Another wine review for a wine we wrote up on the CheapWineFindercom website. Three times a week we write them up and three times a week we plug in the microphone and here we are. This is a age 799 Trader Joe's wine. It's a wine that's been around every several vintages. I know we did the 2020 vintage and before that we did a couple too. It's the Lazy Bones, paso Robos Cabernet Franc, 2023.
Speaker 1:It's from the Miller Wine family, who have been making Trader Joe's wines for at least 15 years. They used to put the Central Coast Wine Warehouse this is one of their divisions on the label, but they've kind of gotten away from that and they're just going with the parent company and they are legit. They own a couple of the best vineyards in all the Central Coast and not that I know if this one is. This is Paso Robles, where the grapes come from, and they own the French Camp Vineyard, which is highly regarded, and I have no clue and I doubt it. If any of these grapes came from there, I could have, but I doubt it. And the label says cellared and bottled by and cellared and bottled by means they bottled it and kept it around for a little while. Doesn't mean they made it at all, but I imagine some port part of them did.
Speaker 1:One thing I want to mention is the label. It's got a kind of a always had a black and white, um, nude woman lying on a bed holding a petting a cat, and the bed had blankets on it, very stylized, just a few lines to suggest everything, um, but she was naked in there, you know, and you know she might have been a plumber from what we could tell. But this one is now in full color and one of the blankets is now covering her butt up. So, um, I thought that was funny. It's a very attractive. It looks like something from france in the 1890s. I mean it's uh, it does have a nice look to it. So the label can hold its own. With retail wines twice the price or higher, it's a nice label.
Speaker 1:Cabernet Franc is the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, cabernet Sauvignon, cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc were were made it at some point how you do that to grapes, I don't know, but a long time ago and they made cabernet sauvignon and, uh, cabernet frac is also the parent to merlot and carmenier, which are all um bordeaux grapes. Carmen are not so much anymore. But there you go. So this is an old grape and it's usually used for blending, though in in Lower Valley it is its own singular grape and in California it can be its own singular grape too, and it usually adds a dark flavor, a dark color and a structure.
Speaker 1:It's got tannins. Cabernet Franc will have tannins. I know in California and elsewhere tannins are usually softened a lot because tannins work best with a food wine where you're going to just drink it when you're having a meal, because then it bounces out, the food bounces out, and if you're sipping it tannins can be a little bit rough and dry. And here it's got tannins, but they're sweet, they're smooth, they they know how to deal with that. So this is a sipping wine but it's got tannins, but they're sweet, they're smooth, they know how to deal with that. So this is a sipping wine, but it's definitely a wine that you know. Feel free grabbing. You're putting burgers on the grill or anything else, pork, you know anything. This would work really well with that. This is a nice food wine.
Speaker 1:Take a sip. It's got dark flavors. You're talking about blackberry. You're talking a little bit of spice. Maybe some plums, some blueberries, some. I picked up some dry strawberries, some oak spice.
Speaker 1:It's a darker wine but it sips really nicely. It's $7.99. If you're looking for a real legitimate red, you want red with some body to it and it's not, uh, not been neutered. I mean this is still nice. Um, this is still a Cabernet Sauvignon, and for $7.99. Usually when it goes under 10 they kind of round them off to be to be more palatable to more people.
Speaker 1:But this is a Cabernet Sauvignon, I mean Cabernet Franc, talking about the kid it just drinks well, it's a nice wine. It's way smoother and richer than you would think it would be, and especially smooth and rich for an eight dollar wine is a really good thing to say about it. I'll take another sip and we'll wrap it up. So there you go, you got it's got a nice label. But no, no girl butt on it. Uh, but it is a really nice label. It looks like artwork and it is, I guess. It tastes smooth and rich, just in time for outdoor patio drinking.
Speaker 1:This is a nice wine. This would go with a Chipotle bowl. I mean, this would really go well with that. I'm thinking that maybe I could have that, because it doesn't matter what you're having in there, it would just sip very well Tacos, burgers, all that stuff. It would go really well. So that's it for me. Domain Dave ChiefWineFightercom. This was the Lazy Bones Paso Robles Cabernet Franc 2023. It's made for exclusively Trader Joe's, but it's a first-rate wine company that made it for them, who have really good vineyards. So I don't know if any of the vineyards were involved, but they have contacts everywhere. I mean, that's one of the things If you didn't use their vineyards, they used good vineyards from friends. So that's it for me. Domain Dave cheapwinefindercom. Like us, we like your podcast. You will push the button, it helps, and I'm talking to you. In a couple of days it's getting warmer and the wine's flowing. So, adios, keep it cheap. Bye-bye.