CheapWineFinder Podcast
Talking about remarkable wines that pair nicely with your wallet! Because we like to keep it cheap but excellent.
CheapWineFinder Podcast
This value-priced California sparkling wine will make you question expensive Champagne
Ever wonder if you're overpaying for sparkling wine? That's exactly what crossed my mind while sipping the surprisingly sophisticated Peaks and Tides Sonoma Brut from Aldi. At just $13.99, this California sparkler challenges everything you think you know about budget bubbles.
I stumbled upon this gem during a routine Aldi visit, excited to discover several new wines after months of unchanged inventory. Made by Rack and Riddle—the custom sparkling specialists behind many premium California bubblies—this Sonoma Brut immediately stands out with its pedigree. While Aldi's Peaks and Tides label has offered Chardonnay and Pinot Noir before, this sparkling version raises the bar significantly.
From the first sip, I was struck by its balanced character: subtle fruit flavors that don't overwhelm, refreshing acidity that invites another taste, and enough complexity to actually contemplate what's in your glass. That's rare in a sparkling wine at this price point. It maintains the proper dry character expected in a brut, without any cloying sweetness. As I continued tasting, one thought kept surfacing: "Why would anyone pay three times more for Champagne when this delivers such satisfaction?" Modern winemaking has become the great equalizer, allowing for exceptional quality at accessible prices.
With the holiday season eventually approaching, consider grabbing a few bottles now while supplies last. Unless you're a dedicated Champagne aficionado, this $13.99 Sonoma sparkler will likely provide equal enjoyment while stretching your celebration budget significantly further. Have you found any surprising wine values lately? Share your discoveries and let's toast to finding luxury experiences without the luxury price tag!
Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at podcast@cheapwinefinder.com
Hey, there it's Domain Dave CheapWineFightercom again with another podcast, a value price podcast. This one's kind of unexpected. I happened to go to my local Aldi and they haven't had new wines since like the spring. They've been pretty stagnant and they had five or six new wines there and I didn't know what to buy and I was so excited but I picked up the $13.99, which is kind of expensive. For Aldi is the Peaks and Tides Sonoma Brut bubbly. Peaks and Tides is a brand that Aldi's had for a while. It's it's a Chardonnay and it's a Pinot Noir, and sometimes it's just from Sonoma. Sometimes it's from Sonoma Coast, which is the ABA right along the ocean there, and this time it's made by Rack and Riddle, which is a private custom bubbly. They make champagne style wines there and if you've had a value price and maybe even higher California sparkling wine in the last 10 years, there's a good chance that you've tasted some of their wine. So they're a specialist. When you see that they're the ones making the wine, that's not a bad thing at all. We don't know much about it. It's from grapes from Sonoma, makes sense. I think Rack and Riddle have three locations in Sonoma and one in Lodi. I'm going to take a sip.
Speaker 1:This is kind of a fun wine. This is a brute or a dry wine, and usually when you just see, because there are no rules and regulations in Napa Valley for making bubbly In Champaign there's tons of them, but in California you can do what you want. So Brut normally means that it's going to be mostly Chardonnay with maybe some Pinot Noir, maybe some. Well, they can actually add anything that they want to it. But in Champaign know, it's Pinot, monet and music, just a few things they can do. They can add anything you want they want here. But usually when you just see Brut, that means it's basically mostly Chardonnay. Blanc de Blanc means it's all white grapes. Blanc Noir means it is a white wine, it's not a a red wine but a white champagne or style wine made from red grapes. And a rosé means that it's probably mostly red grapes with some skin contact juice added in. But other than that we don't know too much. It doesn't have to be Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but it probably isn't. At $13.99 for Aldi, which is a little bit more expensive than their normal drinks, it probably is. And since Aldi tends to be really inexpensive wines, this is probably, you know, and I'm just shooting from the hip maybe some of the nicer vineyards that some of the bigger name people use.
Speaker 1:Take another sip. This is a nice subtle fruit forward but not overly fruit forward bubbly. It's got good acidity, the kind that makes you want to take another sip, which is always nice. That might not be something you're going to want in a $75 champagne, but in a $13.99 store brand bubbly it's really nice, it's a lot of fun. It's got nice rounded fruit but it's subtle, it doesn't jump out. It's not sweet. It's got nice rounded fruit but it's subtle, it doesn't jump out, it's not sweet. There's enough flavors in there that you can actually sit there for a second and contemplate your glass and try to pick out all that's there, which is an added bonus for a, you know, inexpensive value price bubbly.
Speaker 1:Take another sip.
Speaker 1:I mean it's, it's a good tasting wine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not Champagne but it's California, but I don't see a problem with that. I mean there's no reason California bubbly has to be Champagne. It can be very good on its own and I think this one is very good on its own and it's kind of getting to the point they're not quite there yet where these value price bubbles make you pause and think why am I spending more? You know there are more expensive wines Like champagne is my favorite wine of all of them. For the cheap wine finder that's kind of a problem.
Speaker 1:But these value champagnes are being well made. The grapes are being grown properly, they're being handled properly, the winemaking is being done. Everything is kind of a little bit mechanized. It's not the old days when they were just doing everything by hand. It's the great equalizer, but it's something to start considering coming up in the holidays.
Speaker 1:The holidays are still far away, but there's no reason why you might want to if you think your store is getting kind of low grabbing a couple of bottles of this. It's just a nice California northern California, I think Sonoma Bubbly. It tastes great, you know, just put it away. It's going to store easily up until the holidays and for $13.99, it's going to be a third the price of real champagne and I think you might. You know, unless you're a champagne head who's into it you probably like this just as much as that. So adios, keep it cheap. This is Domain Dave Coming at you. We got a bunch of wines, I got a couple of bargains and then I got a whole bunch. I'm going back to Aldi to drink the other five we got going. So, adios, we'll talk to you in a couple of days. Bye-bye.