Aldi's Tasty $8 Intermingle California Dark Red Blend 2023

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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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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Hey, Domain Dave, cheapwineflatter.com for another
uh wine review podcast comingyour way.
That's what we do.
Uh check out the actual reviewon the cheapwineflatter.com
website.
We got a ton on there.
And today we've got a wine fromAldius,$6.99.
Intermingle California Dark RedBlend 2023.

(00:27):
So anytime you're gonna get akind of a big red wine and for
$6.99, I think that's a prettygood deal.
And the one thing about thiswine is I saw the dark red
blend, I thought, okay, this isgonna be mocha and dark flavors
and all this, and it I didn'treally get that from here.
I'm gonna take a sip.

(00:57):
What I got's a really kind ofnice red blend.
It's a Merlot, CabernetSauvignon, and uh Petite Soura.
So you're gonna get those um twodarker flavors with the uh the
cab and the merlot, and thenyou're gonna get a little bit of
red coming in with the petitesource.
Uh, you know, or maybe more of ablueberry type thing.

(01:20):
Um and then and they weresupposed to the darkness, the
the color is inky black.
I mean, you it's you'd be hardpressed to say any of it's red.
But um, it's just a nice redblend.
I mean, it's not big and dark,it's not overpowering, it's
maybe mid uh mid-weight on thepalette.

(01:43):
So, I mean, that that's methinking, oh, California dark
red, I'm gonna get this kind ofyou know over-the-top, deep and
dark thing, but no, I got a verybalanced, nicely tasty value
pressed red blend.

(02:07):
Take another sip.
It is tasty, it does sip well.
Um it was made by some divisionof Suter Home Um Family
Vineyards.
They've been around since um1890.
They the first original ownersgot it all the way to the
Prohibition, then it went uh,then it went it it stopped, and

(02:31):
then uh Trinchero FamilyVineyards, uh, they do when they
have a huge portfolio.
They bought it in 48.
Suter Home in 1970s too did umWhite Zimfandel.
Now, white Zimfandel today, youprobably aren't gonna get too
many people talking about howgreat it was, but it was a
sensation in its time.

(02:51):
It was White Zimfandel is arose, and um you don't get that
many the Zimfandel rosesanymore, but they couldn't they
couldn't make enough of it backin the day.
It was like one of the veryfirst times that Americans
really got into wine.
So so while it's like, oh, it'swhite zinc and yeah, no, I mean

(03:13):
it it kind of changed things.
Let me take another sip.
Yeah.
So what we have here is just anice red blend at$6.99.
It is for$6.99 to have a winethat has no issues and it drinks

(03:34):
well and it sips well.
So and you can pair this with,you know, anything, your tacos,
steak tacos, or uh pizza or youknow, 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 andusing this as a as a pairing

(03:57):
wine.
It does not detract from thefood at all.
Sometimes you think, oh, that'stoo cheap.
Nope, it's it's fine.
It drinks well.
If you want to have uh, youknow, if you want to have
something, you know spaghetti uhwith meatballs and red sauce.
This would do fine.
It's not particularly Italian,but it would do just fine.

(04:18):
I'm gonna take another sip.
Now I am drinking a lot of sips.
So I mean I'm so I'm saying thatI I didn't think that it was
big, dark, and red blend.
The alcohol was only 13.5nowadays with the with the way
uh the temperatures are inCalifornia, and this is a

(04:40):
California red blend, it's theydon'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 wherethe where the vineyards are,
they don't say it's from itcould be from anywhere.
And there you go, it's just aregular simple red blend.

(05:01):
It tastes good.
And it you know, seven bucks anda red wine that's tastes great.
There's a regular intermediateuh intermingle red blend, it's a
different uh a different blend.
And that was good too.
And I had an intermingleChardonnay, that was good too.
So intermingle makes goodvalue-priced wines.

(05:21):
If you see one at uh Aldi andyou're looking for something and
don't know what to get, and youdon't want to spend too much
because you know I don't knowthis wine.
I for seven bucks I'll take achance.
Well, intermingle seems to be abrand that you can take a chance
with.
So adios, keep it cheap.
Uh, this is Domain Dave with uhcheapwinefighter.com.
Like us for you like yourpodcast.

(05:42):
That's cool.
I've got a French Pinot Noircoming up.
I will do that maybe in a coupleof days.
So adios, uh keep it cheap, andI'll be talking to everybody and
stay warm.
Okay, bye bye.