Fresh & Easy Bows 27 California Wines

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has added 27 exclusive California wines to its wine selection. Sourced from vineyards in California’s premium wine-growing regions, among them Napa Valley, Sonoma, Monterey and Santa Barbara, the new offerings are divided into seven lines and are all reasonably priced, retailing from $3.99 to $19.99.

“We set out to make premium wines at exceptional prices from several top-quality vineyards here in California,” noted Fresh & Easy wine expert Richard Wherry. “Each wine tells its own story, and we specially selected winemakers who share our passion for capturing all that we love about great California wines into every bottle we sell.”

Fresh & Easy teamed with Terravant Wine Co. in Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley to create three of the new wine lines: Cloud Valley, Barrel Ranch and Open Field. Terravant The two companies made a video about their partnership and the crafting of the wines, which can be viewed at tinyurl.com/4ul9l5q. El Segundo, Calif.-based Fresh & Easy has also written a special set of tasting notes for customers, available at www.freshandeasy.com/CA_Notes.pdf.

The new wine lines are as follows:

• I ♥ CA: Simple and unpretentious, retailing for under $4:
• Wink: Cheeky and perfect for summer, retailing for under $4:
• PCH: Accessible, everyday wines named for the famous highway that winds through the wine regions along California’s coast, retailing for under $9
• Cloud Valley: Fruit-forward wines made from winemaker-selected grapes from coastal regions, retailing for under $9:
• WineWrights: Limited-edition, specially selected wines crafted by Fresh & Easy’s own winemakers, retailing for under $11:
• Barrel Ranch: More complex, refined wines made from select higher-pedigree grapes, retailing for under $15
• Open Field: Signature wines focusing on the famous wine-growing region of Santa Barbara County, retailing for under $20:

About 80 of the more than 170 wines Fresh & Easy carries are exclusive, with the majority of these retailing for under $10. The chain’s exclusive wines have won more than 130 medals from such prestigious competitions as the San Francisco International Wine Competition 2009, Critics Challenge International Wine Competition 2009, Winemaker's Challenge 2010 and the San Diego International Wine Competition 2010.

A division of U.K. grocer Tesco, Fresh & Easy operates more than 165 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada.