Are Your Favorite Wines on List with Suspected High Arsenic Levels?

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By Sydney Wu

Edgewater Patch readers were dismayed to learn that some of their favorite wines -- from ”Two-Buck Chuck” to many varieties by Sutter Home, Beringer, and other inexpensive varieties -- are suspected of having dangerously high levels of arsenic.

Most of the wines listed in the claim are zinfandels or moscatos that sell for less than $10 a bottle.

Here’s a sampling of reaction from the Edgewater Patch Facebook page:

• Lisa Harper Kamm: Ugh, I see some of my favorite red wines are on here
• Christine Orr: Augh! So now what? ?????
• Gail Atwood: I think I’m safe - my box didn’t make the list, good thing I switched!

Do you have a suggestion -- perhaps an East Coast wine -- that readers should try instead? Tell us in comments.

Court documents allege three separate testing laboratories skilled in arsenic testing each confirmed that several California wineries are producing wines with high levels of the toxin, ”in some cases, up to 500 percent or more than what is considered the maximum acceptable safe daily intake limit.”

• Read: Drink Any of These Calif. Wines? They Contain Poisonous Arsenic, Class-Action Suit Alleges

The lawsuit is just that: a lawsuit. And neither judge nor jury has weighed in on the allegations. Still, the story has gone viral on social media, with many posts wondering just which wines are included in the suit.

Well, here they are:

1. Acronym’s GR8RW Red Blend 2011
2. Almaden’s Heritage White Zinfandel
3. Almaden’s Heritage Moscato
4. Almaden’s Heritage White Zinfandel
5. Almaden’s Heritage Chardonnay
6. Almaden’s Mountain Burgundy
7. Almaden’s Mountain Rhine
8. Almaden’s Mountain Chablis
9. Arrow Creek’s Coastal Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
10. Bandit’s Pinot Grigio
11. Bandit’s Chardonnay
12. Bandit’s Cabernet Sauvignon
13. Bay Bridge’s Chardonnay
14. Beringer’s White Merlot 2011
15. Beringer’s White Zinfandel 2011
16. Beringer’s Red Moscato
17. Beringer’s Refreshingly Sweet Moscato
18. Charles Shaw White Zinfandel 2012
19. Colores del Sol’s Malbec 2010
20. Glen Ellen by Concannon’s Glen Ellen REserve Pinot Grigio 2012
21. Concannon’s Selected Vineyards Pinot Noir 2011
22. Glen Ellen by Concannon’s Glen Ellen Reserve Merlot 2010
23. Cook’s Spumante
24. Corbett Canyon’s Pinot Grigio
25. Corbett Canyon’s Cabernet Sauvignon
26. Cupcake’s Malbec 2011
27. Fetzer’s Moscato 2010
28. Fetzer’s Pinot Grigio 2011
29. Fisheye Pinot Grigio 2012
30. Flipflop’s Pinot Grigio 2012
31. Flipflop’s Moscato
32. Flipflop’s Cabernet Sauvignon
33. Foxhorn’s White Zinfandel
34. Franzia’s Vintner Select White Grenache
35. Franzia’s Vintner Select White Zinfandel
36. Franzia’s Vintner Select White Merlot
37. Franzia’s Vintner Select Burgundy
38. Hawkstone’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
39. HRM Rex Goliath’s Moscato
40. Korbel’s Sweet Rose Sparkling Wine
41. Korbel’s Extra Dry Sparkling Wine
42. Menage a Trois’ Pinot Grigio 2011
43. Menage a Trois’ Moscato 2010
44. Menage a Trois’ White Blend 2011
45. Menage a Trois’ Chardonnay 2011
46. Menage a Trois’ Rose 2011
47. Menage a Trois’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
48. Menage a Trois’ California Red Wine 2011
49. Mogen David’s Concord
50. Mogen David’s Blackberry Wine
51. Oak Leaf’s White Zinfandel
52. Pomelo’s Sauvignon Blanc 2011
53. R Collection by Raymond’s Chardonnay 2012
54. Richards Wild Irish Rose’s Red Wine
55. Seaglass’s Sauvignon Blanc 2012
56. Simply Naked’s Moscato 2011
57. Smoking Loon’s Viognier 2011
58. Sutter Home’s Sauvignon Blanc 2010
59. Sutter Home’s Gewurztraminer 2011
60. Sutter Home’s Pink Moscato
61. Sutter Home’s Pinot Grigio 2011
62. Sutter Home’s Moscato
63. Sutter Home’s Chenin Blanc 2011
64. Sutter Home’s Sweet Red 2010
65. Sutter Home’s Riesling 2011
66. Sutter Home’s White Merlot 2011
67. Sutter Home’s Merlot 2011
68. Sutter Home’s White Zinfandel 2011
69. Sutter Home’s White Zinfandel 2012
70. Sutter Home’s Zinfandel 2010
71. Trapiche’s Malbec 2012
72. Tribuno’s Sweet Vermouth
73. Vendange’s Merlot
74. Vendange’s White Zinfandel
75. Wine Cube’s Moscato
76. Wine Cube’s Pink Moscato 2011
77. Wine Cube’s Pinot Grigio 2011
78. Wine Cube’s Pinot Grigio
79. Wine Cube’s Chardonnay 2011
80. Wine Cube’s Chardonnay
81. Wine Cube’s Red Sangria
82. Wine Cube’s Sauvignon Blanc 2011
83. Wine Cube’s Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2011

Note: Any wines listed without specific years are non-vintage, meaning the grapes used did not come from a single year.

Credit: Patch file photo