How do you feel about...

[kaylinsmommy2]

Trader Joe's Two-Buck Chuck? :)

I came across this article: http://www.slate.com/id/2085758/ Slate.com obviously doesn't like it.

However, I know absolutely nothing about wine but am cheap, so I served it at my wedding in 2003. Is there an embarassed smilie? ;)

[elliput]

I had never heard of it before. Might be good for cooking wine, but then again I remember some famous chef saying you should only cook with wine you will drink.:9

[shilo]

for a $2ish bottle of wine, not sure what the 'wine snob' writing the article wanted :). not a big 'drinker' here, but when i do have a glass of something, it is usually wine. growing up just down the bay from Napa, there is no shortage of good wine available around here, but not every occasion calls for a $$$ bottle of wine, IMO. anyway, yes, he's totally right, if you up your price point (in his example, double or triple or quadruple your price point - but who's counting - :P) there are some much better wines on the market. is it drinkable and enjoyable for a nice socail gathering where the purpose of the gathering is pretty much anything other than a formal wine tasting? absolutely. would i serve it at a wine and cheese gathering where the purpose of the evening was a wine tasting? most definitely not. is it likely that you may have had one or three people at your reception who knew 'enough to know better' about the wine you served? likely. that they cared more about that than sharing in the joy of your big day? i sure hope (and doubt) not. another interesting TJ wine to try is California Barefoot White Zinfandel.... i know, i know real wine drikers don't drink white zin, but if you like the occasional glass of something light and sweet, this is actually quite 'good' by my standards - but then i wouldn't turn up my nose at two buck chuck - so what do i know? :).

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[DebbieJ]

It's really quite vile. You can buy better wine for just a few bucks more.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

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[bostonsmama]

I think the problem I have with it is that Charles Shaw doesn't make any type of wine that I would normally drink. DH and I drink all things sweet: Rieslings, Spatlese, Muscats, Gerwurtztrameiner, Ice Wine, Vintage port, tawny or ruby port. Even Chardonnay is generally a little off from what we prefer (LOL). The Charles Shaw Chardonnay we tried was really FLAT. Not very good at all, but drinkable b/c it didn't have any body to it. If I ever do a chard, it's Kendall Jackson or Sterling Vineyards.

Anyways, that was a long way towards saying that while I was underwhelmed by the Charles Shaw Chard, I couldn't help you with comparing the others since all red wine (save for Port) tastes like cough syrup to me. ;) I can tell you that the "Porto Morgado" that Trader Joes sells under the auspices of being port is GARBAGE!!!! Blech! It went down the drain.

Larissa

Baseline appt July 25th! Tentative retrieval ~Aug 10th, transfer ~8/13 or 15

Proud Aunt to Jack Dorian, born to my bro & SIL 3/06
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[mudder17]

It's probably pretty horrible, but TJ's has a Cabernet for...$3.99 a bottle? My FIL, who is a wine connoiseur, said it's quite good. It's more of that "legendary" wine from the vineyard where the man and his wife had a divorce and she got the vineyard, but he had signed a long-term contract with TJ's for a super cheap price for the wine. I have no idea if that's true or not, but that's the story that's told. Anyway, we have plans for a trip to VA so we can stop by the TJ's there to get some of this wine (MD doesn't allow grocery stores to sell alcohol).


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 27 months...
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Kaya will be a sister, ~11/14/06!

[bunnisa]

>It's really quite vile. You can buy better wine for just a
>few bucks more.
>

DITTO! :P

Bethany
blessed wife and mama to two!

"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
-Justin Torres

[cmdunn1972]

I was intrigued and bought two bottles, but I haven't tried it yet. Like the Slate article suggests, I do occasionally enjoy a less expensive wine and have bought cases of $10/bottle Rieslings (both German Spatlese and local varieties). I will also occasionally splurge on wines between $15 and $25. However, I buy wine because I like it, not just because it's cheap.

I'd be interested to know what you all think of the taste of TJ $2 Chuck since 2 bottles of it are sitting in my cellar. :)

[mamalia]

Love good ol' two buck chuck. Granted we found out about it during starving-college-kid days and haven't had much of it lately but hey I still think fondly of those bottles.

Malia

[kath68]

Sadly, it is an urban legend. Still a good story, though!

Truth is that two buck chuck is cheap because it is surplus wine. Here's the story:

http://www.bharatbhasha.com/marketing.php/30314

FWIW, I think $2 chuck is good. It is what it is -- there is some truth to you get what you pay for -- and there is a place in this world for affordable wine. I always think that people should unapologetically drink what they enjoy. If you like two buck chuck, all the better -- you can drink more of it for the same price! ;)

[maestramommy]

We're working our way through the different colors. We didn't really like the Merlot, like the Savignon Blanc even less, but liked the Pinot Grigio. We're about the open the Cabernet. But back in 2003 I heard it was quite popular. Doesn't matter how much or how little the wine costs. If people like it, it's good! But I'm a wine dummy.

[kaylinsmommy2]

anyway, yes, he's
>totally right, if you up your price point (in his example,
>double or triple or quadruple your price point - but who's
>counting - :P) there are some much better wines on the market.


Lori, that was exactly my point - Since I had to buy something like 50 bottles of wine for my wedding, double or triple the price would double or triple my wine budget. :) As a non-wine drinker, I didn't feel I should spend the money on it. I was also under the impression that most of my guests didn't care much about the wine either... hopefully that was the case! ;)

Two-buck Chuck is now very popular with my grad student friends, though. :)

Caroline
mommy to Kaylin 6/5/04

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/bunbunadb20040605_-9_Kaylin+is+now.png[/img][/url]

[cmdunn1972]

>FWIW, I think $2 chuck is good. It is what it is -- there is
>some truth to you get what you pay for -- and there is a place
>in this world for affordable wine. I always think that people
>should unapologetically drink what they enjoy. If you like
>two buck chuck, all the better -- you can drink more of it for
>the same price! ;)

I wholeheartedly agree. I love wine, and love learning about wine, but that doesn't matter. In the end, you are your own "expert" if you drink what you like, whether it costs $2 per bottle or $100 per bottle.

Also, I think that there's this prevalent thinking in this country that you have to know all kinds of terms and food pairings (and be a geologist) in order to know anything about wine. While it might help if you want to be a wine snob, it really is peripheral information. If all that terminology stuff helps you to enhance your enjoyment of the wine, then fine. But if it bores you or gives you a headache, then so what? Knowing what you like is what's most important. :)

[LaurelC]

DH and I drink quite a bit of wine, and we tried Two Buck chuck once. Honestly, it was vile and undrinkable - tasted like something was wrong with it. It went down the drain. Ick.

There are plenty of decent, inexpensive wines out there, but Charles Shaw is NOT one of them, IMO.

[chiqanita]

Don't know a thing about wines other than the red stuff is supposed to be good for your blood pressure/cholesterol/heart or something like that.

[kakohler]

I haven't tried the white wines, but the Cabernet isn't bad. It's a good table wine for when you're having friends over for a get together. Would I serve it at a formal dinner? No. But just to have something to open when friends come over - you bet. I save the really good stuff for myself!