The $2 bottle of wine on 20/20...

[ExtraMSG]

Though the label of the $2 wine reads "Charles Shaw," it was not the brainchild of anyone named Charles. The wine, which sells exclusively at Trader Joe's stores, was created by Fred Franzia, who prefers to call his product a "super value wine," rather than a "cheap" one.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/Busine...y_040109-1.html

In a blind taste test at an AI culinary school (not exactly experts judging from my experience with culinary students), it did pretty good. But when they knew ahead of time the price, it outscored almost all of the other options.

They also had a thing on speed eaters:

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/US/spe...s_040109-1.html

[fresco]

Fascinating piece, ExtraMSG. I was aware that Franzia and Two Buck Chuck were not popular among Napa Valley producers, but didn't know about Franzia's criminal conviction for grape fraud.

This stuff is not sold anywhere near where I live, so have never tried it. But as someone in the story observed, it's a great time to be a wine drinker--there seems to be another country or region hitting international wine markets with very nice stuff priced at $US10 a bottle or less every other month.

[Raynickben]

Franzia is the brand in the boxes also right?

I am by no means a wine snob but I had the misfortune to drink Two Buck Chuck at a party and to me it was really, really awful. I took a few sips of the wine and then headed over to the bar area to find out what was in my glass so that's the first time I knew it was Charles Shaw. I was actually disappointed when I saw that this Charles Shaw was so undrinkable because the press in Portland had given it a lot of coverage and some of my friends were so excited about only paying $2.99 for a "good" bottle of wine.

This fraud stuff makes it even worse!

[sng sling]

I tried the "Two Buck Chuck" merlot for the first time last week. I thought it was acidic and nasty on first taste and at the finish. The grapieness was more like Welch's jelly -- almost artificial tasting. It reminded me of low cost Japanese "Mercian" wine, which is Spanish or Southern French plonk imported in bulk and bottled in Japan.

[Mudpuppie]

I think the Two Buck Chuck cab is a decent $7 wine that's a great buy at $1.99. If you're a connoisseur, you're likely to hate it. But if you're not, or you have friends to dinner who aren't, it's perfectly okay.

[ExtraMSG]

Mudpuppie, I think that's what the blind taste tests pretty much showed, too. That it was comparable to a decent $8-$10 bottle of wine, but in blind tests didn't quite stack up (with a slightly uneducated palate) to more expensive wines.

[Mudpuppie]

Mudpuppie, I think that's what the blind taste tests pretty much showed, too. That it was comparable to a decent $8-$10 bottle of wine, but in blind tests didn't quite stack up (with a slightly uneducated palate) to more expensive wines.

I feel so validated!

[SiseFromm]

This stuff literally flys out the doors of Trader Joes in Southern California. I don't think I've ever been shopping and didn't notice 1/2 a dozen people buying at least a case at a time. At $24 for a full case, that's usually how they're purchased. It's not absolutely horrible, but I wouldn't drink it if given a choice. It tastes to me like a sub $10 wine, but then again it's cheaper than bottled water. It's good to have a bottle or two around in case I need it for a quick sauce, or for a splash in a dressing, but it's not the kind of thing I'd serve at a dinner party, that's for sure.

The grapes are grown in Central California, but the CEO built a massive bottling facility in Napa so he could use the city's illustrious name on his bottles. It certainly has the Napa Valley wine crowd in an uproar, since they think it cheapens the Valley, bringing down the overall perceived value and worth of wine from grapes actually grown in the region.

R. Jason Coulston

[ExtraMSG]

I don't really drink wine. The only wine I've ever found palatable was over $100 a bottle.

However, I do cook with wine a lot. Sounds like this stuff might be a cheap option for a cooking wine, maybe?

[Mudpuppie]

However, I do cook with wine a lot. Sounds like this stuff might be a cheap option for a cooking wine, maybe?

That's why I keep it around. The adage of never cooking with wine you wouldn't drink is a good one, but it's not always affordable.

I made some Two Buck Chuck mushrooms the other night and they were pretty good. If anything, they tasted wine-ier than when I use a better bottle.

[tommy]

i'd imagine the red is pretty fruity, which is what you want for some applications. i also imagine the white is very oaky, which i find lends a horrible taste to dishes.

[Mottmott]

There's no $2.Chuck around here. But I have found a cheap middle European wine that works for most cooking purposes. It hasn't much body, but isn't too acidic, and works well for deglazing, etc. I don't think I'd use it in a dish where the wine stars.

[SiseFromm]

I don't really drink wine. The only wine I've ever found palatable was over $100 a bottle.

Higher cost doesn't always equal the best wine. It's also true that there are tremendous values to be found, particularly with lesser-known wineries. More specifically, before a wine is "discovered", rated highly, then gobbled up after wine fans read about it in the Spectator.

New Zealand is producing some amazing bottles that can be found for under $20. It sounds like you've had pretty limited exposure to a wide variety of wines.

[ExtraMSG]

Higher cost doesn't always equal the best wine.

Yeah, but even I could tell this was higher quality stuff. I've tried a lot of wine and used to carry around a guidebook to wines under $20 whenever I went shopping for cooking wine.

[Pickles]

Thanks, ExtraMSG for posting this. I was trying to get some responses about "Two Buck Chuck" in the Wine Forum...but I think I commited a heinous crime in doing so. Anyway...it's interesting how wide apart the opinions are of this wine. Some say rot-gut and some are buying it like mad. When I found out the biggest selling wine in this country is none other than Carlo Rossi, I was floored. Maybe this guy will give old Carlo a run for his money. Not into wine snobbery myself, I usually stick with the same "Old Faithfuls" that have accompanied me to various dinner parties, and that have added flavor to my food. I can't cook with Carlo Rossi...just can't do it. But "Chuck" may be ok.

[lala]

Here in Seattle, it's 3 buck chuck...and it makes me upchuck...

nasty, nasty wine. There are so many decent bottles for $8-10! The aussie wines are a good mainstay, and don't corrode the enamel on your teeth like Chuckie does.

[Pickles]

I have found some interesting articles on Two Buck Chuck. Here are the links:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/02/...ain556620.shtml

http://www.traderjoes.com/new/chuckshaw.asp

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3076201/

http://www.azcentral.com/home/wine/article...vintages10.html

I can post more if anyone would like to read more.

[vengroff]

I've only tried one bottle of this stuff, but that was more than enough for me. It was really quite awful.

Here's a thread on Chuck from last year.

[HungryChris]

A lot of people are alarmed by this stuff and put it down as if it threatens them. I don't get it. I think it is great that we have the opportunity to have a dinner wine for knock around pasta meals and chicken in sauce meals that don't cost an arm and a leg! Get out of my way! I'm headed for TJ's for Three buck Chuck!

[vengroff]

A lot of people are alarmed by this stuff and put it down as if it threatens them. I don't get it. I think it is great that we have the opportunity to have a dinner wine for knock around pasta meals and chicken in sauce meals that don't cost an arm and a leg! Get out of my way! I'm headed for TJ's for Three buck Chuck!

I think the point here is that just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it's a bargain. If it's really bad, it's really bad, even if it's free. And this stuff is bad--jet fuel on the nose and smuckers grape jelly on the palate.

I'd rather drink a decent $9 bottle of Taurino Salice Salentino one time out of three and water the other two times than a bottle of $3 Chuck every time.

[HungryChris]

Vengroff,

Just because a wine is cheap, that doesn't mean it's bad, either. It may not be to your liking, but that will not stop others from enjoying it.

[vengroff]

Point taken. Some people may actually like the stuff. It certainly seems to keep flying off the shelves. It's probably even comparable to a lot of what's out there in the $7-12 range on supermarket shelves. But if you look around a bit there also happen to be some far more balanced wines available in the sub-$10 price range. To me, a more balanced wine is a more enjoyable wine.

Walk into any decent wine shop in the country with a ten dollar bill, and they can set you up with something that will blow the Chuck merlot I tried right off the map. If there is a $3 bottle that can compete, I'd be happy to hear about it. But Chuck just isn't it.

[HungryChris]

Thank You,

Vengroff!!

I don't think the stuff is wonderfull, but I get my dander up when I think I am dealing with a wine snob!!!!

[beans]

Thanks, ExtraMSG for posting this. I was trying to get some responses about "Two Buck Chuck" in the Wine Forum...but I think I commited a heinous crime in doing so.

Nothing heinous, just some polite souls that will not comment, perhaps. Many of the wine forum are a bunch from WS, which I'm glad I knew (I lurked often and posted almost nil) that migrated here for some spice of life.

I think I remember reading something about 28 views and no comments -- don't read into that "statistic."

Honestly, I would not trust culinary students to taste test any of the wines I may be interested in. (Sorry NeroW, but I love ya gal).

[tammylc]

From what I've read, because of the way 2-Buck Chuck is made, there's likely a LOT of bottle variation. So it's entirely possible that the people who say "It's great wine, what a bargain, what a steal!" and the people who say "It's vile stuff only useful as paint remover" are BOTH right.

My only personal experience was with a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc, which tasted like vaguely wine flavored sugar water. Not actively bad, but definitely not meeting any definition of good either.