Blind tasting

[Chris Cognac]

I just got back from filming the great turkey test for my new TV show...We set up a blind tasting of 2 buck chuck vs a 30 dollar bottle of the same wine....

Muffin210 was on the tasting panel along 4 others.....the 2 buck chuck won 4 to 1...one of the ladies on the panel was mortified she choose the 2 buck chuck it made for classic TV!...and both myself and Muffin210 chose the chuck as well....doh, so much for our wine knowledge!

[tanabutler]

So much for your palates, you mean.

What was the $30 bottle?! Inquiring minds want to know.

[wnissen]

Hee! From you way you describe it, at least some of the tasters drink wine and were not complete neophytes. The way I see it, cola is the most popular beverage in the country, so therefore people will probably like wines that taste like colas. Between 2BC and a tannic Cabernet, I know which one tastes more like Coke and which one tastes more like heavily steeped, unsweetened herbal tea.

Walt

[Chris Cognac]

it was a random panel with vaious ages and both men and women, all well educated and ranging from complete novice to people that drink wine often....I forgot what the other wine was, but it was classic....I was sure I would have chosen the right one, but nope....chuck for me!

[Ted Task]

I just got back from filming the great turkey test for my new TV show...We set up a blind tasting of 2 buck chuck vs a 30 dollar bottle of the same wine....

Muffin210 was on the tasting panel along  4 others.....the 2 buck chuck won 4 to 1...one of the ladies on the panel was mortified she choose the 2 buck chuck it made for classic TV!...and both myself and Muffin210 chose the chuck as well....doh, so much for our wine knowledge!

←

You were VERY lucky! At least three times a year, I venture over to Va, and buy a selection of the current "Two Buck Chuck." The INconsistency is what I find. Remember these are wines PURCHASED on the market from various sources, while they may represent a value, there is just no continuity of quality. I've tasted very good, and mostly just plain ordinary. They represent a wonderful place for people who are not "Geeks" to get "into" wine, but in my opinion nothing more.

There is SO much good juice at the 5/6 dollar level from various sources, I could not use $2Chuck for everyday, especially since they are not $2, but more like $3.50

Ted Task

[Lexica]

You were VERY lucky! At least three times a year, I venture over to Va, and buy a selection of the current "Two Buck Chuck." The INconsistency is what I find.  Remember these are wines PURCHASED on the market from various sources, while they may represent a value, there is just no continuity of quality. I've tasted very good, and mostly just plain ordinary. They represent a wonderful place for people who are not "Geeks" to get "into" wine, but in my opinion nothing more.

There is SO much good juice at the 5/6 dollar level from various sources, I could not use $2Chuck for everyday, especially since they are not $2, but more like $3.50

Ted Task

←

That's the problem I had the few times I tried the $2Chuck. The first bottle was okay - nothing special, but drinkable. The next one was just bad! Instead I copy down recommendations for good budget wines whenever I find a reviewer who seems to know what they're talking about.

[russ parsons]

this is an old stunt that is resurrected every once in a while. i remember being absolutely aghast back in the early '80s to find that i preferred markham merlot to petrus. there is great immediate appeal in fresh, fruity wines, and that is not at all intended to be condescending. i remember going out for dinner after a blow-out wine tasting (REALLY old burgundies and bordeaux), and sitting down with a bowl of tripe and a bottle of beaujolais and realizing that in many ways, that wine made me much happier than the more important stuff.

[Coldestsnow]

My mother just purchased 6 cases of 2 buck for her wedding last month. I catered it and was appauled when I heard of the wine she had chosen. However, I did not notice and descrepincies between the bottles. I definatley drank from a few in the hot sun and they went down, suprisingly, agreeably. Cheers 2$..... Saved my mom some cash at least.......

PS...

I still won't even look at it on the shelf

[Brad Ballinger]

Nowadays, sad to say, $30 can buy you a bottle of nice wine or a bottle of plonk. It would be interesting to know what the other wine was.

But there are other factors that play into this. 2BC is as drinkable as it's ever going to be when you take it home from Costco. Some $30 wines may be shut down or not yet developed, and may not "perform" well in a tasting like this. What were the reasons for choosing the wine you did?

[Stone]

sitting down with a bowl of tripe and a bottle of beaujolais

←

That's not something you read everyday.

I'd love to see someone recreate that blind taste test that made the rounds a few years ago. If I recall, they did a number of variations: They put the same wine in different bottles, and found that tasters preferred the wine with the classier labels; they had tasters sample the same wines in a group, and solo, and found varying results depending on whether there was a crowd; and in one, they asked tasters to rate a series of red wines, and no one noticed that one was actually white wine with food coloring.

A wine person I know believes that Winers belittle these taste-tests the way that religious people belittle calls for God to make himself known ("God doesn't do parlor tricks.") He said that if wine tasting was reduced to scientific taste tests, it couldn't stand up.

[Rebel Rose]

I'd love to see someone recreate that blind taste test that made the rounds a few years ago. . .

←

Stone, I would blind-taste with you any day.

I think there's a time to do serious blind tasting, and a time to have fun with it. We have a central coast Syrah tasting and dinner coming up in two weeks. As competition research, every few months we have a blind tasting of one varietal with a close group of friends and neighboring winemakers. (Most of our 'serious' tastings, however, degenerate as soon as the wine and people arrive.) Oh well. It's supposed to be all central coast syrah, but I have just decided to find a 2BC Syrah for the tasting! Now this is going to be fun!

[Stone]

I'd love to see someone recreate that blind taste test that made the rounds a few years ago. . .

←

Stone, I would blind-taste with you any day.

←

You're on. You buy the good stuff (cause I don't know what's good), and I'll buy the cheap stuff (cause I know what's cheap). We'll meet in Topeka with corkscrews drawn.