2 Buck Vaynerchuk – Episode #212

April 10, 2007

Wines tasted in this episode:

Trader Joe’s

Links mentioned in todays episode.

Today Gary Vaynerchuk attacks the question that has been asked of him over 100 times a month.

Having trouble seeing this video? Click here for the Quicktime version

234 Responses

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July 6, 2007

Ferrigno
HAHA can’t believe the results in the state fair… Who were the judges?
June 29, 2007

Larry
2007 California State Fair, 391 Chardonnays tasted:

While full results from this year’s competition aren’t available yet, wine industry sources confirm the 2005 Charles Shaw vintage was the highest-scoring chardonnay in a blind tasting by judges who reviewed wines without regard to price.
June 14, 2007

Tim
Best wine deal was, ironically, at Trader Joe’s back when I lived in LA in the early ’90’s. Picked up a few bottles of Ridge Merlot from the mid-’70’s for $4.99 a bottle; returned the next day after trying the first bottle to find nothing left… will try one in the parking lot next time

And the SB is flabby, Muscat-blended crap… at least when I had some at a party a year or so back with the classic “Shaw” label.
June 6, 2007

Brett
I got into wine by getting deals at Trader Joe’s. I was lucky because that was the time of the famous/infamous 2002 Shiraz incident. I had bought a case of it. I’d still have some of it, but my roomate and friend drank it while I was out of town thinking it was just the usual 2-buck Chuck and I wouldn’t mind.
April 28, 2007

Neal
WOW, Boones Farm has some competition!
April 23, 2007

Drink of the Week 2.0 » Blog Archive » Sponsor Spotlight - Wine Library TV
[...] Gary’s passion and deep knowledge of the topic makes each show informational and fun to watch. In over 200 episodes, Vaynerchuck has tasted everything from Trader Joe’s 2 Buck Chuck to Opus One and answered viewer questions on a myriad on topics. If you enjoy wine, Wine Library TV is a must watch for all the latest from Gary Vaynerchuk. [...]
April 19, 2007

Pete
What a great review — and accurate! I tried a bunch of the $2BCs back in 2003-2003 — some seemed “OK” at the time. In particular, some of the whites (chard & SB) then were not bad, I thought. But I did find they seemed to vary from batch to batch (even within the same bottle label & year). The reds always seemed like “bad grape juice” to me — but maybe I was missing the hint of hamster and gremlin!

In later years, the chard, too, became sweet, light, pretty yucky. So haven’t touched them for a while. My mom tried to convince me their cabernet was not bad — so I bought a bottle, but dreaded opening it. Just did it now, in honor of this great review. I have to agree — it’s just as bas as I remembered the bad 2000 reds.

On the other hand, I like light SBs if they’re not too sweet — I might blow 3 bucks and try the Sauv Blanc just in hopes that it might be a nice summer wine.
April 18, 2007

cruster
The best bargain I’ve ever had is Vino-vin 2004 Pinot Gris (http://corkd.com/wine/view/13096) priced around $2.50 here in Slovakia.
April 18, 2007

Phil
Best bargain I have had is Vitano Umbria by Falesco. Its a $9 wine which I really enjoy.
April 16, 2007

desmaic
ouch!… why would you do it to yourself?

you know i could probably hook you up with some thunderbird or night train… maybe some boones farm apple wine product, i hear those are tasting well this vintage… sorry but it needed to be said.
April 16, 2007

Matt B DC
Best Bargin? Probably Bombay Saphire. *rimshot*
April 15, 2007

Charleen
Great episode…gremlins? hamsters??? only Gary would come up with that to describe the aroma!!

If you wanna taste really bad wines try a Jepson Chardonnay (CA) and a Little Pengiun White Shiraz (Australia). They are soooo bad!

Best bargains? Chilean wines…they are so cheap, but so great!
April 15, 2007

Elliot Essman
Best bargain, everything else, other than the Charles Shaw, that Trader Joe’s sells.
April 13, 2007

stebs1
I’ve had 2 buck chuck 2004 and 2005. I can tell you the 2005 merlot is much better than the 2004. Perhaps they had better results in 2005 vintage as your tasting might suggest. It seems like the shiraz and merlot are the only ones to consider. Thanks for doing the tASTING.
April 13, 2007

John P
Gary, did you know that TJ’s wine makes a good drain cleaner.
Yep, and it’s cheap too. I believe in spending twice as much
and drinking half as much. A bottle of Chat Pavie 2000 will
get me a sip, but what a sip.
You’re still my destination Wine Shoppeee….
April 12, 2007

zny
They don’t sell this wine in NJ, but bronco sells “Crane Lake” and its starting to pop up at all the stores lately for 2-3.99. The cab is good but the syrah, merlot… disgisting! For the extra three bucks you can get a decent yellowtail!
April 12, 2007

Winodontist
About pissed myself when you asked for another glass after tasting the Beaujolais.
Who needs Saturday Night Live when you could watch these videos on your own time?
April 12, 2007

Randy B
First and foremost, where are my writbands? I was like the third person to request them.

Best bargain, as a kid it had to be paying $.50 to swim at the local high school’s “Swim Center.” If you were careful enough and didn’t wash the stamp off of your hand, you could swim there three days.

As an adult, best bargin was three bottles of 2000 Giscours Margaux for $29.99 apiece. I bought the stuff in a Texas “wine shop” what can I say? At least the store had air conditioning.

Ciao
April 12, 2007

Michael Goldberg
You drank my wines! Yeah!

We are in the $3 Market. Out West is the $2 market.

Garry, I am laughing so hard right now other people in the law library are staring at me.

QotD: Spending $18 to make Gary Vaynerchuk take the 2 Buck Chuck Challenge.

Also, thanks for the wristband. Awesome. You’ll get the picture, don’t worry.
April 12, 2007

SoCalDaveBandito
This may have been my all time favorite episode.

Watching Gary sweat through those tastings was too much… and the title was classic “2 Buck Vaynerchuck”. Fantastic.
April 12, 2007

Rink Man
Great Show! I love that you did this. I sent the link to my brother who still brings over this lousy wine to my house and tries to convince me that it is good. ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!!

QTD – My best bargain lately is getting great advice on wine from WLTV and getting great wines…love the Cava sparklers, the Menage a Trois (better than Conundrum!)and many others Thanks!

My other great bargain was buying a 2001 740 IL from a 70 year old lady who did not like the car. Best car I have ever had and I bought if for her asking price!
April 12, 2007

GeneV
Great episode. I’ve also found that vineyards in less well known areas, and vineyards with less than stellar track records seem to be able to produce a drinkable syrah or sauvignon blanc. I often find that to be the case with local wineries. So far, I have not tried a Charles Shaw that was better than the jug wines at the same price, but TJ’s does get kudos for offering a wide selection of inexpensive wines.
April 12, 2007

TSchampaert
Best bargain: a book I bought for 18,99. I gave twenty, they gave back on 50. I only saw when I ws at home … .
Still a whole lot of these 2-3 EUR wines out here, that put up the same show. Gruesome. Ever tried Liebfraumilch? U know then …
April 11, 2007

Ross
So it doesn’t even taste like wine, but it gets 56 points? What? How the hell does that work?
April 11, 2007

Jim in Atlanta
Gary,
While I have not had 2 buck chuck recently, a lot of people at work who are new to wine enjoy it. So thank you for reviewing these wines. It is interesting that one new wine drinker at work said he liked the Shiraz the best of the red wines. So even new wine drinkers can tell which wines are better. We will plan to watch this episode again at work. Good job.