Best bargain I have had is Vitano Umbria by Falesco. Its a $9 wine which I really enjoy.

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.

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.

WOW, Boones Farm has some competition!

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. 🙁

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.

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.

HAHA can’t believe the results in the state fair… Who were the judges?

I’m confused on the Beaujolais. Am I just playing with the action figure while I’m in my underwear, or is the action figure actually being played with inside of my underwear?

Hey Gary,

Again, I appreciate your raw honesty. A friend who doesn’t really drink wine recommended this to me because she loved it. I thought that for someone who doesn’t like wine, it has to be good. So far I’ve uncorked only the Chard, but I liked it. I found it to be buttery, but does loose its flavor quickly. The year on it was 2006, so I don’t know how much of a difference if any there is between 2005 and ’06. I got two bottles, we’ll see if I like the second one.
Keep on with the reviews… I do like your willingness to be completly honest.

Thanks,
Trish

I have to say I never tried a wine with a gremlin in the glass! 🙂 Thanks for doing this episode, it was definitely informative. I live right by a Trader Joe’s and so I buy 2 Buck Chuck all the time (but I’ve evolved from drinking it to using it for cooking). If I do drink a TBC, I’ll go for the Sauvignon blanc.

QOTD: The Dolce and Gabanna sunglasses that I got for free at work. Someone lost them and it had been several weeks, so I got to take them. And they retail for $135!

Great episode. I have tried a couple of 2BC’s Cabernet. Wasn’t bad, but also not very interesting. I don’t remember the vintage. I have heard that there is a great deal of variation even within a single vintage of a single variety. Kind of a crap shot.

QOTD: Nothing very memorable

Great show! It would be be interested in seeing a redo of that show tasting the follow-up vintage of these wines, just to see if the quality of these wines changes significantly from year to year.

Just looked at the 2-buck-chuck episode.
The best bargin wine I ever bough was the 1965 Carruades de Chateau Lafite for $5.95 a bottle.
It tasted better than the 1961 and 1964 Ch. Lafite. It also lasted (The Carruades) 10 years in my cellar.

Just had to say something about my best bargain.. some days agon:

1990 Heinrich Braun Niersteiner �lberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken @ 5�/7$
and a
1990 Heinrich Braun Niersteiner Ã?lberg Riesling Auslese Trocken @ 2,49â?¬/4$ !!

one of the good things about working for T.J.’s is that I will give you an honest opinion about the wine rather than disappoint you with a poor recommendation. Although most of what we sell is average at best, there are some great values to be found still. Even if you are a jaded old wine geek like myself.

You rock for reviewing 2 Buck Chuck!
I have been hoping for this review for ages.

I drink the reds and find they are ok for ordinary drinking

Interesting episode. I had to go back and watch it. I am a fan of Charles Shaw, and I was anxious to see what you thought of it.
I drink three of their wines. My favorites are the Shiraz, the Cab, the Sauvignon Blanc. I must admit my favorite is the Cabernet. It needs to warm to provide the best flavor, but it has been a consistent drinkable wine. Good for popping a bottle when you are by yourself watching the tube and you don’t want to worry about having to drink the entire bottle.

Also, wonderful to take to large groups where people don’t know much about wine…. just about everyone can drink it.

I had the “2 buck chuck” while visiting family in CA. I’m not sure which one it was but for $2 it wasn’t bad, and I mean for $2, maybe $2.50. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, unless your getting a bit tippsy off a good bottle then swiching to this.

Even though I live in Spain and Trader Joe´s wine is not available “in this market”, still watched and loved this episode. Especially the anecdote about buying the Shaq action figures at the dollar store in the mall. GV, I heart you.

Best bargain? For 10 bones, the Villa Maria Merlot/Cabernet blend from New Zealand is great stuff and damn tasty….if it was double the price, I would still buy it and enjoy it.

Great episode. I’ve tried all of them, and agree that the S.Blanc is the best of the bunch, and a pretty decent wine for the $. The Shiraz was barely okay in my book. The Chardonney was not very good, but not as bad as you thought. The Cabernet and Merlot are simply train-wrecks.

QOD——–2001 Hogue Genesis Merlot 1.5l for $9.99 in 2006

Brutal honesty. I love it! I’ve always wondered about how this wine tasted, now I know. I’m going to link this vlog episode on my blog. So many of my former customers wanted us to carry “Two Buck Chuck”. They’ll be able to see why we never carried it.