Originally posted by MikeS.

Scorereader, don’t be knocking my central valley grapes dude.[:D] Most of the family’s acerage goes to Sun-Maid for raisins but we do sell several tons a year to the local winerys and they do produce some decent wines in the valley. You didn’t even mention the central coast winerys. That segment has really exploded in the last 30 years or so.

Charles Shaw does make some really nice cheap stuff, I’m not a big wine drinker.

MikeS.

FarEasternPanhandle, WV

quote]

What central valley?

quote:

Originally posted by MikeS.

Scorereader, don’t be knocking my central valley grapes dude.[:D] Most of the family’s acerage goes to Sun-Maid for raisins but we do sell several tons a year to the local winerys and they do produce some decent wines in the valley. You didn’t even mention the central coast winerys. That segment has really exploded in the last 30 years or so.

Charles Shaw does make some really nice cheap stuff, I’m not a big wine drinker.

MikeS.

I’m not knocking Central Valley per se. Of course there are good wines in the Central Valley and Central Coast. But, typically, the grapes are cheaper from the Central Valley than buying grapes from Sonoma and Napa. So, it’s not always truely Napa wine as the bottle suggests.
I like Tacchino’s outlook, which is that cheap wine can be good and drinkable and it should be. If we look to Europe as a guide, then we should have lots of table wine that is in the neighborhood of Charles Shaw. Decent inexpensive, vintaged, bottled table wine. "Cheap Red Wine," "Barefoot" (which also makes a Sonoma Reserve line of wines) and others are other wineries who are producing inexpensive palatable wines.

I find it decent enough, and they are not the only winery to use the Central Valley grapes, which, as Mike mentioned, are producing a great deal of quality produce. I loved Mirassou wines; are they still operating out of the San Jose area?

I also applaud them for producing a reasonably drinkable red that is accessible price-wise to a wide swath of consumers…I always found it strange that drinkable wine (we are not talking high quality necessarily here) could always be found at very reasonable prices in grocery stores and establishments in France, Italy, Spain, some countries in Latin America, etc. We grow a ton of wine grapes here in the US; I always wondered why we couldn’t do what these countries have done. Wine does not have to be relegated to connoisseurs with big bank accounts, and it can be considered a regular accompaniment to meals for the average citizen.
Now, if we could just get restaurants to stop considering wine as a profit center[:D], and offer some of these really inexpensive wines without a massive mark-up in price as they do in France, Italy, and Spain, then I will be happy!

We bought two buck Chuck at Trader Joe’s in Cathedral City, CA during our stay in the desert, mainly for cooking purposes where it worked out fine. I wouldn’t want to make a steady diet of drinking it though.

For some good laughs, there are great stories on the web about Two Buck Chuck. The wine is actually produced exclusively for Trader Joe’s (owned by Aldi of Germany) by Bronco Wine Company, headed by Fred Franzia. Here is one good article:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060501/franzia.html

And the real Charles Shaw? Last I heard, he was living in Chicago and working for a software company. Yup, its one of those laugh-out-loud stories.

Scorereader, don’t be knocking my central valley grapes dude.[:D] Most of the family’s acerage goes to Sun-Maid for raisins but we do sell several tons a year to the local winerys and they do produce some decent wines in the valley. You didn’t even mention the central coast winerys. That segment has really exploded in the last 30 years or so.

Charles Shaw does make some really nice cheap stuff, I’m not a big wine drinker.

MikeS.

Here’s the thing with Charles Shaw. While they do have their own vineyard, but most of the grapes come from the central valley and not Napa. They buy the excess grapes from other vineyards. So, the quality of a bottle can really be varied. When TJ’s has wine tasting, I usually ask them to open a bottle of Charles Shaw. Since it’s cheap, the wine guy rarely has a problem with this. (I also tell him that if I like it I’ll buy a case). So, have a sip. Sometimes, the grapes are from an excellent vineyard or mostly from their own Napa vineyard and the wine is superb for $3. At times, it can easily stand next to the $16 Coppola wines (which aren’t the best wines in the land either, but I’m just using it as a measuring stick). Other times, the wine tastes like a cheap bottle of wine and not too characteristic of the label (i.e. Cab Sav might not have the right characteristics of a cab sav. I’m guessing these wines are made more from cheaper Central valley wineries. In this case, I won’t buy a bottle. But, since sometimes the wine can be very good, Charles Shaw is a real eye opener to wine enthusiast when some fine grapes are processed. In 2002, the Shiraz beat out about 2,300 other wineries when they won double gold at the Eastern International Wine Festival. And, I have to say, it was definately a good bottle. I went through 2 cases. So, Charles Shaw can be hit or miss, but even the misses are still a good deal at ~$3 (east coast) for CA reds. I’m not a fan of any of their whites. The Chardonnay has never been good IMO, but I will drink the Sav Blanc. It is nothing special, but is drinkable. It’s a lot like a Pinot Groggio, not too many tasting notes to speak of, but very drinkable, espcially when served very cold.

If you try a Merlot and it’s too sweet, do what I did – stick some fruit in it and make a sangria out of it. That was a huge hit at a party I held. I didn’t think the wine was good enough on it’s own to be put out, but it ended up making some of the best sangria I’ve ever made.

As wine producing becomes more advanced, you’ll find the modern style of wine to be very accessible and easily drinkable. C.S. fall into this category. It’s a great wine to just drink. A good everyday table wine, you can even serve it at parties. You may even find some foods it pairs well with, and I’m sure there’s a fine cheese it will pair real well with, given the number of cheeses out there. If you pair it right, even a not so good bottle will taste fantastic.

We used to drink it quite often, but started to find much better wines for just a buck or two more at TJs, so we kinda moved away from it. BTW, in California, it’s $1 cheaper and known as (you guessed it) two buck chuck.

David, when is your next Am Legion BBQ? I been meaning to get up to Wickenburg, might plan it around some Q.