Two Buck Chuck and Other Cheap Wines From Trader Joe’s

A while back in Chicago while staying at The James Hotel, I decided to check out the wine selection at the Trader Joe’s across the street. I had heard of the fabled “Two Buck Chuck” Charles Shaw wines available at the store, so I decided to give it a little look-see.

First let me say that Trader Joe’s is actually a decent place to buy wine. Maybe not collector wine, but good for a dinner party wine. They stock wine typically under $30 from some reasonably reputable wineries like Coppola, etc.

On this trip, however, I was only interested in one thing — cheap wine.

So, I fill my free evening by picking out three red wines under $10 and proceed to have a wine taste shootout in my hotel room. I wanted to know, is the $20+ for a good Okanagan red really worth it? Has somebody pulled the wool over my eyes? Maybe cheap wine can be good?

• 2002 Little Boomey Cabernet Merlot — Australia — $4.99
• 2005 Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon — California — $2.99
• 3rd wine – Unmemorable Cabernet Sauvignon — California $9.99

I hate to report that all of them were crap. That might sound harsh, but I would only drink any of these if I was eating heavy amounts of food to mask the flavour, or if I was trying to get drunk in a hurry. All 3 of them were mostly indistinguishable from each other, all of them tasted like spiked Welch’s grape juice, and all of them ended up going down the sink.

So there you have it, there is something to be said for paying a little more for wine. I guess the old adage runs true — you get what you pay for. Next will be cheap white wine from Trader Joe’s. This likely has a better chance of success…and there is that vineyard myth out there about the $2 Charles Shaw Chardonnay that took a gold medal at a prominent wine festival in a blind tasting.

To be continued…