CorkScrew recommendations for Two Buck Chuck

Kent, The problem with the Charles Shaw label, as I believe I've mentioned before on ba.food, is that wines from many different sources get bottled with the same label. Bronco Wine Co. (the owner of the name) buys wine in bulk from producers all over the state and bottles them all under the Charles Shaw label. Therefore, one bottle of Charles Shaw Chardonnay may or may not be identical to another. So you and Patok might be talking about completely different wines for all that you know. This is one of the big problems with 2BC for me: even if you find one bottle that you like, you may not be able to get more of it.

Mark Lipton

Mark, what you write makes much sense. It accounts for the different reactions to what ought to be the same wine. Now what is left is for you and Bi!! to coordinate your stories. Is 2BC the product of industrial growing and a chemical plant? Of different wine sources? Both?

Both. They source wines from many places in California especially from the Central Valley from a variety of growers and Charles Shaw is the result of high yields and plenty of additives to produce a somewhat consistant wine from grape to consumer in a matter of days not months. There have been a number of articles describing the process over the years. Bronco makes approx. 20 million cases of wine per year under roughly 50 different lables controlling 45,000 acres of vineyards.

"Patok" wrote.......

Shame you cannot remember the exact name.

I have searched every source I have and cannot find any NZ winery who markets under any label with a reference to a penguin.

A couple wineries support the conservation of the rare native Yellow Eyed Penguin, but neither produce a rosé.

If fact, there is very little rosé produced at all, and while "some" may be "ordinary" most is either a more than reasonable quaff, or rather good, without scaling great heights.

None I have encountered would seem to deserve the criticism you heap on your experience.

Quality control processes which all NZ export wine must undergo would usually "weed out" anything truly sub-standard.

And I am ashamed, because it turns out I did *not* remember the name! I did a search too, which didn't turn out any "Penguins" wine worldwide (apart from the ubiquitous Little Penguin). But since I remembered where the store I bought it was located (although not its name), I did a reverse search, hoping it had a home page. And indeed it did! Here's the wine in question:

As one can see, my memory underwent an associative transmogrification; how it arrived at "penguins" is anybody's guess. :(

"Patok" wrote.......

How I hate this sort of marketing - I see it now; 2005 was a rather large harvest on top of a record in 2004.

Thus, many wineries resorted to "Marketers Labels" purely for the export market - just to turn grape juice into $$$.

I have never heard Lobster Key until today - it is not available in NZ (although I have identified the winery bottling it) - I see it is available there for $3.99.

From what you say, it is $3.98 over priced!

Cheers

st.helier

There is a reasonable argument that any wine ”which screams” — whatever it is allegeneral damagesto be screaming — and sell atthat sort of price is probably not what it claims to be and needs to be avoided at all costs, except possibly as an alternative to meths.

Tim Hartley

"Timothy Hartley" > wrote ..

Or paint stripper........!!!!!!!!!!

I would not dain to cross you sir, I have seen what happens :-) But I must hasten to add that most foul theft of one of Whangerai's sons who though oddly enough is claimed by Australia is famed in Nashville and married to one of Hawaii's most famous actresses. I speak of course of Keith Urban and the woman who is almost as Hawaiin as Barack Obama, Nicole Kidman.

shall be lifting glasses of wine from both sides ofthe Tasman this weekend. Take care.

But I could well stoop to grammatical and spelling errors :-) as is well known we don't speak well the Queen's English in these parts. Deign it is.