Trader Joe's Wine Selection

Here in AZ, it is, unfortunately, Three-buck Chuck. At least the Merlot is drinkable, a step up from common box wine. For two bucks, you can afford to experiment :-)

I personally think it's terrible, but my taste isn't your taste. Try it yourself and see what you think. At worst, you have only two dollars to lose.

Highly-variable; way back when it first came out, there was a surprising amount of good juice sloshing around on the CA bulk market and TJ's Charles Shaw label was often not bad. I made a couple of batches of wine punch with Shaw in late 2003 and it was OK.

The wine lake has been drained now. Buy and try a bottle before buying a case... betcha won't buy a case.

Dana

I don't like Chuck, but TJ distributed Bonny Doone's private label 2003 Red Flyer this summer, which was a screaming value wine for $6 (Syrah, mourvedre, Clone X). Split a case with a friend who went back for more 10 days later, but apparently the Flyer was all gone. And in case someone wonders about the name, the label depicts a red flying saucer, after one of Bonny Doone's wines called Cigar Volente (French for flying saucer).

I weigh in with Cutecat on the 2$Chuck, regardless of price. I charge my clients about US$200/hour, and just my time to drink Charles Shaw, could be better spent dowining a US$30 bottle of really good wine.

To Cutecat, do you know the history of Randall Grahm's Le Cigare Volant? I find it to be a nice little CnDp-style red.

Hunt

I believe it's on the website if you don't already know the story. The video about screwcaps on their site is fun, too.

] ] > To Cutecat, do you know the history of Randall Grahm's Le Cigare Volant? I ] > find it to be a nice little CnDp-style red. ] >

] > Hunt ] >

] I believe it's on the website if you don't already know the story. The ] video about screwcaps on their site is fun, too. ]

Funny, I've never found this wine all that CdP-ish. Been a few years since I had any, though.

FWIW a cigare volant is a manifestation type of UFO sighting. The French term for UFO is OVNI. I don't expect many would recognize c.v. as a term for an alien craft... :)

-E

Yes, I know. It's how I recognized Red Flyer as a Bonny Doone wine in the first place.

Yes, the video is great and good for a laugh. I have recounted the Randall Grahm version of Cigare Volant to many a sommelier, and they are, for the most part, unaware of the fun, being poked. Randall is, if nothing, a comic characther and every aspect of his wines if about fun.

Hunt

PS a good friend did his MBA with Bonny Doon as his final class project. I think one of the classmates, took the job as Director of Marketing for Bonny Doon. At least I was able to ply him with several older BD vintages, as he studied for his finals.

And Randall is poking fun of the dictate from CnDp regarding the ban on the landing of any UFO in their vineyards.

I tend to agree about the lineage of the Cigare Volant. While it contains many of the allowed grapes, the style is much lighter. Given a few years, it does start to approach some of the lighter CnDp's.

His "Vieux de Telegram," [SP?] is another t-n-cheek attempt to poke fun.

Hunt