This wine is vinted under contract by Bronco Wine Company, perhaps partially (or fully) owned by Trader Joe's. As is the case with all TJ's wines, I couldn't find too much information about the manufacturing processes (Trader Joe's likes to keep that quiet.) I do know, however, it's a Shiraz from California.
"Two Buck Chuck" was so-named back when the wine was released in 2005. The price tag - $1.99 - proved to be immensely popular, not just with college students and budget-minded young people but the public at large. I mean, who doesn't like cheap wine? Now, however, it's "Three-Buck Chuck" since the price has increased 50% since first release - a whole dollar more. And I figured owing to the cultural cache of this wine, I should try it for the blog. I've tried lots of expensive wine, like Chateau Ste Michelle's $50-a-bottle Im'press'ive, and plenty of cheap wine, but never one under $3. Let's find out what the hype is about.
Poured it into the glass and took a whiff -aroma of sour fruit, a little bit of alcohol. The aroma was actually not bad. Let it sit, per usual.
The taste is remarkably sour, initially with some dark fruit flavors, but mostly sour with a sort of undercurrent of varnish. The finish was sharp, with an alcohol sweetness I didn't like. The aftertaste isn't bad, actually, with some more of those dark fruit flavors lingering on the tongue.
I mean, I get it - it's only $2.99, which is the attraction - but I feel the wine is too "unfinished" for my tastes. It feels like it needs to soften up, mellow out and exchange some of those alcohol and varnish flavors for a smoother, jammier glass. But that's the rub, isn't it? Older wines have had a chance to mellow out, and certain production methods and attention to detail (and locale) can make a difference. And sometimes, super-cheap wine like this can be used as filler for more expensive, smoother blends. Perhaps this particular grape may be used to mix with other, finer grapes to create, say, a $9.99 bottle. And so this "proto-wine" as I am now calling it doesn't really reflect a truly appreciable wine on its own.
But another knock against it is the price comparison to other wines. This bottle is $2.99, at Trader Joe's, but not ten feet down the wine aisle there are plenty of other, much better offerings for only a dollar or two more. For example, the La Finca brand or Le Ferme Julien are both delicious. I loved their Pontificis Cotes-du-Rhone for $6. And the VINTJS label is triple the price, at $9, of which their Barbera is exemplary. So with a cost comparison like that, and frankly a ton of better options for really not that much more, I don't find too many compelling reasons to drink this wine, and frankly nor is it something you should bring to your friend's place (as the label is so popular, they'll know you went with the cheapest possible offering.)
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