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By The Glass Richard Field |
Bargain bottles
The phenomenon of the $2 wine leads
to an exploration of low-priced labelsOf the more than 6,500 wine brands carried in the United States, only 42 sold more than 1 million cases in 2001. Yet the wine known as "Two-Buck Chuck" is already considered a 2-million-case-per-year brand -- a particularly amazing fact because all those cases were sold exclusively through 150 Trader Joe's Food Stores in just 12 states.
"Two-Buck Chuck" is the nickname for the Charles F. Shaw line of wines. They sell for $1.99 per 750-milliliter bottle in most of Trader Joe's California stores (up to $4 in other locations due to transportation and/or tax costs).
Hawaii has no Trader Joe's and therefore no "Two-Buck Chuck." But other wines are available in Honolulu at bargain-basement prices. How do they compare with "Two-Buck"? Are these wines simply re-packaged bulk wines?
A challenge was set in motion. Bottles of Charles Shaw cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and merlot were hand-carried from California. Now we needed to find wines in the local market to include in a blind tasting.
A price point of $1.99 is a magical one. To be able to retail a bottle of wine at this price is nothing short of amazing. Consider that the retailer takes his profit and so, too, does the producer, all from this sum.
There are transportation costs, taxes and other administrative costs. The glass bottle, label, foil and cork account for more cost. That doesn't leave much for the grapes/juice/wine.
For the purposes of this article, we selected for a blind tasting wines that could retail for $2.99 or less, meaning their wholesale prices are appreciably less. There are few. We also included Sea Ridge wines from Safeway that currently retail at its Beretania store for $3.89.
An experienced group of wine tasters assembled to sample three flights, one each of cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and merlot. Each flight included these labels: Charles Shaw, Sea Ridge, Corbett Canyon and Foxhorn.
Admittedly, these wines were tasted in context. All the tasters knew that the wines were low-priced.
I asked the group if any of the wines exhibited varietal character -- did they display characteristics of the grape types they claim to be? The consensus was that these wines do not. This is an important point because prices tend to be higher on wines that are varietally labeled, but these wines are all low-priced.
I guess the conundrum is, if you pay these prices, the wine won't taste like the grape it's supposed to, but obviously that doesn't matter much because millions and millions of Americans are enjoying them anyway.
Further comments follow, with wines listed in order of the panel's preference:
Cabernet Sauvignon FlightCan you buy wines for $1.99 in Honolulu? The answer is, well, kind of. If you purchase Franzia's 5-liter box wines for $11.99 or less, you'll be paying the equivalent of $1.77 per 750-millileter bottle. Corbett Canyon's wines sold in 3-liter boxes are the same wines that it sells in bottles. The Corbett 3-liter box and the 1.5-liter bottle -- when purchased at $8.99 and $5.99, respectively -- price out to $2.22 and $2.99 per 750 milliliters.>> Sea Ridge 2001: Tastes of cherries, low tannins, somewhat bright acidity
>> Charles Shaw 2000: Smells of currants, tastes of black cherries, shoyu, bright acid, low tannin.
>> Corbett Canyon 2001: Assorted fruits in scent, very soft texture, more like a merlot
>> Foxhorn, no vintage: Banana, cherries, vanilla in flavor; soft, flabby, low fruit, low tanninChardonnay Flight
>> Corbett Canyon 2002: Green apple, brightest flavors of the group, pleasant, creamy
>> Sea Ridge 2001: Bubblegum, apple, citrus, browned butter, rounder mid-palate
>> Foxhorn, non-vintage: Candied, a bit acidic, pleasant, bubblegum
>> Charles Shaw 2002: Slightly bitter, more weight than rest, not balancedMerlot Flight
>> Charles Shaw 2000: Plummy, soft, shoyu, pleasant
>> Corbett Canyon 2002: Plums, berries, very light, bright flavors
>> Foxhorn, non-vintage: Fruit preserves, very soft, low acid, vanilla, easy drinking
>> Sea Ridge 2001: Cooked-fruit smells, tar, not pleasantIt seems logical to assume that wine packaged in boxes are of similar quality as these ultra-low-priced bottle-and-cork editions. Are these bargain bottles simply repackaged bulk wines?
So as a final comparison, I judged these bargain bottles against their bulk-wine equivalents, sold either in boxes or in extra-large bottles (1.5 to 4-liters). I found them to be of similar quality when varietally labeled. Bulk wines that are generically labeled -- those called simply chablis, burgundy, etc. -- tended to be sweeter.
One more thing -- cold hides flavors and warmth brings them out. Apply wisely.
How cheap?
Retail prices as of June 4 in local markets (includes sale prices):Corbett Canyon wines: Foodland, 3-liter, $8.99; Safeway, 1.5-liter, $10.99; Times, 1.5-liter, $7.98; Longs, 750-milliliter, $4.69/1.5-liter, $7.69
Franzia 5-liter box wines: Foodland, $11.99; Safeway, $15.99; Times, $15.98
Foxhorn wines: Star, 1.5-liter, $8.59; Times, 750-milliliter, $3.98
Sea Ridge wines: Exclusive to Safeway, 750-milliliter, $3.89
Who's Charles Shaw?
Background: Charles Shaw is a Stanford Business School graduate who, along with his wife, bought a Napa Valley winery in 1974. His Beaujolais-style wine (which was sold in Hawaii) didn't do well enough to sustain the brand, however. Shaw is now a software executive in Chicago.New ownership: The Shaws sold the winery in 1991 and later sold the brand name to Bronco Wine Co., which owns more than 40 labels. Some of these are "control labels" or private brands exclusive to specific retailers. Charles Shaw is exclusive to Trader Joe's.
All in the family: Sea Ridge, another Bronco label, is produced specifically for Safeway's 1,600 stores. Foodland Supermarkets for a time sold Summerfield, also from Bronco. The glass bottles, foil and corks of these brands are identical.
This column is a weekly lesson in wine pairing written by a rotating panel of wine professionals. Write to features@starbulletin.com
