Two Buck Chuck

Great moments in cinema, Bull Durham edition: Crash Davisgives Nuke LaLoosh advice about how to handle "The Show.""Practice your clichés," Crash says. Same thing applies if you everdecide to write a column about inexpensive wine. Have your responses down asyou're making your pitch for fame and fortune.

When you get "What's your favorite wine?" Answer:"Whatever's open."

When you get "How many bottles do you have open at atime?" Answer: "Enough."

When you get "Sir, what do you think you'redoing?" Answer: You're usually pouring glasses for yourself at a winetasting, which is unfortunately considered poor form. Simply apologize. Then pointacross the room, exclaim, "Is that Robert Parker over there?" andsnag the bottle when no one's looking.

However, "So, what do you know about that 'Two BuckChuck' stuff?" was a question I couldn't answer. So, I'll take one for theteam…

"Two Buck Chuck" is the nickname for Charles Shawwines. These wines are exclusively distributed at Trader Joe's markets. In California, where Shawwines produced, you can buy them for $1.99 a bottle. Elsewhere, depending ontaxes, you'll likely find three-or-four buck Chuck.

So, how's it taste? Shaw wines have won major awards innational competitions, but I suppose I'm not enough of a connoisseur tounderstand why. I will say that they're generally solid, uncomplicated winesyou can drink easily enough with food, but often have enough flavor to drink ontheir own. In other words, for a sluggable, you're talking about a decentbottle that's cheaper than either Boone's Farm or Night Train.

Charles Shaw 2007Chardonnay – Charles Shaw's '05 chard won "Best in Class" and"Best in California"awards, but the '07 probably won't follow in its footsteps. That certainly doesn'tmean that this is a poor wine. Although it's a California chard, it's not at all buttery, andonly slightly oaky. The nose is light with some interesting peach scents. It'sgot a crisp taste with some mineral flavor and is a little peachy with some flavorsof bubblegum in there somewhere. A very decent, straight-up, inoffensivechardonnay for drinking alone or with picnic food, baked fish, or chickendishes.

Charles Shaw 2006Merlot – Trader Joe's patrons either skipped Sideways a few years ago or knewbetter than to pay attention to the "f'n merlot" rant. The Charles Shawmerlot is their top seller. If you try to drink this right after popping thecork, you're going to get hit with a snootful of alcohol fumes. However, aftera chance to sit for a bit, it turns into a decent quaff. The nose has a plumscent, and the body is relatively light for a merlot. It's easy to drink, withsome dark berry flavor. The finish starts fruity, but then tannin kicks in anddries it out. With usual merlot foods like pork or grilled veggies, it would likelybe very decent.

Charles Shaw 2006Cabernet Sauvignon – Again, another wine that you're going to need todecant before you drink. Straight out of the bottle, lighter fluid and berries.After breathing for a good long while, it edges towards something a little moreinteresting. This may be the least dry Cab I've ever tasted. There's a lot offruit but almost no tannin to speak of until the finish. I'd recommend this asa wine to have sitting around during a barbecue, or perhaps as your third orfourth bottle of the evening. If the latter is reality, stock up on B-12,ibuprofen, Gatorade, and ginger ale.

Charles Shaw 2007Sauvignon Blanc – The big surprise of the bunch. In my experience, most "super-value"Sauvignon Blancs are either weak little wines or acidic enough to melt thebottle, your tongue, and the underside of your jaw. The Shaw is neither. Thenose is fruity and approachable. The taste is a blend of honey and grapefruit.The finish isn't as crisp as a lot of SB's, although there's enough residualacidity to make it refreshing. A rock-solid pool wine, although I'd probably lookelsewhere for food pairings, since there are so many good food-friendlySauvignon Blancs at only a dollar or two more.

Remember to temper your expectations. If you're going topick up wine this inexpensive, don't think. You can only hurt the ballclub.