[wine] Two Buck Chuck Chard Wins CA State Fair Tasting

From James Laube's blog in Wine Spectator on line: James Laube Unfined A Chardonnay Shocker from the California State Fair Posted: 12:25 PM ET, June 27, 2007 During yesterday?s blind tasting in Napa, amid a flight of sumptuous 2005 Sonoma Coast Chardonnays from the likes of Paul Hobbs and Chasseur, came a news flash across my computer screen. Glad I was sitting down. Two-Buck Chuck, less known by its formal name of Charles F. Shaw, was judged the best Chardonnay from California at the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, held in Sacramento. The 2005 Two-Buck, with a California appellation, goes for $1.99 in California and a dollar more elsewhere. It's only sold at Trader Joe's. I know what you?re thinking because I?m thinking the same thing. How can this be? What?s next? Forrest Gump for president? Aliens plan to spring Paris Hilton from the joint? The moon really is a big wedge of green cheese? Since the state fair uses wine professionals as judges and the wines are tasted blind, the results stand on their own. Some 270 Chardonnays from 2005 were evaluated, so Two-Buck had plenty of competition. Still, I?m wondering if this bottling of Two-Buck is really that good. Or whether, more likely, that this is a result of a clean, fruity, non-oaked Chardonnay that has enough appeal to win the approval of a panel of judges? There?s no question that for many critics, too many Chardonnays are too oaky and there are questions about whether the wines are true to their appellations. Or whether, in the extreme, all Chardonnays taste alike, in which case it?s conceivable that Two-Buck could emerge a winner. If you?re wondering why this matters, well, here?s why. Think what you may about a $1.99 wine, but Two-Buck is impacting the market. It has sold 300 million bottles in five years and it continues to put downward pressure on wine prices, and at the end of the day, that?s great news for wine drinkers. Think it?s not popular? Check out a Trader Joe?s this weekend and watch as people wheel out shopping carts loaded with cases. James Laube Unfined No Passing the Buck: Here's My Take Posted: 11:58 AM ET, June 29, 2007 OK, so how good is Two-Buck Chuck Chardonnay, the reigning champion, and low-price leader of California Chardonnay? It didn?t take my staff long to buy a bottle from Trader Joe?s (and a second bottle was sent to my office in Napa) and slip it into yesterday?s blind tasting of Sonoma Chardonnays (even though Two Buck carries a California appellation and the appellation was not disclosed in my tasting). Well, the wine is certainly good and serviceable. I rated it about the same as I did last year (when it received an 83-point score). It?s simple, clean and fruity, with a light mix of citrus and herbal notes, though not especially varietal. The citrus-herb scent made me think it might have a dollop of Sauvignon Blanc. The label says 12.5 percent alcohol. No trace of wood, or oak chips! The irony, though, is that Two-Buck performed as well as a trio of Chardonnays that sold for up to $35 a bottle. I?ll spare those wineries the agony of disclosure until their scores are published in an upcoming issue of the magazine or on our website. One more element of intrigue: One of the Two-Buck's labels indicated it was bottled in Sonoma, while the other was bottled in Napa, so it would appear that there are at least two different bottlings in the market. It?s not uncommon for a wine of this volume to be made in different batches and for it to have multiple bottlings. The winery wouldn?t comment on the wine?s varietal make-up, or anything else, except to say that the wine?s owner, Fred Franzia, has bottling facilities in both counties. So when you pick up your bottle of Two-Buck Chuck for this weekend?s blind tasting, make note of where it was bottled.