Cheap Wine Review

A few months ago, Sarah and I decided to slum it a bit and drink only "extreme value" wine. With Two-Buck Chuck being such a great value (most of the time), we started wondering about the other sub-five-dollar wines offered at Trader Joes.

So, below is our "'04 Cheap Wine Review." (Stay tuned for the '05 version...)

Type	Brand	Price	Rating	Tasting Notes
Whites
Chardonnay	San Andre's	$ 2.99	4.0	Solid
Chardonnay	JW Morris	$ 2.99	4.0	Good, but not great
Chardonnay	Blue Fin	$ 2.99	4.0	Kinda harsh; solid flavor
Chardonnay	Bear's Lair	$ 3.99	4.0	Very buttery, good with food
Gewurtz	JW Morris	$ 2.99	1.0	So freaking sweet - yuck!
Sav Blanc	Callaway	$ 4.99	3.5	Crisp, clean, fruity and sweet; not much flavor
Sav Blanc	San Andre's	$ 2.99	3.0	Pucker! Not very flavorful
Sav Blanc	Barefoot	$ 3.99	4.0	Crisp, good
Reds
Cab	Santa Ema	$ 3.99	3.0	Fruity, almost sweet
Cab	Bear's Lair	$ 3.99	3.0	Alcohol, tannins, not much flavor
Cab	Tula Vista	$ 3.99	4.0	Dry but fruity; good flavor, hot
Cab/Merlot	San Andre's	$ 2.99	2.5	Smells like f&%$
Merlot	JW Morris	$ 2.99	4.5	Fruity, dry on front; solid, not too hot
Pinot Noir	Pepperwood Grove	$ 4.99	4.5	Dry, full bodied
Pinot Noir	JW Morris	$ 2.99	4.5	Tasty; too fruity/sweet
Zin	JW Morris	$ 2.99	3.0	Earthy, strawberries, pucker
Rating Methodology
Blech!	Yuck! We had to pour it out.
Bad	Not good at all, and not even worth the few dollars it cost.
Eh	Drinkable, but not worth buying again.
Good	Tasty and easy to drink. Good for an everyday or party wine.
Fantastic	Great all around and a value at twice the price. Worthy of the cellar.

More Wine Blogs

I'm definitely hooked on the blogs and the podcasts! Here are a few more that I've come across:

Vinography: a wine blog -Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world. Not bad, but much focus on European wines.

Spitton.biz - A fun blogger from the UK. He started "Wine Blogging Wednesdays," where he picks a date and a theme, and bloggers the world over post and link their reviews. The next is March 9th, and the theme is "Obscure Red Grape Varieties."

FERMENTATIONS: The Daily Wine Blog - a wine PR guy who focuses on the biz side of things.

Oh, I almost forgot! You have to check out the cool business at CrushPad. They source the grapes, then you make about 30 decisions about the creation of the wine, from barrel wood to aging time to bottle and label design. Really cool! Prices start at about $4,000 per barrel, which yields about 25 cases. They can even facilitate the selling of your wine.

In other news, it's a beautiful day today in San Francisco. Blue skies and probably in the 70s! I can't wait for summer!