wine

I used to work dancing bull wineat a Southern California technology company three blocks from a Trader Joe's. One of the partners there, someone who, unlike me, knows a thing or twelve about wine, mentioned "Two Buck Chuck" as part of a joke at a company party. I asked him what it was; he explained. Another partner, also quite knowledgeable, told me that despite the reputation as a cheap bottle of wine, some of the Charles Shaw wines (better known "Two Buck Chuck") —he mentioned the Chardonnay in particular—are reliable, drinkable table wines. In 2004 at the 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition, the 2002 Charles Shaw Shiraz $1.99 a bottle outranked 2,300 other wines, winning the prestigious double gold medal. In 2007 the Charles Shaw $1.99 Chardonnay surpassed several rather more expensive, and better lineage Chardonnays in a well-respected California competition in 2007.

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