Being on the wagon has an added disadvantage this year as I'm unable to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of my favourite Californian winery: Charles Shaw.
Charles Shaw's wines are carried exclusively by Trader Joe's where, for the past decade, they have unerringly sold for $1.99 a bottle. Joe seems to understand his product; pairing suggestions on the website include "80s movies" and "games of Jenga".
As you can imagine, "two buck Chuck" is a local institution, and became something of an internal currency in Uni Village with bottles making their way from party to party. I heard that a certain Cabernet Sauvignon survived two years of re-gifting without being opened! I can only imagine how the complexity and smoothness developed over that time.
There's no danger of cases being laid down for posterity in this house, even if the current vintage will have to remain in the bottle for another 30-odd days before I can toast Mr Shaw's health. Although I'm sure a white wine spritzer doesn't really count as alcohol, does it?
Floral overtones, with an underlying structure of cheap!
