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A Blow to Wine Snobs ['Two-buck Chuck' wins wine competition]
American Thinker ^ | June 30, 2007

Posted on 06/30/2007 7:34:35 PM PDT by John Jorsett

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To: Clemenza
As I have said on several related threads, New Zealand is where one should look for New World Savignon Blanc.

Doesn't the airfare become cost prohibitive?

Actually, we traveled there about five years ago and have been drinking their sauvignon blancs regularly ever since. We stayed on a "farmstay" which was a large sheep ranch in a shearer's quarters made into a small apartment for guests. This was in Hawke's Bay near Havelock North and the Tuki Tuki River ran about 10 paces from the house. We would buy local lamb to grill, stop at one of the local vintners and pick up a bottle, eat local produce with the lamb, and then go trout fishing half tanked. I was there when I got angry enough with my employer that I considered working in En Zed.

The sauvignon blancs are consistent in quality and price. They are nice, light fare terrific for summertime consumption and for fish, poultry, etc. although we will drink them with anything. They're inexpensive and readily available. We drink both Hawke's Bay wines (a little harder to find) and Marlborough region wines. Next trip there I will be going to the south island.

61 posted on 07/01/2007 6:11:32 AM PDT by johniegrad
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To: mykdsmom

I don’t mind cooking with 2BC but that is about it. One of my favorite whites is under $10 a bottle and no one who tastes it believes me. The chardonnay is great for marinating skinless boneless chicken breasts in a ziplock bag overnight before BBQing them.


62 posted on 07/01/2007 6:15:50 AM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature (I buy gas for my SUV with the Carbon Offsets I sell on Ebay!)
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To: John Jorsett
...way too much Chardonnay on the market has been subjected to too much aging in young oak barrels, imparting an oaky flavor.

Chardonnay became quite a fad some years ago, only to see consumers get somewhat tired of it and move on to other more interesting varietals,...

This writer nailed it, on both counts. I hate oaky flavors and I've moved on. I've been on a French and Italian white kick for a while and I'm loving it.

63 posted on 07/01/2007 6:19:24 AM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature (I buy gas for my SUV with the Carbon Offsets I sell on Ebay!)
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To: nuconvert
I had no idea Trader Joes was in so many states.

Best food store in the United States. They also have a stated policy of no Chinese content. No other national chain guarantees that.

64 posted on 07/01/2007 6:30:31 AM PDT by montag813
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To: ml/nj
I doubt they compared this Two Buck Chuck (Yes. I've tried all of its varieties several years ago.) to any even mediocre French wine.

French wine has become irrelevant because of their socialist insanity. Why should I buy a $14 French Sauvignon Blanc when I can buy a far surperior one from Marlborough, New Zealand, for only $8?

65 posted on 07/01/2007 6:32:29 AM PDT by montag813
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To: Clemenza
Methinks the Gallo's were ahead of their time when they put the screwcap on T-Bird back in the 1950s.

I had a $10 New Zealand white with a screwcap last night. It was fabulous. Does it really make any difference?

66 posted on 07/01/2007 6:35:08 AM PDT by montag813
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To: montag813

I love Trader Joe’s.
Had no idea they have a ‘no Chinese content’ policy.
Good for them!


67 posted on 07/01/2007 6:43:12 AM PDT by nuconvert ([there are bad people in the pistachio business] (...but his head is so tiny...))
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To: Suzy Quzy
I like the cab, but I don't claim to be a wine connoisseur I just like what tastes good to me.

My friend and her husband are into wines though and they like the taste of the TBC cab almost as well as the much more expensive bottles they are used to buying.

68 posted on 07/01/2007 6:46:25 AM PDT by mykdsmom
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To: cgbg
I agree. While I’m no connoissueur, i fancy I do know the difference between a fine cigar and a piece of junk — and the $2 Punch I smoke tastes as good as any Dominican I’ve tried.
69 posted on 07/01/2007 6:47:23 AM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: FreedomPoster
I like the Old Moon zinfandel TJ’s carries

I'll give that one a try next time I make a wine run there, thanks for the tip.

70 posted on 07/01/2007 6:48:34 AM PDT by mykdsmom
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To: montag813
Why should I buy a $14 French Sauvignon Blanc when I can buy a far surperior one from Marlborough, New Zealand, for only $8?

I don't know much about Sauvignon Blanc, but it's hard to find better Cabernet/Merlot (Bordeaux) or Chardonnay (Burgundy) than you can get from France unless you are willing to pay two or three times what the French stuff costs.

ML/NJ

71 posted on 07/01/2007 6:56:52 AM PDT by ml/nj
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To: Fido969

What’s that price?

60 twice!


72 posted on 07/01/2007 7:01:02 AM PDT by WhiteGuy (GOP Congress - 16,000 earmarks costing US $50 billion in 2006 - PAUL2008)
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To: John Jorsett
"Second, way too much Chardonnay on the market has been subjected to too much aging in young oak barrels, imparting an oaky flavor."

The only possible reason to store wine in oak casks {IMHO}is to prepare the casks for aging Scotch. Try Glenmorangie.

73 posted on 07/01/2007 7:41:22 AM PDT by SKI NOW
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To: John Jorsett

TWO BUCK CHUCK is our house wine and has been since it came out.


74 posted on 07/01/2007 10:33:11 AM PDT by Uncle Hal
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To: MacDorcha
>>>>”And I wouldn’t confuse a Bud with a Speckled Hen, but sometimes (like a Coke) only a Bud will do!”<<<<

If it weren’t for Busch my lawn would never get mowed.

TT

75 posted on 07/01/2007 11:27:23 AM PDT by TexasTransplant (NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET)
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To: montag813
Back in the 1950s, Julio Gallo did several tests trying to see which sealing agent would keep the wine fresh for the longest period of time. Since cork (then as now) had a tendency to dry or catch fungi, he tried everything from balsa wood stoppers to rubber, to plastic. Finally, he came to the conclusion that the screwcap was indeed the way to go.

Unfortunately, the screwcap then became associated with Gallo's flagship product at the time, which was Thunderbird. Many wineries have only now come to the conclusion that Julio Gallo was right about the screwcap all along.

76 posted on 07/01/2007 11:48:28 AM PDT by Clemenza (Rudy Giuliani, like Pesto and Seattle, belongs in the scrap heap of '90s Culture)
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To: Polybius

A pal of mine is one of the organizers of a long-running techhy conference, which has been held for the last few years at a pricey venue on the California Central Coast. The budget for last year’s edition included $16 a bottle for the wine at the wrap-up dinner, and the hotel served, yep, Two-Buck Chuck, assuming perhaps that the Jolt-and-Twinkies crowd wouldn’t know the difference. One sip and the entire committee table stood up and headed en masse to the manager’s office. Ten minutes later the “oversight” was remedied.

Nothing against TBC as a known daily drinker (and it speaks well for Chuck that it was tapped as the ringer), but everything against bait-and-switch tactics by hotel catering departments.


77 posted on 07/01/2007 3:58:50 PM PDT by Tenniel2 (The heroes of Flight 93 diverted the wrong plane.)
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To: John Jorsett

Pink Truck Blows! Two Buck Chuck is bottled swill!


78 posted on 07/01/2007 4:00:41 PM PDT by Doc Savage ("You couldn't tame me, but you taught me.................")
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To: proxy_user
This would never happen with beer.

Actually, it would depend on the style. A 35 cent bottle of Czech pils in Europe, can easily be as good or better than any microbrew pils, regardless of cost (maybe 7 times as expensive(?)), made in the USA.

79 posted on 07/01/2007 5:49:54 PM PDT by AnalogReigns
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To: AnnaZ

Hehehe...


80 posted on 07/01/2007 6:55:04 PM PDT by Bob J (Rightalk.com...a conservative alternative to NPR! Check out nat synd "Rightalk with Terri and Lynn")
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