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'Two-Buck Chuck' wins wine competition By: BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer Vin d'Expensive? Meritage Snooty? If that's the kind of name you were thinking would grace a winner of the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, get ready for a shock. Try "Two-Buck Chuck," more formally Charles Shaw, the brand beloved of bargain but palate-sensitive wine shoppers. It's sold by Bronco Wine Co. exclusively through Trader Joe's. Shaw's California Chardonnay took first place for Best Chardonnay from California. To some in the clubby California wine community, that must seem like a Michelin's Red Guide giving three stars to a...

Sour grapes and mud BY DAVE BARRY This classic Dave Barry column was originally published Aug. 24, 1997. Recently, I spent several days touring the California wine country, and I must say that it was a wonderful experience that I will remember until long after I get this mud out of my ears. I'll explain the mud in a moment, but first I should explain that the wine country is an area near San Francisco that is abundantly blessed with the crucial natural ingredient that you need to have a successful wine country: tourists. There are thousands and thousands of...

Houston wine lover Ron Nichely is so partial to Boeger Winery's offerings that family visits to nearby Stockton find him cramming his luggage with bottles. His "personal best": two cases of wine into one bulging suitcase. But on Monday, Nichely tried something new. He simply called the small winery and ordered a case of its well-regarded Tempranillo for $14 a bottle, aided by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision and a change in Texas law allowing consumers to buy directly from out-of-state wineries. "I prefer to get all my wines direct from the winery," said Nichely, an engineer in the...

FRESNO, Calif. - Napa and Sonoma may attract wine connoisseurs and tourists to their bucolic settings to taste well-known wines, but the San Joaquin Valley has long been the industry workhorse, producing most of the nation's wine. Now environmental regulators say the same process that gives the region's affordable reds, whites and blushes their pleasant punch is also producing a share of the smog that makes the valley one of the nation's dirtiest air basins — and they aim to do something about it. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is considering imposing the nation's first air quality...

Despite a cold spring and late rains, the 2005 Napa Valley grape harvest for sparkling wine began on schedule Wednesday. Under a foggy pre-dawn sky, a crew of 30 whipped through an Oak Knoll vineyard, picking 20 tons of pinot noir for Mumm Napa. Winemaker Ludovic Dervin is pleased with grape quality and flavors, wishing only that quantity had lived up to early predictions. "The chardonnay is right on target but the pinot noir crop is lighter than we'd like," he told the cellar crew and other winery employees gathered for a traditional blessing of the grapes at the Rutherford...

Michigan - Some Michigan wineries have their backs against the wall. A new bill that could become law might have an expensive effect on the way business is done, and more importantly, that bill could shut down some wineries. At present, Michigan law states that wineries can directly ship to customers without going through a distributor. That may change soon and for some wineries that is bad news. Michigan’s wine industry has been successful over the last 10 to 20 years, but the new law could have a harmful effect. Tabor Hill Vice President Paul Landeck said, “Last month the...

Major players in Napa County's economic world are at odds over a proposed revamp of California's budget and taxation process headed for the March 2 ballot. Whether Proposition 56 streamlines creation of a state budget in California or offers a blank check for legislators is at the heart of the debate. Public employees are lining up in support of Proposition 56, while leaders in the wine industry say it's a bad thing. Known as the Budget Accountability Act, Proposition 56 would lower the required majority of state lawmakers to pass the state's budget and related tax and fiscal matters from...