- Charles Shaw wine
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Charles Shaw wine displayed in a Trader Joe's grocery market.
Charles Shaw is a brand of "extreme value" wine (bargain-priced premium wine).[1] Largely made from California grapes, Charles Shaw wines currently include Cabernet Sauvignon, White Zinfandel, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Valdiguie in the style of Beaujolais nouveau, and limited quantities of Pinot Grigio. These wines were introduced exclusively at Trader Joe's grocery stores in California at a price of $1.99 per bottle, earning the wines the nickname "Two Buck Chuck."[2] In 2009, an international version of Chardonnay from Australia was introduced in limited stores.
Contents
Ownership
Grapevines growing on the grounds of the Bronco Wine Company in Ceres, California, where Charles Shaw wine is produced.The Charles Shaw label is owned by the Bronco Wine Company, headed by Fred Franzia (formerly of Franzia Brothers wines). The Bronco Wine Company produces the Charles Shaw label at their Ceres, California winery, which is not open to the public.
There once was an actual, eponymous winery owned by Charles F. Shaw, which produced Beaujolais-style wines in the Napa Valley AVA. That winery went out of business, and the name was sold to Bronco in 1990.[3]
In the media
- Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure visited the winery in the fourth episode of their second series.
- Chuck. In season four episode eleven, Chuck and his team go to a winery in France while on a mission. A wine snob states that Chuck wouldn't know the difference between fine wine and "Two Buck Chuck." Chuck replies that he likes Two Buck Chuck.
Awards
At the 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition, Shaw's 2002 Shiraz received the double gold medal, besting the roughly 2,300 other wines in the competition.[4]
Shaw's 2005 California chardonnay was judged Best Chardonnay from California at the Commercial Wine Competition of the 2007 California Exposition and State Fair. The chardonnay received 98 points, a double gold, with accolades of Best of California and Best of Class.[5]
On May 16, 2008, a 17 year-old undocumented worker named Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez collapsed and later died while pruning vines at a vineyard east of Stockton, CA owned by West Coast Grape Farming, a division of Bronco Wine Company.[6] As a result, an action call went out among bloggers to ask Trader Joe's in their areas to pull Charles Shaw wine until Bronco Wine Companies ensured compliance with state mandated working conditions[7] for all of Bronco Wine’s employees."[8] On June 23, 2008, the United Farm Workers sent a similar request to its mailing list members. The UFW petition asks Trader Joe's to implement a corporate policy to ensure that their suppliers are not violating the law by failing to provide basic protections".[9]
References
- ^ Julia Flynn Siler (2007). The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty. Gotham Books. p. 310.
- ^ The American Way of Aldi, Deutsche Welle, January 16, 2004.
- ^ Michael Chatfield (November 8, 2004). The story behind Two Buck Chuck. Gilroy Dispatch
- ^ 'Two-Buck Chuck' Snags Top Wine Prize
- ^ The judgment of California: Charles Shaw chardonnay is state’s best
- ^ "Teen farmworker's death, probed as heat-related, stirs outcry". http://media.www.ecollegetimes.com/media/storage/paper991/news/2008/05/29/RealNews/Teen-Farmworkers.Death.Probed.As.HeatRelated.Stirs.Outcry-3377304.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-30."Until her death on May 16, Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez was another undocumented farmworker at the bottom rung of California's farm production chain."
- ^ California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3395
- ^ WOC PhD (pseudonym) Urgent Action: Worked to Death and No One Cares?! WOC PhD blog.
- ^ Take Action: Farm worker who died connected to 'Two-Buck Chuck', United Farm Workers (July 08, 2008)
External links
- Trader Joe's web site on Charles Shaw
- Charles Shaw rumor disclosure by snopes.com
- Video reviews of Charles Shaw via Winelibrary TV
- Two Buck Chuck takes a bite out of Napa article on CNN.com
Categories:- Wine brands
- American wine
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