Charles Shaw Wines 1118Bleuch!!!!! Bad bad bad bad bad... to my tastes at least. I think about the only 'on the larger size' CA producer I've really quite enjoyed wines from is Fetzer ('on the larger size'? America's...
I have an almost fool proof way of knowing if I'll like a (red) wine, by its label, at the lower end of the price range (£3 to £7) - What does the label look like, is it in the main a rich, dark colour, like a rusty dark red, burgundy, deep purple, black, even? Does it have metalised print in gold or silver on it? Nice, smooth, relatively non-porous finish to the label? Is the label, (front, back and neck if there is one), mounted squarely and cleanly? Is the glbutt of the bottle quite sturdy-thick, and dark? If so, stands a good chance of being worth the price already IME.
At this price point, anything that has an 'old' looking, porous or rough-edged label is just crap dressing up as a well aged clbuttic or just cheap wine put out by cheap bastards at a cheap, but EXPENSIVE price for what it is (often barely disguised wine vinegar I've found) - all this again , IM(rather limited, admittedly)E. Also look out for thin glbutt of quite high translucency! Again - cheap bastard sign is that, most often.
Charles Shaw Wines 1116They're good value when you first open them. In my experience they become nearly undrinkable the second day, even if you vaccuum-store them. From the second day...
The former to me just looks like the maker-bottler has taken some care with presentation because they are at least somewhat proud of the wine for what it is. After that, I look on the back, and remember what I read regarding style etc. and use this to gauge with my own tastes. I tend to ignore overly flowery blurb.
Anyhow, this has only gotten me a few bottles of wine I wished I hadn't bought! Judge the book by its cover? Moi?!? Heheheheh...
Cheers!
Shaun aRe
