They'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 onward, though, they're good to add to marinades.
The barrels? French wines use French oak. CA wines also use French oak, or a mixture of French and American.
Charles Shaw Wines 1117Cool, I didn't know TJ's had Pinotage. I'll check it out. Yes, Pinotage is a South African grape. It's grown in the U.S. in very few places, one of them...
Depends where you get your California wine, I guess. We tend to buy estate wines, small productions, often so small you won't ever find them in stores; you have to go to the winery. I buy them *because* they taste unique, unlike other wines. And often they vary from year to year in interesting ways, if you keep going back to the winery and buying more. But you have to go there. Both Paso Robles and Amador County have a high concentration of excellent small wineries.
If you every try Dobra Zemlja Syrah or Viognier, for example, you will never again be satisfied with a Syrah or Viognier from anywhere else -- especially true for their Bulgarian Oak (not French oak) Syrah. Same goes for Sobon Estate Primativo (not the blend, but the pure one). And Pinotage is grown in something like only 3 places in the U.S.; one of them is Sutter Ridge near Sutter Creek in Amador County. It's unique, I like it, so I buy it.
-A
