The second sampler is the same temperature, but has a more generous nose of peaches, pineapples, and pears with some toasty oak and spice. In the mouth it’s juicy and hedonistically viscous, with fruit flavors true to the nose, as well as understated, attractive butterscotch and vanilla. It’s got good balance and natural-seeming acids that make me dump Wine One into a pot of stock I’ve got bubbling on the stove, and continue to savor the nice long finish of number two.

Okay, so it was obvious that #1 was the Charles Shaw from the first sniff, but I would have to agree with the CA State Fair judges and with Jim Laube: it’s very drinkable and - duh - an excellent value at $1.99. So good, I guess, that I’ll have to force myself to try one of the Charles Shaw reds, accompanied, no doubt, by a dinner of well-charred hot dogs. However, though I do not know what wines were tasted against the $2 Chuck, I don’t know how the heck they could have rated it higher than a wine like the Cameron Hughes Chardonnay, which is not just a good value wine, but a genuinely good wine.

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