A wartime economy, domestic overproduction of grapes and a flood of inexpensive imports have combined to benefit the average wine consumer.  A visit to Trader Joe’s underlines this situation.  TJ’s tasted and embraced the Charles Shaw label as an exclusive for their 141-store chain, selling at a mere $1.99 in California, where it gained the sobriquet late last year of “Two buck Chuck.”  Oregon taxes moved the price to $2.99 locally, where TJ stacks cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Merlot in floor displays that chain-wide have moved some 2 million cases in less than a year.
 

This success has led the Trader to recently introduce Boca from Argentina at the same retail price point for Chardonnay, Cabernet and Malbec..  Both these labels grace very drinkable wines which would find acceptance at over twice the price.  Charles Shaw bottlings are from grapes grown in California’s vast Central Valley, where vineyard plantings have exceeded wine demand.  This grape glut is stirring up additional low price labels for the supermarket trade.  Safeway just introduced a Pacific Peak label @ 2.99 retail, but a sampling reveals bland beverages below the Charles Shaw taste level.  Albertson and Fred Meyer are reported to be negotiating with California mass producers to unveil their own versions of good cheap vino.

Oregon wines backing up

Oregon’s wine industry faces its own overproduction problem, with over 540,000 cases of the 2001 vintage sitting in storage unsold.  However, no single Oregon winery property can claim a grape glut such as California vineyards have produced.  The sales slack here is directly related to overpricing.  In the past decade, small Oregon winery startups have proliferated, largely on the basis of the Pinot Noir varietal, a particularly expensive crop to bring to proper fruition.  Oregon vintners have had a five year string of outstanding grape vintages and without the economy of scale enjoyed by large wineries in California and Washington, our little guys have pushed pricing into the $30+/bottle range and higher.

Now, with a U.S. wine market brimming with low priced, good quality imports from South America, South Africa and Australia, cost resistance threatens to cripple small winery sales.  Label and regional loyalties are fading before the sight of more wine variety hitting our retail shelves at pricing that surely will encourage younger consumers to expand their wine consumption, to make the fermented grape a common accompaniment to meals, as in Europe.

Consumers cashing in

Wine can be a very complex subject, as any sommelier likes to prove.  However, the average American consumer can now face the products of premium grapes with confidence that finding and affording wines to match any particular taste is now easier than ever and doesn’t require encyclopedic vinous knowledge.

Forget the headaches and sour stomachs caused  by wine in jugs or boxes…we have just emerged into a new wine era, where bottles virtually anyone can afford deliver smooth and tasty beverages.  And this does not bode well for all those independent artists that have sought Oregon winemaking as a means for creative (and expensive) expression.  Two Buck Chuck and compatriots are changing the way Americans approach wine…and it’s about time! 

© 2003 Oregon Magazine